Wednesday, December 19, 2012

R3 in the News Again

architect's 3D model
Well, those sedulous folks in Leicester, England, have done it again—they've discovered yet another modern-day connection to our man of the year, Richard III. Last fall it was the bones of a male that they believe may be the medieval king (still waiting on DNA test results—now supposedly coming mid-January). A couple of weeks ago a metal boar was found. Now someone has made a 3D model of the Blue Boar Inn, the place at which Richard spent at least a night before he was killed at Bosworth Field. Here's the full story.
The director of archaeological services at the University of Leicester found detailed drawings in the notebooks of a 19th-century architect—instructions for framing, fireplaces, room sizes, etc., and exact measurements. Perhaps some day they'll recreate the inn full-scale—especially if the body under the parking lot is indeed Richard III's.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Richard III, the Boar

A copper-alloy boar "mount"
I'm checking almost every day to see whether the remains found underneath a car park in Leicester, England, are indeed those of King Richard III. No word yet. 

However, some amateur metal detector sleuths did find something very interesting at the edge of the Thames near the Tower of London in October (evidently I was too busy with other things to see it then)—a mount in the shape of a boar.

Mounts were metal pieces that were often used on pieces of furniture or as decorations on a leather item. Researchers believe this one was once owned by a supporter of Richard III or possibly even the king himself. It is also said that Richard ordered metal badges to be made for his coronation in 1483. Richard's chosen symbol was the boar.

Shakespeare's Hastings refers to Richard as such—

"To fly the boar before the boar pursues
Were to incense the boar to follow us."

As does Richmond—

"The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar . . .
Swills your warm blood like wash, and makes his trough
In your embowell'd bosoms-this foul swine
Is now even in the centre of this isle,
Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn."

(Note the reference to Leicester, location of said car park!) How great would it be to have one of these as a memento of the Richard project?

My wife sorta wishes I'd incorporated this image/theme of the boar more in Richard III: The Terrible Reign. Ahhh, now begins the post-production coulda-woulda-shoulda.


Monday, December 3, 2012

Design Everywhere

A really great grate
Grate close-up
I'm always on the lookout for design inspiration. In fact, I drive my wife crazy asking her to take pictures  with her iPhone of moss, rocks, tree bark, gates, fences, and brick everywhere we go.

I love the verdegris patina on this grate set in cement against a cement/plaster wall. The dirt/mold patterns are interesting, too, and are good references for when something on a set needs to be "grunged." Grit is so interesting.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Grand Design

Jackson Forrest Eoute
My dear friends Philip (Edward IV and Richmond in the recent production of Richard III: The Terrible Reign) and Nikki Eoute had a baby boy on Sunday night. His name is Jackson Forrest. (Now, that's a name you can yell out the back door when it's supper time.) I've enjoyed pointing out that his monogrammed initials can spell "JEF," after me, no doubt. And, who knows, Jackson might  end up playing the dane in my not-so-upcoming 2042 production of Hamlet. (Lord willing, I'll turn a mere 80 that year.)

Jackson's birth got me thinking about what a great God we have. Talk about great design! What a miracle a baby is!

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13)

Saturday, November 24, 2012

We Gather Together

Thankful for my family
My family knows that I'm always looking for design inspiration. Actually, I can't help myself—patterns and colors and textures just jump out at me. So when we paused (in the bright, bright sun—note the hard shadows and intense squints) for a family photo this Thanksgiving, I was taking in the weathering and dirt patterns on the brick of this old mansion outbuilding (is it just me, or are those bricks longer than "normal"?), the splay of the dead vine above the doorway, the relentless creep of the green leaves through any available crevice. There's metaphor in this picture if you look for it.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on how thankful I am for the people God has placed in my life: my wonderful wife, Kim, and my two great kids, Margaret and Cole.

Monday, November 19, 2012

The End of All

Yes, that's toilet paper. I use it to blot the water colors.
Well, Richard III: The Terrible Reign is over. "His knell is knolled" (from Macbeth).

Here is what I do to relax after a big production is completed—start on the next one. We mount the opera Aida in just 16 short months, so I'm working to get some painted renderings to the costume room this week. I've already been working on this show for about 9 months and made one trip to NYC for fabric. But this production will have over 200 new costumes, so I'll head to Mood Fabric again this January.

I will probably do some Richard debriefing here on this blog at some point, e.g., notes about the webcast last Friday (my wife was a chatter), things I'd do differently from a design/directorial, things I learned from this experience, etc. But for now, I have designs to work on. . . .

