the Last Great Lady - Notes from read through

Polly: Darken hair for performance

            Very well styled

            Clothes a little bit louder than everyone else

            Slightly bohemian (from mum)

            Corset – Ask Polly

            Victorian dress and shawl

Must be able to dance in costume

Lea: contemporary suit

            Look at photo plate from book

            Slightly flamboyant waistcoat

Everyday jacket + morning jacket

Waistcoat, shirt, trousers, tie           

            Must be able to dance in costume

Nick: High Aristocrat

            Very styled

            A little bit quirky

            A little bit off kilter

            Victorian trousers shirt waistcoat and tie

Alan: very conservative

            Greying

            Muddy colours

            Very formal traditional wear

            Trousers, jacket, waistcoat, shirt, tie

4- 6 dancers still undecided

Victorian ghosts but similar to last time

Maybe a bit festive

A high end Victorian ball

1 dancer will play the part as the artist

Need a traditional artist costume

Look at pictures of Victorian artists

SOTS - Work Experience evaluation

The sign of the strawberry a sight specific promenade play set in Strawberry hill house, Twickenham. The play is a tour of the house which gets interrupted by the ghost of Horace Walpole who developed the little cottage to the gothic house you see today. Also on the tour is Hero or Horatio Smith from Sidcup who agrees to stay in the haunted spectral bedchamber to discover more about his heritage. And the heroine Isabella who loves gothic novels and is looking for her ‘knight in shining armour’. The play moves through the rooms in the house and as the audience walks through the corridors there are ghosts lurking in the shadows and hiding behind doorways.

Christina Artemis the director got in touch with Leane the supervisor in November 2011 and Leane put the team together of Me, Amy and Emma.  We started by reading the script and coming up with designs and ideas about the characters. We had to design for 5 main characters and a group of male and female dancers. Some of the characters were dressed in historical garments which we made and some where modern day which we sourced. The others went up to strawberry hill to get inspiration for the costumes and did the majority of the design work. I helped more with the sourcing as I am less of a designer but I did feel that the design process helped when it came to making the costumes as I knew exactly what was wanted. Once we had come up with a set of designs we sent them to the director and the writer to confirm that we had the same ideas as them. There were some designs that were exactly as they wanted and other which needed alterations. The design we had the most problems with was Isabella as we all had very different ideas about how we wanted her to look. Her costume changed throughout the design process and wasn’t finalised until the dress rehearsal. Once the designs were finalised we started making the calico toiles which we took up to London for out first fittings which took place on the same day as the read through.

We arrived at strawberry hill house on the 18^th of March which was the technical rehearsal. We started to set up the costume room and the actors came down individually for the final fittings. The dancers arrived for there fittings which were incredibly stressful as we only had the measurements a week or so before so the costumes were unfinished and needed a lot of alterations. The first few days up until opening night were very busy we had all the costumes ready for the costume rehearsal however the dancer’s costumes needed distressing. We also had to do hair and make up and the dress rehearsal was out first opportunity to see how this was going to work. Everyone was really pleased with how the dress rehearsal went. We were supposed to watch the dress rehearsal however we were all far to busy to making last minute alterations to do this. I think in future we would make sure we had a fitting slightly earlier than we did as this meant a lot of last minute work however this was not practical as getting up to London to meet with everyone too lots of time and money.

We spent the day before opening night distressing the dancer’s costume. We had to create 8 costumes in 4 male and 4 female. For the female dancers we made and distressed bodices and we hired 4 historical underskirts from the costume store which we tacked up at different levels and added muslin which we had distressed to give them an aged look. Everything we did to the hired pieces had to be reversible. For the male dancers we brought white shirts made breaches which we distressed and added muslin to. The dancer’s costumes were really effective and they really came to life in the darkened halls of the house. I feel that these costumes really showcased all our skills. Once the run of the production started things became much calmer. We would arrive early to make any repairs and make sure everything was ready for the performance, dress the actors and do their hair and makeup. Then prepare and do the quick changes. The costume room became a central point for all the actors and they would come in to chat before and after the performance. We all felt that we made a really close bond with the actors and at the end of the production everyone was like family.

I feel that I learnt so much from this experience, and I am really glad that I saw the whole process from start to finish as it gave me an idea how the whole thing worked. I really enjoyed the dressing process and I feel that this is something I am now going to think about doing when I graduate. I enjoyed it because you had to constantly be doing several things at once and there were certain jobs I did for each actor. Everyday there was a different set of challenges and problems which we had to overcome and this meant that we were always kept busy.

We had really positive reviews and comments from all the cast and crew and both the director and writer said they would provide references and be happy to work with us again. There is also a possibility of the play being run every year to help raise money and promote the house.

Strawbeery hill house

This is from the room where the opening scene takes place, this is where all the characters are introduced to the audience and the story begins.

This is the staircase where Grace summons the spirits and all the ghosts start to appear.

