Cast List:
NEMISIS: Bobby McCarthy
TISIPHIONE THE AVENGER (a Fury): Finn Long
MAGEARA THE JEALOUS (a Fury): Alex Delgado
ALECTO THE UNRESTING (a Fury): Caleb Lewis
IPHIGINIA: Myla Lindsey
WATCHMAN: Nate Collins
SENTRY: Joseph Reagor
ORESTES: Sam Arias
ELECTRA: Paiten Rand
CLYTEMNESTRA: Rebecca Wools
AGAMEMNON: Erik Anderson
AEGISTHUS: Chuckie Castillo
ATHENA: Hannah White
APOLLO: Cormac Spiares
CASSANDRA: Arlette Garza
ARTEMIS: Kev Riley
CALCHUS: Sam Castro
CHORUS: Manuel Vasquez, Joseph Reagor, Hayden Stephens, Nate Collins, Sam Castro, Chuckie Castillo, Sarah Laundy, Paiten Rand
TISIPHIONE THE AVENGER (a Fury): Finn Long
MAGEARA THE JEALOUS (a Fury): Alex Delgado
ALECTO THE UNRESTING (a Fury): Caleb Lewis
IPHIGINIA: Myla Lindsey
WATCHMAN: Nate Collins
SENTRY: Joseph Reagor
ORESTES: Sam Arias
ELECTRA: Paiten Rand
CLYTEMNESTRA: Rebecca Wools
AGAMEMNON: Erik Anderson
AEGISTHUS: Chuckie Castillo
ATHENA: Hannah White
APOLLO: Cormac Spiares
CASSANDRA: Arlette Garza
ARTEMIS: Kev Riley
CALCHUS: Sam Castro
CHORUS: Manuel Vasquez, Joseph Reagor, Hayden Stephens, Nate Collins, Sam Castro, Chuckie Castillo, Sarah Laundy, Paiten Rand
UV Light Reveals true colors of Greek Sculpture
Iphigenia's Sacrifice in Art History
Mortals and Immortals
The Furies
The Cambridge Greek Plays
Production Meeting
Feb. 5: I presented my research graphics to the team and showed them what I thought should be the color pallete of the costumes. I showed my handout on primitive pleating and the example I had done in grad school as well as the first attempt on an unknown piece of maybe linen fabric. I described how I wanted to dye each costume individually and that I could purchase bike shorts for the guys to wear under their chitons and dye them to match their costumes. Cori Burkett shared her Vector Works set design and there was a lot of talk about taking out the back row of chairs and completely redesigning the space for a more immersive theatrical experience.
Color Palette
Screen shots from the video Tracing the Colors of Ancient Sculpture
Juno in the Underworld, by Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1596-1598. Source: SKD Museum
The Murder of Agamemnon by David Scott, 1837
Nemesis, Greek Goddess of Divine Retribution, by Yliade
The BUILD
Fri. Feb. 6: The two linen samples came in the mail so I stay stitched the cut edges and washed them with some synthrapol and threw them in the dryer. I wanted to see how much shrinkage we were going to have and how much fraying. The pieces came out much softer and did not fray past the stay stitching. I neglected to measure them again afterwards. I ordered more synthapol, soda ash, and a range of Procion dyes. Melissa is bringing me a two yard sample from her store as well, so we can compare which fiber blends shrinks less and pleats better. The Amazon sample is 70% linen and 30% rayon, the one from Melissa's store is 55% linen and 45% cotton. The cotton sample shrank much less than the rayon sample.
Wed. Feb. 11: I researched getting barrels to do the primitive pleating on. Kutz suggested I check out Facebook marketplace and I found someone selling them in Waco for $20 each. Mandy's husband paid cash for them and delivered them to school in his truck. After the show, he's going to keep them to collect rainwater.
Thurs. Feb. 12: Once the barrel search was complete, I started pulling more fabrics from stock to see how much we could use of what we already had, so we don't have to buy so much new fabric. I ordered the procion dyes and the soda ash and synthropol. I also ordered silk cording for gathering up the necklines. I ordered more Barge cement and E600 for the foam armor pieces we'll have to create.
