'THE SPINNING'

The Spinning opened at Balagan Theatre May 10th at the Capitol Hill Arts Center in Seattle. I designed and constructed the costumes for The Spinning, a new S&M musical and a modern love story written by Seattle's Dashel Milligan.

Collaboration is the most important part of creating theatre, and my favorite aspect of costume design. I have loved working on an original piece because the process of arriving at the final show was really a collaboration of all theatrical design aspects.

The Spinning was a timeless story and much of the action was set in an alternative reality. I didn't have the set restrictions of time period and place that normally accompany a script. This allowed me to use aspects of a variety of places and time periods to create a distinctive look for each character. Mood, tone, and line came first in my costume designs, and a through line of S&M wear kept the group of individual characters cohesive.

Here are some reviews:

From the Seattlest: 'The Spinning' @ CHAC:
http://seattlest.com/2007/05/11/the_spinning_chac.php

From the Seattle Weekly (Scroll down past the In The Kafka Colony review):
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-05-16/arts/in-the-kafka-colony-treats-all-things-kafkaesque-with-a-light-touch.php

'TITUS ANDRONICUS'

Titus Andronicus, directed by Beth Peterson, opened at Seattle's Balagan Theatre in January, 2007.

The production was set in the American 'wild west' when the government of the east was brought to the territories of the west.

The Romans represented the eastern government and the laws of the cities, while the Goths were the 'lawless' pioneers and cowboys who traveled west to settle the territories when they were still wild.

My design concept is illustrated with the photograph of the Romans Marcus, Titus, and Lucius, with Lavinia, and the contrasting sketch of Chiron, a Goth. The Romans wore clean lines, predominately navy and gray, with touches of white. The Goths were rugged and weathered, with an earth toned color palette.

Photo courtesy of Balagan Theatre.