Friday, November 16, 2012

Like a Careful Mother

My wife, Kim (left), and
daughter Margaret (Young Elizabeth);
Justin Snyder (Bishop of Ely) in background
During last night's performance I finally saw the images that have been stuck in my head for the last 20 years. The last fight/ghost scene was, for me at least, electric (and for my wife, too, I think—she was holding her breath). I'm so grateful for a cast and crew that persevered through this long process and delivered in a big way. Theatre artists have to work on their art and then hand it over to other artists to present it. I am thankful for the wonderful cast and crew that presented "our" art last night.

Every actor brought his A-game to the show. Ron Pyle (Richard III) was on fire. The other cast members rose to the occasion and turned in fine performances. The tech people were spot on, too. After the show, it felt like a celebration in the green room with the Wednesday monkey off our backs.

There's another show and a big webcast tonite at 8 PM. I'm looking forward to the feedback about that. (But if you live within driving distance do not miss the live performance. There is nothing like live.) The webcast will feature five HD cameras and lots of behind-the-scenes stuff including the documentary film made by cinema students about the production. And my lovely wife, Kim will be doing the live chat during the webcast! New territory. Can't wait. 

See you at the show!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Threefold Distress'd

One of 4 incredible posters
made for this production by Jen Wetzel
Strap on your life preservers, folks. This is live theatre. There is no lifeguard on duty.

Last night's opening performance was fraught with challenges from start—is that 15-foot swath of plastic really going to fall? yup—to finish—wait, they've run out of music before the end of the fight and that means . . . the actors in the wings don't realize . . . oh, no . . . oh, yes. There were forgotten props and dropped lines and missed cues, but in the end, it was what was supposed to be on this night in this place. It is live performance art. If you want to see "flawless" (though what shaped by human hands can truly be so?), you'd best stick to movies and magazines.

And there were great moments, too. The funny bits were funny, and the audience was appropriately horrified at Richard's callous evil. Lady Anne was lovely but hollow; Richmond heroic, the Duchess of York disgusted, and the goons creepy.

The ladies sitting in front of me had come as a group having met beforehand to make a chart of who was who in the play and discuss the plot. You gotta love prepared audience members. These ladies didn't miss a beat and giggled/hissed/hooted in all the right places.

A new day. A fresh start. We make mistakes and yet are given the opportunity to forget what is behind and press on. Tonight we have another go at Richard III: The Terrible Reign. God's mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Invocate Thy Ghost

Richard (Ron Pyle), about to strike,
is haunted by the ghosts of those he murdered.
Last night was our SMART (Sharing Masterworks of Art) program for high schoolers. It was technically our final dress rehearsal. The run of the play was first-rate. I was pleased with every aspect of the production—from tech to acting to audience response. (Hey, if a bunch of high schoolers stay engaged with one of Shakespeare's histories, something's going well.)

I was perhaps most happy with the six "goons" (the guys who move the furniture/props and act as extras). As my wife so aptly put it, "Those goons totally rocked the doors." Which, being interpreted, means that they hit their marks and performed the intricate opening/closing door movements (you'd have to see it to fully appreciate the complexity) with near-perfect precision . . . no small feat, I assure you.

Opening night is now only a day and a half away. Bring it on.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Due of Birth

I stand in for Richmond in the final death scene.
Last night was the last rehearsal (aside from Monday night's SMART performance, which is technically the final dress). We had a fine rehearsal despite several epic challenges earlier in the day and into the rehearsal itself. God is always good.

One exciting moment came when Philip Eoute (Richmond) got the call that his wife was headed to the hospital for the birth of their second child. Protesting that they still hadn't decided on a name (may we suggest several Shakespearean possibilities—Eglamour Eoute? Arviragus Eoute? Dogberry Eoute?), he had to be dragged from the battlement and put into a car to head home. The video above was taken backstage just before he was sent packing.

That left me to wrap up the play book-in-hand. Not quite the heroic conqueror I'd imagined. . . .

Update: No baby as of this posting. This little Eoute  must possess a real sense of the dramatic entrance.

Ready or not, here we go! (We're ready.)

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Divided York and Lancaster

Richmond (Philip Eoute), our hero, prays before battle.
We're using a lot of plastic in this production—another way in which I'm trying to bring a modern element to Richard's world. I've already posted about the grey "corrugated" plastic sheets that I chose for some of the doors on the set. (See "Enter KING RICHARD" post from September 26.)

There's also a fair amount of white-ish opaque plastic sheeting used. Here's the thought: Richard is such a bloody person that he needs his surroundings to be able to be cleaned easily and frequently. The plastic is so clinical, sterile (in the sense of barren/unfruitful), slick, cheap, fake—all words that describe Richard and his reign.