This is the library where we learn more about Horace and he invites Hero and Isabella to stay the night and see if Hero is worthy enough to learn the secret.

 This is the room Isabella sits eating her tea, the audience walks past and see her and as they are walking along the corridor the ghosts jump out on them.

This is the Spectral Bed Chamber where the mad monk appears, and we discover grace is not what she seamsto be.

These are photos of the house from the outside.

SOTS - Cast

Actor: Leigh Stevenson

Character: Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole built Strawberry Hill House and the play is about his ghost which is still haunting the house.  

Actor: Nicky Diss

Character: Grace

Grace is a Horace’s new servant but is pretending to be a male ghost but is really a ghost hunter writing a paper on ghosts and very excited to see the Mad Monk.

Actor: Tom Judd

Character: Hero

Hero Has come to visit the house and gets caught up in everything and is finally revealed to be Horace’s long lost heir.

Actor: Emily Holden

Character: Isabella

Isabella has also come to see the house and is fascinated by Gothic horror. When a position for a heroine comes up she jumps at the chance to become part of the story.

Actor: Bernice Pike

Character: Narrator

The narrator acts as a tour guide round the house as well as narrating the piece.

Dancers

Dominic Hansford, Matt Kennedy, Ben Phelps, Dulcie Garcia, Emma Crawford, Georgian Krelle.

The dancers scare the audience as there walking around the house and finish the performance with a masquerade ball.

Dom Emma

 Georgia

SOTS- Preformance Schedule

4:30-5:00               Arrive at strawberry Hill house and set up the room for the evening, checking all the costumes are prepared and to a good standard, making sure all the clothes are on the right hangers or chares and everything is tidy.  Get out sewing machines, and set up hair and makeup. Carry out anything that needs repairing or altering.

6:00-6:30              Actors start to arrive. Start by dressing Leigh in everything apart from the waistcoat. He then gets hair and makeup and once done the waistcoat goes on and he is ready. We then dress Nicky and she then has makeup. Tom, Emily and Bernice dress themselves and do their own hair and makeup as they are in modern clothes which are much easier though we are there to help with any fastenings if needed.

6:30-7:00              The dancers arrive, generally by now the actors are readfy so we can focus entirely on the dancers. We start by dressing them and lacing up the girls bodices and boys breaches. We then paint them white using face paint and talcum powder, and add dark make up and put their hair in messy buns which are then Talcum powdered to.

7:15                        Performance Starts

7:45                        All the dancers are ready and everybody has left the costume room. We tidy and prepare for the quick changes and end of performance.

8.15                        Go up to the Holbine Chamber where Leigh has his first change. We take the monks costume and the dancers masks. We have to be in position early as the audience walk past and we would not be able to get through.

8:45                        Leigh’s quick change takes place. His waistcoat is unbuttoned and taken off and the backpack and cloak is put on. The cloak is wrapped around and fastened with a cord and his gloves and put on. We then take is waistcoat and move to the Great hall where we put the dancers masks on and fasten with grips. We then wait in the next room for Leigh to finish his scene and come to change back into his costume which he was wearing before. As soon as he is dressed we then bring the monks costume down and hang it up.

9.15                        Performance ends. We undress all the actors and check the costume and hang them on the correct hanger.  Prepare anything that needs washing and hang up and Febreeze all other costumes. Tidy the room for the next day

9:30-9:45              Pack up the cars and leave.

All timings are approximate and change slightly every evening.

SOTS - Photos

These photos were taken during the matinee as the first few scenes were in daylight. I am really pleased with how they costumes look during the performances and i feel they work really well.

Horace Walpole
I created the waistcoat, Amy created the Breaches and shirt was hired from the costume store.

Grace

Emma made the waistcoat and shirt, Leane made the Breaches

Isabella

This costume was entirely sourced as Isabella arrives and to begin with is part of the audience so she needed to look modern.

Narrator

this costume was sourced from Miss Selferage

 

Hero

Hero like Isabella arrives late but also as part of the audience.

 

Dancers

We create the dancers costumes, the girls are wearing hired Underskirts with distressed muslin on them and tacked into place. we then created bodices which we broke down and added muslin to. The boys are wearing breaches which we created then broke down and sourced shirts which were then broken down and died. we put them in tights to save time when painting then white.

Out of all the costumes I feel the dancers work the best as they look so good in the dim light. We also did all the make up for the dancers.

This final photo was taken after the performance when we did a photo shot of the cast.

