Last week I volunteered to be a dresser for our first Autumn term production The Visit. I found this a challenge at first as I had to learn the storyline and who is who as the tech rehearsals ran, which makes knowing who to change when tricky, but thankfully Estelle (Head of Running Wardrobe) had a video of the run through so I learnt soon enough by watching that. This also came in handy as we ran the video at the same time rehearsals were running to keep track of the story as we couldn't see or hear the performance from one of our backstage rooms (that I was stationed in). By the second dress rehearsal we realised we had to alter a quick change with two girls who only had about 20 seconds to change, so to solve this we moved their change to a spot behind the set so they saved seconds with less travelling, and we also eliminated non essential elements of the costume to save time, from then on the change went smoothly. By opening night I had worked out my system (that I've learned from Stage Experience) and more or less knew who was coming when.
The production had a cast of 17 who played multiple parts, therefore they had base costumes that were added to for each character.
First I pre set the four changes I had in my room on a row of chairs in the order they would happen. First; Man One (Linda) would walk through and collect the Mayor's (Jes) jacket. My first quick change was next as two girls (Elizabeth and Niamh) came off in their base costumes from being grandchildren and we changed them to Koby and Loby, blind twins, they each had a bolero, sunglasses and green ribbons to put on, which were poppered at the back. Next I helped Niamh change into Mrs Ill, which involved changing her base costume to a delicate collared top that fastened down the centre back. My final change for act one was to change Elizabeth into the Doctor, adding a blazer, scarf and glasses to her base costume.
During the interval I would set the really quick change behind set, apart from their shoes which they wore at the beginning of act two, and set up my first lot of changes for act two. The changes were not tricky, just adding a scarf, glasses or a coat when needed so I pre set them and the actors changed themselves, meaning I could focus on the quick changes that did need assistance.
Act two and three were done one after the other, so as it went on I pre set what was coming next ready for the actors. The first quick change for me in act two was the one behind set so at beginner's call for act two I would go to the dressing room side stage where Estelle and the other dressers were stationed doing all the changes that happened in there. When Elizabeth and Niamh would come off they threw me their shoes, which I then ran over to behind set to be ready for them, Then they would do a short scene crossing the stage as Koby and Loby and meet me behind set to change. They took off the glasses, bows and boleros and donned their shoes, a shawl and a hat each to go back on as Women One and Two. After this I would take their Koby/Loby outits back to Estelle as she needed them for a later quick change. I would then set up my next lot of changes on the chairs. My other quick change came at the end of act two when Isobel (playing Claire Zachanassian) ran off stage to change into a wedding dress. We had near everyone on this change, one person changing the shoes over, two putting the petticoat and dress over her head and fastening the lacing at the back of the dress, one to cover accessories which included gloves, a tiara and a veil and the wedding ring. We had about 3 minutes to do this change but it was a fiddly process with the lacing and shoe buckles.
For the rest of the show I just set out the accessory changes on the chairs as they were coming up.
It was fun to work with Estelle and students on the acting course to put on a production. Also to see what Estelle had to do as Head of Running Wardrobe as I am thinking of applying for this role next term alongside my Major Project.
The production had a cast of 17 who played multiple parts, therefore they had base costumes that were added to for each character.
First I pre set the four changes I had in my room on a row of chairs in the order they would happen. First; Man One (Linda) would walk through and collect the Mayor's (Jes) jacket. My first quick change was next as two girls (Elizabeth and Niamh) came off in their base costumes from being grandchildren and we changed them to Koby and Loby, blind twins, they each had a bolero, sunglasses and green ribbons to put on, which were poppered at the back. Next I helped Niamh change into Mrs Ill, which involved changing her base costume to a delicate collared top that fastened down the centre back. My final change for act one was to change Elizabeth into the Doctor, adding a blazer, scarf and glasses to her base costume.
During the interval I would set the really quick change behind set, apart from their shoes which they wore at the beginning of act two, and set up my first lot of changes for act two. The changes were not tricky, just adding a scarf, glasses or a coat when needed so I pre set them and the actors changed themselves, meaning I could focus on the quick changes that did need assistance.
Act two and three were done one after the other, so as it went on I pre set what was coming next ready for the actors. The first quick change for me in act two was the one behind set so at beginner's call for act two I would go to the dressing room side stage where Estelle and the other dressers were stationed doing all the changes that happened in there. When Elizabeth and Niamh would come off they threw me their shoes, which I then ran over to behind set to be ready for them, Then they would do a short scene crossing the stage as Koby and Loby and meet me behind set to change. They took off the glasses, bows and boleros and donned their shoes, a shawl and a hat each to go back on as Women One and Two. After this I would take their Koby/Loby outits back to Estelle as she needed them for a later quick change. I would then set up my next lot of changes on the chairs. My other quick change came at the end of act two when Isobel (playing Claire Zachanassian) ran off stage to change into a wedding dress. We had near everyone on this change, one person changing the shoes over, two putting the petticoat and dress over her head and fastening the lacing at the back of the dress, one to cover accessories which included gloves, a tiara and a veil and the wedding ring. We had about 3 minutes to do this change but it was a fiddly process with the lacing and shoe buckles.
For the rest of the show I just set out the accessory changes on the chairs as they were coming up.
It was fun to work with Estelle and students on the acting course to put on a production. Also to see what Estelle had to do as Head of Running Wardrobe as I am thinking of applying for this role next term alongside my Major Project.
https://aub.ac.uk/event/visit-friedrich-Durrenmatt/