The curtains/dividers of plastic are drawn to create different locales of the play. In the previous (November 5 post), you can see an entire room of plastic behind the throne.

Here's another thing about plastic. It glows. Enough said.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Tyranny Begins to Jet Upon the . . . Throne

Richard III (Ron Pyle) and Queen Anne (Katharine Golightly)
with six company members standing guard
The throne for Richard III: The Terrible Reign wanted a gothic, 15th-century feel to it, so we refurbished an old stage throne that had been used in previous productions and brought it into the world of the play—glossy, black, metal. My idea was that Richard would tolerate only one throne in his court and that Lady Anne would be seated at Richard's feet clearly in subjection to him. I decided that the throne also needed steps leading up to it and that Anne would perch awkwardly on one of them. The props folks added gothic motifs such as the quatrafoil, which gave us some rounded elements against the very linear floor and doorways. We use the same throne without the steps when Edward is on it at the beginning of the play and add the steps to show Richard's meteoric rise as well as his great ego.

The boys in the background, whom I have taken to calling "the goons" (Joseph Case, Nathan Duff, John Cox, Matt Jones, Lucas Walker, and James Krech), are adding elements of coldness, calculation, and efficiency to the play. Their costumes are a touch of Victorian but otherwise modern, and the cut of their vests gives them all broad shoulders. Their makeup (note the red under the eyes) is creepy and modern. They act as set-movers, extras in the crowd, guards, soldiers, etc. They are also responsible for lots of door opening and closing. These guys are super important for the crisp execution (no pun intended) of scene changes. When they are in sync, the effect of those doors opening (or closing) at exactly the right moment is awesome.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Sleep with Perturbations

Hastings (Ryan Meers) blesses Richmond (Philip Eoute)
in rehearsal for the ghost scene.
One of my favorite parts (of many) in Shakespeare's Richard III is the scene in which all of the people Richard has murdered (or had murdered) come to haunt him. King Richard (who is really losing it about now) is on the battlefield in his tent. As he sleeps, the ghosts appear and curse him (listen for the special sound effects/voice reverb) and then proceed to bless Richmond, who lies in his tent elsewhere on the battlefield.

Dr. Ryan Meers, chairperson of the division in which I teach, agreed to take on the role of Lord Hastings. He has developed his character well over the course of the rehearsal process—I love watching the characters grow throughout the rehearsal process. (And I think he's enjoying the whole spook thing a little too much.)

For this production, I decided to outfit the ghosts (there are 8 of them) in exact replicas of the clothing they wore in life—only in soft greys. The effect, some of which we saw for the first time last week, is absolutely stunning. The costume personnel really did some fine work on these pieces. My wife actually gasped when she saw these costumes.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Bold, Quick, Ingenious, Forward, Capable

King Edward IV (Philip Eoute)
& Queen Elizabeth (Anna Brown)
Just time for a quick post with a very blurry picture of King Edward IV (one of Richard's brothers) and his queen. Queen Elizabeth's dress is ruched silver metallic fabric with studded vertical strips and a flowing, gauzy skirt and sleeves. I wish you could see the back—there's a heavy-duty exposed silver zipper. Her hair is amazing, too, an intricate weave that Alicia Carr, our wigmaster dreamed up. Queen Elizabeth's look reminds me of some kind of Victorian steampunk Barbie. Anna pulls the whole thing off quite nicely. It's one of the most fashion fused pieces in the whole show. By "fashion fused," I mean the elements of 15th century, Victorian, and futuristic are each represented in this look.

I wanted to play up the contrasts between characters with this costume. One contrast is of this new queen (who had been a commoner) with the old queen, Mad Margaret, who is dressed very quaintly and a bit frayed around the edges (something that echos her character). Another obvious contrast is Elizabeth with her husband, who appears old-fashioned next to her. Her costume also gives her a sense of strength—again, as compared with those around her. She is edgy, a bit hard, and definitely fashion forward.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Trial of Sharp War

Jason and Daniel volunteered for rain duty.

Jason gestures to the audience.
Last week we did another rain test, our fourth. Two student stagedogs (the workers' term for themselves), Jason Anderson and Daniel Recker volunteered for the soaking. The water coming out of the pipe is warm, so while they were in the "storm," they were comfortable, but afterwards they were quite chilly. Of course, these guys were in street clothes, so I'm imagining that costumed actors will find their clothes uncomfortably heavy.

The rain is starting to look good. The width and depth of the rain on the stage looks convincing.

