Research for Essay

I did some research to help me to write the Historical Context essay. I compared Shakespeare's costumes to modern day costumes.

Shakespeare Costumes vs Modern Day Costumes

It is clear that in our performance of “The Tempest” we are using very abstract, interesting and flamboyant costumes to represent the different characters; however this contrasts to the types of costumes that would have been worn in Shakespeare’s original performances of his plays.

The kinds of costumes that would have been worn in the Elizabethan era would have been very colourful, probably very heavy and quite expensive. They would have been contemporary to Shakespeare’s time. Even if Shakespeare was putting on a play set in Ancient Greece, such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” the costumes worn would be Elizabethan or Jacobean.

Our costumes are very flamboyant and edgy, as we’re setting “The Tempest” in an 80’s, punk, rock theme, they relate to Shakespeare’s costumes by being very colourful and visually interesting. The costumes that the people in the mainland have to wear are very rocky, such as leather jackets, big hair and lots of makeup. Some of the boys are going to be wearing heels and in drag, which relates to Shakespeare, as all of the women’s roles were played by men, who had to wear dresses, petticoats and wigs.

The costumes of the people on the island are very other-worldly. My costume is a leotard with lots of different colours and sparkles on it, which will give the effect that we are creatures of the island. We’re having lots of makeup and body paint and things twisted into our hair to further create this effect. In Shakespeare’s time, they would not have had costumes that actually represent where or who they are, as lots of the effect for the audience came from hearing the words read out, rather than seeing it in their costumes or their set.

Shakespeare would have had a very minimal set, with few props, which made it easy for quick scene changes, whereas we’re going to have a fixed, visually interesting set, which shows both the island and the mainland.

There are some similarities to our costumes, such as the colours, however they mainly differ because Shakespeare used costumes that were contemporary for the time and although we are using very modern costumes too, fashion and styles have changed dramatically over the years and we are able to explore different and interesting things with our costumes without any restrictions on getting types of fabric or colours, as they’re much easier to get hold of in the 21^st Century.