Theater Quiz: Quarter 2

Farthingale

Makes dress horizontally wide

Empire Waist

The “waist” of the dress is under the chest

Bustle

Makes butt look bigger creating an S silhouette.

Stock Characters

A familiar character who is the same type of character in every play.

Stereotypical Characters

A familiar type of character whose tag, or label, identifies a particular group or member of society

External Characteristics

Outward, visible qualities. Things we can visibly see on someone.

Internal Chracteristics

Things we can’t see about a person until we learn about them.

10 out of 12

The longest call union crew or actors; this means they will work 10 out of 12 hours, with a 2 hour dinner break

Appliqué

Sewing a piece of fabric atop another

Backstitch

Used at the beginning and end of a machine sewn seam to keep it from unraveling

Pull

Remove a costume from storage for use in a production.

Costume

Costume includes all clothing, underclothing, hairdressing, makeup, and accessories, such as hats, scarves, fans, canes, umbrellas, and jewelry, worn or carried by each character in a production.

Purpose of clothes

The purpose of clothes, of which there is more than one, are to: Protect the body from the sun, Keep us warm when it is cold, Showcase culture and religion, Define what we do for a living or what we are interested in.

Contemporary dress in Shakespeare's time

In Shakespeare's time people performed in contemporary dress. In his own company Shakespeare's performers provided their own costumes.

Costume design accuracy (1770s-1870s)

From the 1770s through the 1870s, a desire for greater accuracy and costume design began to take hold due to an increase in stage performances, traveling theatrical groups, and because more people had become familiar with the costumes of cultures around the world.

Specialization in costume design

Into the 19th century, costume design became an increasingly specialized art and two main ideas filtered into it: historical accuracy or capturing the sense of a time period, and concept driven, in which costumes captured a vision that might not have connections to a known historical time and place.

Character Costume Designs

Designs that are dictated by specific information contained in the script.

Decorative Costume Designs

Those costumes that appear to be no more than decorative elements in the general stage picture—extras, showgirls, etc.

Effective costume designs

To be effective, costume designs for a production need to provide visual information about the world of the play: location, time-period, season, time of day, culture, and the socioeconomic, religious, and political environment.

Actor's physical needs

The physical needs: the costume should fit, be reasonably comfortable, and shouldn't inhibit any necessary and appropriate motion.

Actor's psychological needs

The simple act of putting on a costume psychologically helps the actor become the character.

Costume designer's preparation

The designers think and prepare a great deal on their own. Early on the costume designer notes script requirements.