We are still trying to work out how best to light the rain in order for it to show up for the audience. Side light seems to work much better than top or bottom or front or back, hanging lights high and low from the side of the stage is where we are right now. Tonight we have the actual actors in the rain. That should be interesting. . . . The guy hollering in the video (below) is production manager manager Rod McCarty. He is all over getting the rain effect up and running.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Lights Burn Blue

Behind the curtain at the stage manager's
desk from which he calls the show
Today is all-day dry tech. That's theatrespeak for a technical rehearsal with no actors present. Basically, I sit at the director's desk about mid-way back in the house with the lighting designer (Rich Streeter) and the stage manager (Tim Endean), and together we set levels and timings (how long a sound or light fade will be, where it will come in the script, etc.) for the whole show. Rich (and later sound designer Bob Johansen) comes with his best ideas, and then I tweak/readjust/edit so that the show looks, sounds, and feels the way I think it should.

Richard III: The Terrible Reign is fairly tech-heavy. Lots of exact timings on lights, doors opening and closing, spooky music, clanging, and so on. There is give-and-take and lots of collaboration. It's a ton of stress (the first three scenes today took three hours), but it's the first time the show begins to really look like a show. I love it.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Indirectly Gave Direction

Undergraduate student Anna Brown has really taken hold of the role of Queen Elizabeth, wife of Edward IV, in our production. During the course of the play, poor Queen Elizabeth sees her husband die, two sons killed by Richard, and has to endure Mad Queen Margaret's haranguing about how what goes around comes around. What's worse is that Q.E. finds herself arguing with Richard III about his wooing her daughter, young Elizabeth. (Spoiler Alert: Happily for all, young Elizabeth doesn't marry Richard. But you'll have to come to the play to see whom she does marry. Or look for me to give it away in a future post.) By the way, Q.E. does have a great relationship with her mother-in-law, the Duchess of York.
Directors give notes. It's what we do.

Anna is doing a fantastic job and has a voice perfect for this complex and challenging role. She is also very open to direction. Here I'm giving here feedback and making adjustments to the work she brought to rehearsal that evening. In the background is my assistant, Donna Tillman, and in the way background is John Cox, who heads up the small ensemble of ghoulish guards, morgue workers, henchmen, and soldiers in the story.

Keep up the good work, Anna!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Determined to Prove a Villain

Here's a behind-the-scenes snippet from last week's shoot for the Richard III: The Terrible Reign trailer that went up today. My good friend Philip Eoute directed the taping. He and his crew created a sort of "mini stage" backstage with the lights from IKEA, a spiral staircase sold to us for next-to-nothing by my church, and some great sliding doors. Oh, and lots of fog. I love Richard's clunk, clunk, clunk down the metal stairs in that fabulous boot. This was just a partial take.

Makeup guru Dan Sandy just plain nailed it with this creepy makeup. And Ron's relentless stare is downright chilling. Now if we can just get this all to transfer to stage. (Film is not stage, folks. Do we all get that?)

Here's the link to the actual trailer: http://www.bju.edu/events/fine-arts/cod/richard.php.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Deep-Revolving Witty Buckingham

Design Rule #1: Make your producer look good.
I am very happy to have as part of this year's (might I say epic?) cast the show's producer, Dr. Darren Lawson. You may know that Darren is the Dean of Fine Arts and Communication at Bob Jones University, but did you know that Darren and I shared an apartment in grad school in the 80s? We have that special bond that comes only from having had another apartment mate who occupied our common living room every Saturday afternoon watching WWF. (That's pro wrestling for you unsophisticated folks.) But I digress.

Darren is playing the part of the Duke of Buckingham (Richard III's cousin) in our production. He has been relentless (in a good way) about trying to nail down who his character is and how his character changes throughout the story. 

In real life, as a husband, father (of a Bruin soccer goalie), and dean, Darren wears many hats. I'm so glad he decided to put on Buckingham's hat for this production. 

(No, Barb, I'm not adding an extra hat.)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Made Glorious


One of Richard's costumes has this great golden shoulder guard.
Richard III's opening speech is wonderful example of Shakespeare's command of the blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) poetic form. Here's an example with some paraphrase from me in italics after both couplets.

    Now is the winter of our discontent
    Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

Finally! This horrible patch of tough luck the York family's had
Is turned around because my brother's [with a play on the homonyms sun/son] in control;

    And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house

    In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

And all the bad stuff that's happened to us
Is far away and done with.

The speech goes on to explain that even though things are looking up for Richard, he's still not satisfied and will set his brothers Edward and Clarence against each other in order to seize the throne for himself. What a guy. He ends the 41-line speech with the following—

    Dive, thoughts, down to my soul. Here Clarence comes.

And so the story begins. . . .

