Costume Design and Identity.

When you go see a play, whether it's on Broadway or in a regional theater, there is almost always a costume designer responsible for the clothing seen on stage. Most people don't think about the process that goes into selecting and providing costumes. What people don't often realize is just how good at recognizing personality traits a costume designer has to be.

When we first become part of the creative staff of a production, we generally get a copy of the script, and occasionally meet with the director to talk about his or her creative vision for the play. The next step is reading the script several times, taking note of the characters themselves, but also anything in the text that needs to be addressed in the costuming. For example, if a script mentions that a man gives a woman a handkerchief, where does he get it from, and what kind of handkerchief is it?

Costume designers have to be able to get an idea of what kind of a person each character is, and then find a way to translate it into what they wear, taking into consideration any special notations in a script. This is a lot harder than it sounds, because in the real world people don't always dress like the people they are. For example, bad people aren't always easily identified as being the person in the black top hat and cape. An added difficulty is that plays are often set in a certain period, or performed in a specific style.

It is our job to find a way to represent who a person is, without making them a stereotype. In my opinion, a designer has done an exemplary job, if during the performance the audience doesn't even think of the costumes as being costumes. If the audience sees the characters and not the actors dressing up like the characters.