Sarah Talbot

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” – William Shakespeare (As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII).

I thought I might share some experiences about some of the costumes, contexts and characters I’ve been. Some strange, some awkward, and some rather comfortable. Some are designed to blend in, others to stand out.

You can play a character without a costume, but a costume definitely makes the character. Even when not playing a ‘showcase’ or ‘lead’ role a costume helps develop a character that can be played within the ensemble. I’ve played a peasant/worker in several shows but the costume determines ‘who’ I am, such as a cranky shops person, who is tired of the street urchin who keeps stealing from her basket as she goes from stall to stall, or a high society townsfolk shopping for trinkets.

Townsfolk from “Les Miserables” 2009

Shopsperson from the “Sound of Music” 2014

I’ve worn some rather awkward costumes, some of which I am still getting comments about (An audience remembers the characters that are the complete opposite of your normal self). A dominatrix themed ‘whore’ in “Miss Saigon” wearing a corset and fishnets, or a ‘showgirl’ rocking a blonde wig in the same show. I’ve even gone so far as to glueing on a beard in costuming as a ‘manager’ in “Phantom of the Opera”.

‘Yvonne’ in “Miss Saigon” 2015

Blonde Showgirl in “Miss Saigon” 2015 – Photo courtesy of Jenni Potter)

There’s the comfortable. The most comfortable of costumes I’ve worn would have to be the nuns habit in “The Sound of Music”. Really helped to get in the mood when chanting Latin, which is pretty much all the nuns chorus does… ok, I got to do some killer high notes too.

I should make mention that stage costumes are by the design and creation of many talented people in Wardrobe, Hair and Makeup. They are usually the kindest people that know you so well (Let’s face it, they need to in order to do their jobs), but have stressfully short time allocations to complete the costumes, and then maintain (launder and repair) them throughout the shows run. So if any of these people read this, thankyou so much for your talents.

Then there’s the Cosplaying. That’s are whole different beast, as costumes are of your own choice, and in some cases; own design. I’m a fan of many franchises in pop culture, Star Trek and DC Universe mainly (though Sherlock, Arrow and Gotham are always at the top of my watch list). I’ve attended a few conventions as a Trekkie (OS and TNG) and as ‘Wonder Woman’. The thing about attending these convention is that you adopt the character you cosplay as. It is quite exciting as photographers ask you to pose, families ask you for permission to take pictures, or even visiting celebrities picking you out of a seated crowd, asking you to show some moves (Thank you, Manu Bennett (from ‘Arrow‘ and “The Shannara Chronicles“).

Trekkie from “The Original Series” seated in the Captains Chair with a ‘Tribble’, at SuperNova Pop Culture Convention

Wonder Woman at SuperNova Pop Culture Convention Gold Coast 2015

Trekkie of “The Next Generation” at SuperNova Pop Culture Convention

It is sometimes a challenge to find a character and develop them to a point where you can embody them. I’ve found that ‘talking it out’ to someone helps, creating a back story, finding a context in which the character finds themselves.

Context searching is really helpful particularly on photo shoots. You’re essentially doing single scene work. By figuring out the context, you can figure out the action or the look it in a photo shoot scenario. In my head, I’m always asking “What would ………… do?”.

Photo courtesy of @pandomimages

Photo courtesy of @pandomimages

Photo courtesy of @pandomimages

Photo courtesy of @pandomimages

Now, I’m obviously not an award winning expert in this, but this is the process I tend to follow, even when I’m playing an unimportant background character. I find by knowing my character, I’m able to remember my lines and/or lyrics. Script without context tends to get me lost in the oblivion (or at least makes the character a little harder to find).

Singing is a little different, particularly in a non-stage context. Costuming is not so relevant in these instances, however context is. Most singers would say that it is important to know what you are singing about, otherwise it is difficult to convey the message or emotion to an audience. Musicians (Instrumentalists) would have a similar mantra, particulary when performing as a soloist.

So I can really sum this article with 3 C’s – Costume, Context and Character.

…and with a little imagination, have a whole heap of fun performing. One of the perks of being a ‘CrazyMusicChick’.