Closing is coming up soon and everything has come together. But before we started preforming for the public, we had a lot of work to do. Once we moved onto working on the set, designed by the wonderful David Court, we are started to work with more and more of the technical aspects of the The Clean House.
Saturday October 15th marked the start of our Tech Week. Sunday we had our first run of the show in costume. I always look forward to this stage of production because I love working in the clothes of the character. Much is revealed about character through clothing- colour, texture, shape, and weight all inform the way the actor moves. Costume also informs the audience. Costume is really the first interaction that the audience has with the character.
The design process for a show begins long before the costumes are seen on stage. After my second costume fitting for Matilde, I had a chance to sit down and interview Esther Van Eek, the costume designer for The Clean House.
Esther comes from a background in visual arts and printmaking. After finishing her studies at OCAD, Esther designed baby clothes. After getting into a relationship with an actor she found herself constantly helping him run his lines. As Esther read these play scripts again and again she began to imagine each of these people and what they wear.
Esther is a true artist and right now theatre is the medium through which she is can express her self. Esther designs with character in mind, when she reads a play and meets each character she imagines what that person would have in their closet; where do they shop, how much money do they have, what colours, weather conditions, etc.
Esther designs on average two shows each season for University Players. This year she is designing The Clean House as well as the next show of the season, Queen Millie of Galt. When I asked her what drew her to this piece in particular she said that she really liked these people and that this is a play that she herself had pitched a few years ago.
This piece seems to be a designers dream. As each of the technical elements of the play come together I feel myself transported to a place that is truly magical and that can be attributed to the amazing design team, the cohesive direction from Kelly Daniels, and the beautiful world as written by Sarah Ruhl.
When the audience comes to see this show I don’t think that they can possibly anticipate the experience that they are going to have. I am so excited to share this piece and to have all of the hard work from every aspect of the production shine as we tell this beautiful story.