Friday, October 12, 2012

Look to See a Troublous World

Philip (center) gives instruction
to one of the camera operators.
My good friend Philip Eoute and a team from the video productions department is working on a trailer for the Richard III: The Terrible Reign project. I don't want to give too much away, but they did some filming today, and it is looking exciting—metal stairs, those great IKEA lights (see previous post), a huge sliding door, lots of fog and great camera angles. Can't wait to see the finished product, which may be available for viewing some time next week if all goes well.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands

A box for (stage) drowning?
As mentioned previously, Richard III dispatches with a great many of his relatives and friends during the course of the play. (With friends like that . . . ) One of these is his own brother, Clarence.

History is a bit cloudy on the facts about Clarence's death, but it is generally accepted that he died in the Tower having been sent there for treason against his other brother, Edward IV (of the fabulous House of York boys—Edward, Richard, Clarence). Some historians think Clarence was beheaded, but legend has it that he was drowned in a "malmsey-butt," a huge Elizabethan wine vat.

In Shakespeare's play, Clarence pleads for his life with the two men sent to murder him and just as he talks one out of killing him, the other stabs him. And then drowns him. Just for good measure.

So we needed a contraption that would hold water. Enter this 1940s icebox/cooler, perhaps used to store fish on ice. I bought it sight unseen (well, I saw this image) and drove to outside Commerce, GA, early this morning to pick it up. It's smaller than I'd thought from the picture, but I'm sure Jason Waggoner and Dave Vierow can add wheels, etc., and make tit perfect for our stage purposes. Look for it in Act I, Scene 4.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Visitation of My Friends

Elizabethan stage at OSF


A play's better with good friends
Two weeks ago I traveled out to beautiful Ashland, OR, to benchmark two productions at  Oregon Shakespeare Festivalthe oldest Shakespeare festival in America. They've been doing 2-4 Shakespearean plays per year since 1935 with a brief hiatus during World War II. Always ready to combine pleasure with business, my sweet wife, Kim, went along for the 4-day trip.

On Day 1 we took an amazing tour of the OSF facilities—3 theatres, a greenspace, rehearsal spaces, workshops, a bookstore, and a welcome center. Quite a complex. The Elizabethan stage is an open-air theatre. They run the shows rain or shine—sometimes performing in ponchos or street clothes. The audience just endures the rain. There are some plays I would sit through; some I would not.

The company is about 125 members who each perform in 1-3 plays per 10-month season. They are primarily an equity house. Each member must re-audition every year, and the casts are chosen based on the types they need—no loyalties there!

Most interesting take-away for me—the makeup and hair folks give each actor an individual time to show up for wig/makeup. This avoids everyone's coming at one time and sitting around for ages. I'm hoping we can implement something like that.

Our good friends Rick and Suzanne Altizer surprised me (Kim was a cohort in their crime) by arriving on Day 2 of our trip. The four of us saw As You Like It (After 17 runs of that show this summer! See stuff about that one from The Greenville Shakespeare company here.) and Henry V. Wow. I love that play. (I would sit through this one in the rain.)  Here's a line that stood out to me: "When lenity and cruelty vie for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner." Richard III never really got that concept.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Were It Light Enough

We got the biggest (of course)
of the 3 black lights in the picture.
My wife went to Ikea in Atlanta this past weekend and picked up some wonderful hanging lights that I'd seen only in a catalog.

She texted me this picture to let me know that she'd snagged the three I needed for the Richard III: The Terrible Reign production and that they were even better in person. I concurred.

The lights will be used in Scene 2 where Richard woos Lady Anne over the corpse of her husband. Richard normally stops the carried body in the streets, but in our adaptation the audience should get more of a morgue feel.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Exit with the Body

A old gurney—not completely sure what ours will look like
Gotta getta gurney. It's time. We need it. We need to practice hauling bodies around on it. So yesterday my good friend (and resident lighting designer) Rich Streeter (more about him later, I'm sure) stepped up and found one on eBay. He made an offer and the kind gentleman in Ohio accepted, and voila! we have a gurney winging its way toward us. Hurrah.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Sons of Edward

Richard, Duke of York (Shelley Redlinger)
& Edward, Prince of Wales (Katrina Case)




One of the most despicable things Richard does (of many) in Shakespeare's play Richard III is to have his two young nephews, Edward and Richard, imprisoned in the Tower of London and subsequently killed. However,  history is not so definitive on this matter as is our playwright. 

The historical facts seem to be that after Richard, Duke of Gloucester (our bad guy, future King Richard III, and title character), had Queen Elizabeth's (Woodville—a commoner) marriage to his dead brother Edward IV declared illegitimate, Richard then seized the throne. He had the 12-year-old Edward (the heir apparent) sent to the tower where his brother joined him. The two princes disappeared just a month after Richard was crowned, and rumors of the day said that Richard had had the boys murdered.

