Costume Design and Craft foR "A Midsummer Nights Dream"
This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place in Athens, Ohio in the year 1969. I ultimately was tasked with costume designing for the group traditionally known as the “Mechanicals” or the “players-within-the-play.” Additionally, I built the three masks associated with this group: Bottom’s Donkey Head, Thisbe’s Mask, and Snug/Lion’s mask. Our director, Oliver Mayes, ultimately wanted to take the typical retelling of Midsummer and flip it on its head, which included completely reinventing who the Mechanicals were. Through the themes of love and its many shifting forms, Oliver began to define the worlds of the play and their characteristic look, and between the staunch upkeep of the Rulers, the optimistic Lovers, and the acid-tripping Fairies laid the Mechanicals, now removed from their traditional job titles to become the “Artisans,” a group of we came to describe as “trust fund hippies.” In this, this group of players came to be defined as a college theatre troupe whose parents could afford to send them to college but all they really wanted to do was put on plays and smoke in the woods.
Bottom's Donkey Mask Process
First sketch of Bottom's donkey mask. Ultimately, the director wanted the mask to look like it was created by the same magic the fairies possess, so it would have a lot of wooden/tree texture. In between the gaps in the vines, I added cellophane in the color that matched Puck's costume, as to tie the two characters together since Puck is the one who curses Bottom with the donkey head.
For ease of wear for the performer, I decided to build Bottom's mask off of a field hockey mask that would be reshaped with EVA foam to get the correct look of a donkey's face. Differing from the first sketch, I changed the donkey snout to sit flatter to the face, since the performer would be jumping, tumbling, and running with it on, and I did not want the longer snout to get in his way or be too
Process of building onto the frame with with EVA foam and foam clay to create the vine shape, with silicone caulk to create wood texture.
Finished mask.
Detail shots of mask.