SOTS - Opening Night

After the dress rehearsal we had loads to do, we drove up to strawberry hill early but discovered we couldn't go into the room until 2. We went to Kingston again to source tights for the dancers as well as extra make up. we also looked for alternate dresses for Isabella. once this was done we went back to strawberry and started barking down the dancers costume.
Braking down was something which I have never done before so I was learning as I went along. i found it a really fun process and I feel the costumes changed very dramatically once this had been done and they now fit the requirements much better. I fell that as the performance goes on we will continue to brake down and add to there costumes and it will be a changing proses. once the costumes were broken down we started to dress the actors and start on make up. How ever we received a message that one of the dancers, Charlotte had hurt her ankle at collage and was being taken to A&E this not only meant that they were a dancer down but two of the other dancers had driven here to and were also going to be late. we dresses and made up the dancer we did have and were ready in time for the call but now had to wait for the others to turn up. we prepared ourselves and as soon as they arrived we worked as a team to get them ready. After this the performance ran smoothly and everyone was happy with the outcome.
I am having a brake for 2 days now as I have to be at uni for my SDP project but i will be back to dress for Thursday nights performance.

SOTS - Dress Rehearsal

Preparation for the Dress rehearsal was very busy as we had to make alterations to the dancers costumes and  finish them off as well as making any further alterations to the main actors costumes. I had to work on Horace's waistcoat to adapt the centre front line slightly as well as fishing a bodice. Once we got to strawberry hill we discovered that the room we had set up had been used during the day so we had to start by re-setting up our space and be ready to pack away each evening. We then set about finishing the costumes and preparing for the evening show. At around 5 we discovered that we didn't have enough eyelets for the dancers bodices and that we needed extra fabric for the drastically adapted monks cloak. Me and Leane found there was a fabric land not far away in Kingston so we left to go source extra supplies, this should have been a 20 minute job and the sat nave certainly indicated so however we are not used to London traffic or roads. We did mange to get the things we needed but this put us behind for dressing and make up for the dress rehearsal. This taught us that preparation earlier in the day is key and to make sure you always have an extra supply of items such as eyelets, poppers and buttons if it is possible to do so. we managed to get everyone in costume and made up in time for the call however we were unable to brake down the dancers costumes as originally planned.
once the performance was underway the others left for there quick change positions. I was to stay behind in the costume room incase anyone needed me. As it is a sight specific walk through production we cannot be where the actors need us the hole way through waiting as we would get in the way of the audience, instead we have decided to keep a person in the costume room as a constant to make any quick repairs. In the first scene Georgia, one of the dancers, costumes needed repairing.  the seam had gone on the side of here bodice. she tole me she had 20 minutes till she was needed again so i took her out of it and re stitched the sides, i then started to lace her up into the bodice but several eyelets in she was called to be in position. as her bodice was undone at the back and she was to hide behind a doorway until the audience walked past i went with her and hid behind the door waiting. I managed to lace the majority of the bodice up when the scream indicating the audience were moving was heard. I hid as Georgia did her part then once the audience had moved on i finished lacing the bodice then returned to the costume room. luckily the rest of the evening was quite, we packed the room away with a long list of jobs for the next day!

To do:
- Isabella's dress is to long and she is uncomfortable in it, source alternate dresses and she will also bring in alternate dresses. Check with Diane and Christina.
- brake down dancers costumes and make further alterations and add muslin
- the cord holding the breaches up is not strong enough and snapped during the performance on Leigh's trousers. use shoe laces and dye.

Sign of the strawberry - tech rehearsal

Yesterday was the tech rehearsal at strawberry hill. It was really exciting and from the time we arrived we didn't stop. We started by fitting the dancers costumes, this involved finding appropriate sized underskirts then fitting the the dancers and pinning them up so the had enough movement. Once off we takes them into place. We then fitted the bodices and marked the alteration to do for the dress rehearsals which are today. When then fitted the breaches and shirts for them men. Later to night we will drape the muslin over and attach. We then fitted the clothes on the main actors and made the final decisions on costumes and marked any final alterations. All these costumes fitted really well as we had already had first fittings in calico toils. We are all happy with the final outcomes and will sort jewellery and makeup tonight at the costume rehearsal. The biggest changes are to the monks cloak as there was a last minute decision to make the monk apple taller though i create the cowl Emma took over on crating and altering the costume as i was fitting the dancers at the time. The evening was very busy and we were constantly making changes and having discussions with the director, writer and actors themselves. I feel that we all learnt loads and i am really looking forward to the costume run though tonight. We have also organised our room so we have a set base for the run of the performance to dress and do make up.

The Sign Of The Strawberry

Over the last few months me and 3 others have been designing, making and sourcing the costumes for a sight specific, walk through play which will be taking place at Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham. The story tells of the Ghost of Horace Walpole, the Gothic novelist who used to live in the house and how he finds his heir, a most unsuspecting hero. As a group we have made and sourced the costumes for 5 main costumes and the costumes for 8 dancers. We are currently creating the final makes and finishing putting everything together. The tech and dress rehearsals start on the 18th and the performance runs from the 20th to the 29th. during this time we will be staying in London and working on the run of the show. This project has become part of my work experience for my self directed project so I will write a 1000 word essay on it to finish as well as regularly updating my blog.

Interesting links
Strawberry hill 
Artemis Theatre Company