Shakespeare's play leaves no doubt as to the boys' demise. In our streamlined adaptation, they are brutally killed by a character named Catesby, one of Richard's young thug-lords. Check this guy out:

KING RICHARD. Dar'st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?
CATESBY. Please you;
    But I had rather kill two enemies.
KING RICHARD. Why, then thou hast it. Two deep enemies,
    Foes to my rest, and my sweet sleep's disturbers,
    Are they that I would have thee deal upon.
    Catesby, I mean those bastards in the Tower.
CATESBY. Let me have open means to come to them,
    And soon I'll rid you from the fear of them.
KING RICHARD. Thou sing'st sweet music.


Siblings: Princess Elizabeth of York (Margaret Stegall)
with Princes Edward & Richard
For our Richard III: The Terrible Reign, I decided to cast college girls as the young princes. Katrina and Shelley are doing a great job learning to act like pre-teen boys. They really are lovely young ladies, but you can't tell it from these pictures! I love the way Edward the prince's fur collar turned out. The boys' costumes have a strong Victorian feel. The simple golden crown leans toward the 15th century though.

Monday, October 1, 2012

The Thrall of Margaret

Beneth Jones as Queen Margaret
with me as pleased costume designer

Detail of Margaret's ruff, bodice, sleeve, & Starbucks
Mad Queen Margaret is one of Shakespeare's most interesting females (not that there are that many). She is the widow of King Henry VI, who has, like so many, been killed off by our title character Richard. Margaret's son Edward was also killed by Richard. (Before you feel too sorry for Margaret, you should know that in the Henry VI plays, Margaret was not only involved in the murder of Richard's younger brother, Rutland, but she also flaunted it by waving a napkin drenched in Rutland's blood in Richard's face.) So Margaret haunts the castle at the mercy of the York family, who she believes destroyed her life. She proceeds to curse a number of characters in the play. At first everyone ignores her rantings as those of a crazy woman and a "hateful, bitter hag," but when the curses start to come true, Richard and others have to pay attention to her. Mad Margaret's big scene in Act I, Scene 3, is emotionally charged and a challenge for any actor.

Beneth Jones is taking on this role, and I'm so excited to be working with her. Get a load of the hair, makeup (thank you, Alicia & Dan), and this incredible costume (thanks, costume room stitchers). I am thrilled with the sparkly, cobwebby material I found in Atlanta and the wonderfully gauzy fabric on the ruff. Margaret's costume is a mix of styles—the ruched sleeves come down over the edge of the hand reminiscent of the 15th century; the high-necked ruff smacks of the Victorian era, and the metal straps and buckles on the bodice seem to be from a future time. 

Friday, September 28, 2012

Like an Angel, with Bright Hair

Alicia puts extensions in Marg's hair

Dan works on the lips
Elizabeth, the future Queen
Three photos on this one. I just couldn't resist. And still so many more to post from the photo shoot earlier this week. These are of my daughter Margaret (now you see why I couldn't resist), who will be playing the part of young Elizabeth.

She doesn't have any lines in the play—just walks in, stands around, and has a great costume. Check out that shimmering, sequined, wine-colored fabric from Mood. It's fantastic. And the folks in the costume room did a great job with the cartridge pleats I asked for on the dropped waist. Elizabeth's costume is another example of the play's melding of period styles—the 15th century waistline/silhouette and simple crown mixed with the modern fabrics and cartridge pleats at the hips.

A word about hair and makeup in the production. Dan Sandy and his team are pulling out all the stops on this one. The makeup is fresh and forward thinking. And the hair designs that Alicia Carr has come up with are beyond my wildest hopes. I am loving working with these folks!

Keep watching for more amazing stuff from the hair & makeup people. (HINT: Lady Anne looks like she's stepped off a Paris runway.)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Bay of Death

Dale, Randy, and Rod problem solving on the set
Setwise, the look I'm going for with this Richard III: The Terrible Reign set is stark, clinical, and sterile with an undertone of evil. In the adaptation Richard has nearly a dozen people killed during the course of the play, and the word "blood" (or "bloody") occurs over 40 times. That repetition and Richard's brutal actions got me thinking about what metaphor best embodied his character. (The biblical "whited sepulchre" came to mind; however, that image wouldn't transfer well to stage.) In the end, I was inspired by research of old morgues and slaughterhouses. Morgues appear scrupulously clean but are in reality gruesome and sometimes grotesque. Slaughterhouses do a bloody business but can be hosed down and almost all evidence of what's happened there eliminated. I see that as befitting Shakespeare's Richard (who is likely not much like the historical Richard). Richard is all courtesy and polish outwardly but greed, envy, and wickedness inside. Richard has his relatives and "friends" mercilessly murdered but tidies up the business as if nothing untoward has happened—the supreme example being his wooing of Lady Anne over her husband's murdered corpse. (PURIST ALERT: I've done the unpardonable in this adaptation and changed the identity of the corpse from Anne's father-in-law, King Henry VI, to her husband, Edward. Richard killed both. Every time I've ever seen this play on stage or screen, I think that's who it should be, so I changed it.) Our set looks clean but very black—just like Richard. The shiny surface will also reflect light well—especially red light, reinforcing the major theme of blood.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Enter KING RICHARD