Fri. Feb 13: Once I had pulled as much fabric as was usuable, I measured each piece and logged it's width X yardage, and fiber content. Then I hung them up by color.
Sat. Feb 14: I started sketching designs for the gods and royal family.
Sun. Feb. 15: I started sketching designs for the other mortals.
Tech Week of Nunsense: Evan delivered three plastic barrels to the shop, Yay! I pulled more potential fabrics and washed them with synthrapol. We are up to 49 piecs of fabric. I have incorporated chiffon and wool into the linen. The chiffon for the gods and the wool for himations or chlamys for the soldiers, etc... The sample linen pieces finally dried (mostly) so I unwrapped them and hung them on a mannequin to look at the draping and evaluated the success of the pleating process. The cotton seemed to pleat just a little bit better but the real winning factor is that it didn't shrink nearly as much as the rayon sample.
Wed. Feb. 11: I researched getting barrels to do the primitive pleating on. Kutz suggested I check out Facebook marketplace and I found someone selling them in Waco for $20 each. Mandy's husband paid cash for them and delivered them to school in his truck. After the show, he's going to keep them to collect rainwater.
Thurs. Feb. 12: Once the barrel search was complete, I started pulling more fabrics from stock to see how much we could use of what we already had, so we don't have to buy so much new fabric. I ordered the procion dyes and the soda ash and synthropol. I also ordered silk cording for gathering up the necklines. I ordered more Barge cement and E600 for the foam armor pieces we'll have to create.
Fri. Feb 13: Once I had pulled as much fabric as was usuable, I measured each piece and logged it's width X yardage, and fiber content. Then I hung them up by color.
Sat. Feb 14: I started sketching designs for the gods and royal family.
Sun. Feb. 15: I started sketching designs for the other mortals.
Tech Week of Nunsense: Evan delivered three plastic barrels to the shop, Yay! I pulled more potential fabrics and washed them with synthrapol. We are up to 49 piecs of fabric. I have incorporated chiffon and wool into the linen. The chiffon for the gods and the wool for himations or chlamys for the soldiers, etc... The sample linen pieces finally dried (mostly) so I unwrapped them and hung them on a mannequin to look at the draping and evaluated the success of the pleating process. The cotton seemed to pleat just a little bit better but the real winning factor is that it didn't shrink nearly as much as the rayon sample.
55 gallon plastic barrells
linen/rayon blend
|
linen/cotton blend
|
Fabrics pulled from storage.
belts pulled from storage
|
|
The Build
Thur. Feb. 26: We had our second production meeting and we decided that the ensemble would wear ghillies dance shoes, if we could get them. Also that the dancing ensemble would be in a range of colors that echoed the Furies colors of forest green, maroon, and a dark teal blue like in the Nemisis painting. We also decided that Clytemnestra would have four changes: her e greeting Agamemnon outfit, a duplicate but bloody after killing Agamemnon, a Fury costume, and a Eumenides costume.
Fri. Feb. 27: I selected fabrics for the ensemble and my crew of Paitan, Austan, Nathan, and Jasper sewed up the shoulder seams, put in the cording, rolled up the fabric on the barrels, squished it down, tied it up with white shoe laces that I bought so that the dye wouldn't bleed onto the fabrics while they were boiling like the first Iphigenia yardage that the black shoe laces bled purple dye onto the white fabric. Twisted it, shoved it into pantyhose, tied that up and took it home to boil. We got through four of the twelve ensemble fabrics in one day.
Mon. March 2: A bunch of stuff came in the mail today like the foam clay and the molds for the snakes and Medusa's head, so we did one of each and let them dry overnight. Also Erik's shoes arrived and the Plastidip and Bronze spray paint, as well as the dye for the poly fabrics. We did
Tues. March 3: We sewed three more chorus chitons, put the cording in, and pleated them. I took them home and boiled them. I also took home the poly men's onesies to dye beige. We also sewed the Furies chitons and put the gathering chording in. I chose fabrics for Agamemnon, Nemesis, and Electra as well.
