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    Photo Morgan Smith

    November 07, 2016

    Dressing a Shrew

    I’ll set the scene: you’re standing in a dark hall, and an actor runs at you full speed ripping their clothes off. You have thirty seconds to have them in a new costume and back onstage. This is a quick change.

    Needless to say, the job of a dresser is an eventful one. Besides quick changes, a dresser’s job is to help maintain the integrity of a show--to make sure that the long run of a show isn’t reflected in the condition of the costumes. Dressers are the first to arrive and the last to leave, making sure that all costume pieces are accounted for, cleaned, and repaired. The audience wants to see a royal queen and not a wrinkly queen.

    Taming of the Shrew was no stranger to wrinkles. Characters like Kate, Petruchio, Lucentio, and the cascade of servants that followed them, all had very physical performances. I would wait in the wings watching as Kate rolled on the floor in her wedding dress, and would make the mental note to steam it later.  To the outsider this might seem insignificant, but I know that I am contributing to the illusion of the show. In each performance, the story has to appear as if it is happening for the first time. Furthermore, every detail is vital, a building block that helps create the final world that the audience can lose themselves in for two hours. Not a hair can be out of place--unless, of course, it’s intentional.

    Theatre brings art to life in a spectacular way, but in order to achieve this it requires massive collaboration between designers, technical directors, actors, run crew, the director and so much more. A Jesuit education really lends itself to this. At Le Moyne I can learn about all aspects of  theatre and how they work together. I know that when I graduate in three years, I will be a well-rounded and a well-informed artist, ready to take on the theatre industry.

    Photo and article by: Morgan Smith, '19, Theatre major

    To learn more about Theatre and Performing Arts at Le Moyne, visit our Theatre Arts page
    Category: Student Voices