How 'bout this for doors?
So many costume photos to show. But first, here's a post about the set, which has taken a back seat with all of the costume excitement. I made a quick trip to Home Depot and Lowe's over lunch today and look what I found for some of the doors on the set—grey plastic corrugated sheeting. Perfect. There will be a dozen doors across the back of the set. Lots of doors will make for quick entrances and exits, a key, I think, to making this play (incidentally, the second longest in the canon when performed uncut—this adaptation uses about 60% of the text) move along quickly. I'm eager to see what scenic artist Jason Waggoner can do with several of these plugged into my designs.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fashions to Adorn

Today was a photo shoot for what we call our SMART (Sharing Masterworks of Art) guide. It's a pamphlet we put out for high school students/teachers and anyone else interested in a little background for the play—family trees, Shakespearean information, etc. We also take portraits/photos of the characters to give a visual reference for understanding the relationships. Photographer Hal Cook does an incredible job with helping make the costumes and the people in them look great. We got some wonderful images today.

These are shots of Ron Pyle as Richard III and his boot. Love the spikes and buckles that Barb Filipsic came up with. That boot is on only one leg—his right—and has sort of a prosthetic feel, steampunk style. And those big square buttons are fantastic on Richard's vest. Thank you, Mood!

More great photos to come in the next few days.

Friday, September 21, 2012

All the Cake's a Stage

My amazing 50th birthday cake, created by Sharon Lambright
The cake pictured at left was part of a gift from my in-laws for my big day. You would not believe the detail—tiny burnished scrolls emblazoned with the titles of Shakespearean plays around the edges, ticket facsimiles complete with torn edges, a miniature stage strewn with roses, comedy-tragedy masks, sproinging stars, an open script, a bust of William Shakespeare with a tiny red clown nose beside him, and a genuine FiggyWhig's cupcake (lit). The ultimate in personalized confections.

Well, it's upon me—the end of my fiftieth year. I'm not going to get too sentimental here, but I do find myself so very thankful for the many blessings that are daily showered upon me. Not many people have the luxury of blending their vocations with their hobbies. I'm thankful that I can practice my art without worry that I will be forced to compromise my principles and that there is a place where I can use my talents to bring honor and glory to my Creator, Who has given me every good thing.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Fitting for Your Purpose

Becky Sandy working with Ratcliffe's jacket.
This is David Stephens, a sophomore who will be playing the role of Ratcliffe in Richard III: The Terrible Reign. The character is one of King Richard III's most trusted advisors. He presides over or participates in several executions—have I mentioned that R3 is a bloody play?

We are experimenting here again with the neoprene. You get a feeling of the stiffness of the material at the (unfinished—it won't stick out like that) front fold. I like the way it makes a strong silhouette and gives a forward, modern look to our production. And that strong v-shape never hurts either.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Eyes Being Vexed

Lauren Polson Hamblen as Regan and Ron Pyle (in chair) as Gloucester
Someone commented on the background of this blog, so I figured I'd explain it in this post. This is a photo from a 2005 production of King Lear that I designed and directed. In researching the text, I found lots of references to land and land ownership. Some of Shakespeare's phrases reminded me of images I got while reading Chekhov and Tolstoy—especially the short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" That led me into researching images of land/possessions and people in turn-of-the-century Russia—the vastness of the empire, the desire for more than what one has. That informed my decision to set the play in a very large kingdom with some greedy and ruthless heiresses. The coldness/harshness of the terrain I imagined is also reflected in the costume design. I noticed the word "fox" used a number of times in the text of the play, and I liked the multiple connotations of that word that even modern audiences can relate to. So I dressed the woman in Edwardian with touches of fox fur—especially Regan, who at a point in the play demands that her husband put out Gloucester's eyes. I love the chair that Dave Vierow made for this scene. It was inspired by some electric chair research.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Yon Fellow in His Grave