Wed. March 4: We pleated Aegisthis, Electra, Agamemnon, Artemis's under chiton, Clytemnestra's Eumenides chiton. We cut and stitched four more tabards for the ensemble that we will have to dye. We untied all the chorus chiton's and hung them up to dry. Rand also made another set of snakes for Agamemenon's armor.
Thurs. March 5: Rand made another set of snakes for Agamemnon's armor. Austen and I stitched and pleated Clytemnestra's burgundy Fury chiton, Orestes, chiton, and we cut cloaks for the Furies and hoods for the cloaks. They will all have to be dyed a base color before we add the tattered bits of cheesecloth, which will also have to be dyed.
Fri. March 5: The purple and blue yarn arrived in the mail, so I had Rachel and Austan cut it into yard lengths to make Agamemnon's pony tail for his helmet. I untied all the fabrics that got boiled the night before and hung them up to dry in front of the fans. I started dyeing the extra tabards we made to match the ones from Passage that I am using for the ensemble when they are celebrants and jurors. I only need to dye one more. We cut the Fury's cloaks out and sewed sleeves in them. We cut out the hoods and sewed them up but didn't have time to attach them. When they are finished and dyed, then we will dye cheesecloth scraps and sew them onto the cloaks to make them look tattered. Jasper made another set of snakes for Agamemnon's armor, and Austan and Jasper pleated two more pieces of fabric for Agamemenon's and Artemis' chiton. I cut the wool capes for Agamemnon and Aegisthus. I also pulled alot of golden upholstery trim, tassles and fringe and piping, that I'm going to use on the gods' costumes.
Spring Break:
Mon. March 9: We went in at 9:30. Austan and Melissa came in to help, as well as William and Jason. We got all the armor pieces cut out and glued together by 2pm. Melissa stitched all the Euminides chitons together. The extra bits for Agamemnon's chiton finally dried, so Melissa stitched it into the side seams. Then she sewed two of the ensemble chitons together to make one much larger one for Hayden. Austan finished hemming the tabards that I cut out on Friday, and then added the bias tape. I dyed the last one. We ran out of bias tape, before we were through, and I don't have any more scraps, so I'm going to have to remove one of the sections from a shirt from Passage to make up the extra yard that we're lacking. I made more snakes from foam clay and then ordered two more molds, so after spring break, we won't have to do them one a day. I also ordered more 2mm foam in red, blue, green, and black for the wings for Nemesis.
Wed. March 11:
Fri. March 13:
Fri. Feb. 27: I selected fabrics for the ensemble and my crew of Paitan, Austan, Nathan, and Jasper sewed up the shoulder seams, put in the cording, rolled up the fabric on the barrels, squished it down, tied it up with white shoe laces that I bought so that the dye wouldn't bleed onto the fabrics while they were boiling like the first Iphigenia yardage that the black shoe laces bled purple dye onto the white fabric. Twisted it, shoved it into pantyhose, tied that up and took it home to boil. We got through four of the twelve ensemble fabrics in one day.
Mon. March 2: A bunch of stuff came in the mail today like the foam clay and the molds for the snakes and Medusa's head, so we did one of each and let them dry overnight. Also Erik's shoes arrived and the Plastidip and Bronze spray paint, as well as the dye for the poly fabrics. We did
Tues. March 3: We sewed three more chorus chitons, put the cording in, and pleated them. I took them home and boiled them. I also took home the poly men's onesies to dye beige. We also sewed the Furies chitons and put the gathering chording in. I chose fabrics for Agamemnon, Nemesis, and Electra as well.
Wed. March 4: We pleated Aegisthis, Electra, Agamemnon, Artemis's under chiton, Clytemnestra's Eumenides chiton. We cut and stitched four more tabards for the ensemble that we will have to dye. We untied all the chorus chiton's and hung them up to dry. Rand also made another set of snakes for Agamemenon's armor.
Thurs. March 5: Rand made another set of snakes for Agamemnon's armor. Austen and I stitched and pleated Clytemnestra's burgundy Fury chiton, Orestes, chiton, and we cut cloaks for the Furies and hoods for the cloaks. They will all have to be dyed a base color before we add the tattered bits of cheesecloth, which will also have to be dyed.
Fri. March 5: The purple and blue yarn arrived in the mail, so I had Rachel and Austan cut it into yard lengths to make Agamemnon's pony tail for his helmet. I untied all the fabrics that got boiled the night before and hung them up to dry in front of the fans. I started dyeing the extra tabards we made to match the ones from Passage that I am using for the ensemble when they are celebrants and jurors. I only need to dye one more. We cut the Fury's cloaks out and sewed sleeves in them. We cut out the hoods and sewed them up but didn't have time to attach them. When they are finished and dyed, then we will dye cheesecloth scraps and sew them onto the cloaks to make them look tattered. Jasper made another set of snakes for Agamemnon's armor, and Austan and Jasper pleated two more pieces of fabric for Agamemenon's and Artemis' chiton. I cut the wool capes for Agamemnon and Aegisthus. I also pulled alot of golden upholstery trim, tassles and fringe and piping, that I'm going to use on the gods' costumes.
Spring Break:
Mon. March 9: We went in at 9:30. Austan and Melissa came in to help, as well as William and Jason. We got all the armor pieces cut out and glued together by 2pm. Melissa stitched all the Euminides chitons together. The extra bits for Agamemnon's chiton finally dried, so Melissa stitched it into the side seams. Then she sewed two of the ensemble chitons together to make one much larger one for Hayden. Austan finished hemming the tabards that I cut out on Friday, and then added the bias tape. I dyed the last one. We ran out of bias tape, before we were through, and I don't have any more scraps, so I'm going to have to remove one of the sections from a shirt from Passage to make up the extra yard that we're lacking. I made more snakes from foam clay and then ordered two more molds, so after spring break, we won't have to do them one a day. I also ordered more 2mm foam in red, blue, green, and black for the wings for Nemesis.
Wed. March 11:
Fri. March 13:
Nemisis
The Furies
The Ensemble
We made Doric chitons for the 11 member ensemble, then pleated them all. I pulled the tabards that we made for Passage, and then we cut three more for the rest of the ensemble to have one to be the jurors and the celebrants. I dyed them and then Austan hemmed them and made the bias trim and sewed it on.
ARtemis
Athena
We pleated this this fabric. I bought an alpaca skin for her Aegis and a Medusa mold. William made her helmet.
Apollo
We pleated this.
The Eumenides
I originally pleated 3 of these for the Furies, but will have to go back and do another one for Clytemnestra. Chiffon is difficult to pleat as it doesn't want to stick to itself when wet. Melissa did the actual sewing to turn the fabric into the 4 Ionic chitons.
Iphigenia
I had 14 yards of this fabric and used 7 yards for her chiton. You'll notice that I only had black shoe laces to tie it up with. They bled purple dye in the boiling water. So I ordered white shoe laces and then pleated the other 7 yards and it turned out just fine. So, I may use the purple bled on yardage to make her "wedding dress" stained, so that when she is "renewed at the end" she can change into the pure white one.
Agamemnon
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra is going to have 4 costumes: Her original one to greet Agamemnon, a duplicate that is bloody, a Fury costume, and a Eumenides costume. I decided to use the orginal linen samples for her first two garments. I'm going to dye them a lovely bronze/copper brown and then add this gorgeous embroidered linen trim that I only had scraps of to make a diamond pattern border. The embroidery is purple, red, and hot pink, with a ittle bit of orange and the same bronze/copper color.
Electra
Orestes
I had a piece of green fabric that had already been dyed using the batik method and there was just enough of it to make a short chiton for Orestes. The other colors in it are yellow and white.
Cassandra
This fabric was in 8 pieces that were 18" wide by 2 yards long. some sides were already hemmed like someone was going to make valance curtains out of it, but never finished. I sewed 6 of the pieces together to create the chiton.
Aegisthus
Aegisthus' chiton is starting out as this very mustard yellow fabric, but will eventually get dyed a different color. I am using a red wool for his cape, so I'll probably dye the yellow something much darker.