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have just uncovered a stone frieze that they think may be part of a medieval choir stall in the heretofore lost Greyfriars church. The site is located under a parking garage (or "car park," as the British say) in Leicester, England. The folks at the dig are looking for none other than good ole King Richard III's grave. They've found two skeletons—a man and a woman—and sent them for DNA testing. (They'll compare to a known descendant.) The male skeleton has what appear to be battle wounds and scoliosis, but no hunchback. Historical writings of the time state that Richard's body was taken to Leicester, which is north of London, for burial after he died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. These discoveries—and what's still to be found—would make a great sidebar to our educational materials for Richard III: The Terrible Reign.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Last Scene of All

Touchstone (Philip Eoute) rants to Will-Yum (Paul Michael Garrison) while Audrey (Nikki Eoute) attends.
Just put another show in the box last weekend. The Greenville Shakespeare Company finished a 16-performance run of As You Like It with two shows Friday and Saturday nights. These shows are designed in what might be called my Early Goodwill period. I enjoy the stretch to put a play on the boards with a very limited budget since that is what I expect many of my students will have to do when they leave school. We stitch, dye, paint, and combine clothing bits and pieces to come up with what I hope is a semi-cohesive whole. As with a high-budget show, color plays a huge role in making the show seem unified. One of the costume pieces we got the most comments on this year was Touchstone's (Philip Eoute) motley/pied pants. They were a pair of blue window-pane men's linen dress pants hand-painted with orange and green designs and hemmed quite high. I hope they said "clown" without screaming "court jester." Add lime green high tops and what more do you need?

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Upon the Giddy Footing

Here's some research I found on 15th-century men's shoes. (Schnabelschuhe means "beak shoes.") The second picture is what I found on the streets of NYC. Love the pointy, slightly upturned toes. The gun-metal buckles give it an industrial edge, I think. One of Richard's (the character's) shoes will be transformed into a corrective boot by adding an amazing leather leg brace created by Barb Filipsic of our costume room.


Friday, September 7, 2012

Some Men of Sound Direction

I spent the better part of a day this week with my good friend Kenon Renfrow, pianist/musician extraordinaire, working on sound for the Richard project. Ken & I have collaborated several times over the years  (King Lear, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew to name a few), and I enjoy hardly anything more than to throw some bare-bones ideas at Ken and watch him work his magic on a keyboard. Here we are in his home studio listening to drum sounds. The guy in the foreground is Bob Johansen, our sound mixer at the theater. I am the (very poor) camera man. (Hey, it's a low-end cellphone. What do you expect?)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

A Keen Encounter of Our Wits

Cast of R3: The Terrible Reign at the table reading
Tonight was the table reading for the November 2012 production of Richard III: The Terrible Reign. After auditions and weeks of callbacks (last Spring), it was wonderful to finally hear the voices of this amazing cast (including Ron Pyle, Beneth Jones, Darren Lawson, Corretta Grass) reading the text. The rehearsals for the next few weeks will be spent around this table in the loft of our theater. Now come many hours of digging for meaning, figuring out pronunciations of names, etc. I find this to be a satisfying part of the rehearsal process.

Smooth'd His Wrinkled Front

A little neoprene goes a long way
Actor Matthew Arnold gets a fitting from draper/seamstress extraordinaire Becky Sandy and me. The jacket is completely quilted, and we are experimenting with neoprene as trim (more neoprene news in future posts). Should be interesting. I'm hoping it will make the character (Catesby) fall more on the futuristic end of the time continuum for the world of this production. Take note of the footgear (the character's, not mine). I'll try to snap a photo of these sweet shoes and post it at some point.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Before Its Time

Here's another sneak peek at some of the Richard III: The Terrible Reign costumes. This is an unfinished garment belonging to Richmond (a.k.a. Henry VII). Our costume department's resident milliner/cobbler/embellisher, Barb Filipsic, has done some fabulous work for this upcoming production. Since this photo was taken, she's added studded leather buckles. The stylized armored collar fabric is another Mood Fabric (NYC) find. Each scale is a tiny mirror. The gold fabric underneath is pretty great, too. Can't wait to see this under the lights onstage.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Scarce Half Made Up

Working on Richard's coat
That title is a snippet from Richard III's opening speech (the "Now is the winter of our discontent" one) and it describes this picture, taken in the costume workroom, well. I'm holding up a swath of the most glorious beaded fabric that will be on the right arm only of Richard's coat. I found that fabric (intended to be reminiscent of 15th-century chainmail) and that glorious iridescent green leather at Mood Fabric in NYC this summer. Also in the picture is Ruth, the head of the costume shop. She's great to work with and puts up with my whims and changes of mind. So glad she was on board with the leather collar's having an unfinished edge—unfinished is perfect for a guy like Richard III.