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
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linen/cotton blend
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Fabrics pulled from storage.
belts pulled from storage
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The Build
a 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: We were unable to come in the rest of spring break because the physical plant was cleaning the HVAC system and it was 100 degrees in the building the rest of the week.
Tues. March 17: I spent all day makng a pattern for the wing base and the small, medium, and large feathers. Students started cutting the feathers out of the three colors of foam that came in. I wish that I had ordered 1mm foam instead of 3mm, the would be 3X lighter when we're done. Oh well. We got 72 feathers cut out by the end of the day. Austan and I got the base cut out of grey foam, also 3mm, and wired around the perimeter. I used the same technique of wrapping wires into a U shape to run throught the lumbar support belt to give most of the weight onto his waist.
Wed. March 18: I attached the wing base to the lumbar support belt and added elastic to the wired bits with zip ties. The base is now ready for the wings to be added. Savannah came in and cut out the rest of the green feathers. I dyed Clytemnestra's chiton a coppery bronze color. I made more snakes from foam clay. I finished scoring the armor and the snakes and gluing them onto the pieces. I glued the horns that Randy 3-D printed onto the helmet. I made a "ponytail" holder out of two seperate silver hair pieces and backed them with foam clay to put around the yarn tassles. I poked holes for attaching the tassel later, after we finish painting. I did a fitting on Erik. I cut out the purple felt lining for all the amor pieces.
Thurs. March 19: During class I had the students who were finished with their projects cut out the rest of the feathers. Our third production meeting we decided we needed irridescent flowy fabric to represent the otherworldly elements for the eagle puppet, white for the head, brown/copper for the whole body and then grey and white tatters for the wings the river (2 panels of 5 yds blue), Tantalus' tree puppet (green 2 yards for leaves), Cassandra's blood (4 yds red), and Iphigenia's wedding veil (4 yds white). We estimated how much yardage and what colors we wanted for each element and then I'm in charge of ordering it.
Fri. March 20: Rand came in to finish heat shaping the medium sized feathers. April took the rest of the feathers home to finish cutting them. Nathan, Austan and I finished putting the hoods on the Furies cloaks, and then made three more for some of the ensemble members. We found more fabric to use for the tattered bits we will apply later. Austan put another couple of coats of red plastidip on the armor.
Tech week for the opera: The only thing I got done was giving all the feathers one coat of plasti-dip during strike, mostly because I was sick.
Mon. March 30: I ordered more dye and spray paint and shoes. Then I dyed 4 underoos for Chuckie, Finn, Joseph, and Rand.
Tues. March 31: I started dyeing all the capes and fabric scraps for the Furies. The red turned out pink, probably due to there being polyester fiber in the fabric, or at least way more than I initially thought. THe green turned out a bright Kelly green, and the blue was either baby blue or a cornflower blue. So then I ordered idyePoly in crimson, navy, and hunter green and took them all home one at a time to dye them again.
Wed. April 1: Sewed the lining together for the armor helmets and paldrons. Melissa cut and stitched the diagonal designs from the cut pieces of tapestry linen, to put on Clytemnestra's chiton. Took Sarah and Rand's underroos home to dye.
Thurs. April 2: Spray painted the armor in satin finish bronze. It has no texture, so I ordered the "hammered" and "forged" versions in three different colors: amber, copper, and brown. I also finished sewing the capes as well for the Furies. I inserted shower curtain rings in them for closures. I was going to stay for the run of Act 2, but I had a coughing fit instead and went home. Took Manuel, Arlo, Kev, and Hannah's underoos home to dye.
Fri. April 3: no school off for Good Friday. Too exhausted to go back up to school and keep painting. Did more dyeing on Sunday.
Mon. April 6: I did Becca's fitting on her four Clytemnestra chitons. I took the red scraps home and redyed them with idyepoly.
Tues. April 7 We finished spray painting the feathers in class and then did a light dusting of gold and copper after choir. I figured out the closures for the amor. I took the green scraps home and redyed them with idyepoly.
Wed. April 8: Melissa, Savannah, and Nathan sewed up all the side seams of all the chitons while I was outside doing detail painting on the armor pieces.
Thurs. April 9: my class starting hot gluing the feathers onto the wings. They almost finished the back half before class was over. I took the masking tape off Agamemnon's helmet and gave the horns a clear gloss coat. I did fittings on Finn and Alex and hemmed their Euyminides chitons. I cut another 1.5 yards of the yellow chiffon and pleated it to use for the remaining half slips we need.
Fri. April 10: I trimmed away the purple felt lining from the armor and colored in the white serging on the appliques for Clytemnestra's chiton. I took all the things that still needed dyeing home to do over the weekend.
Sat. April 11: I redyed the blue Fury capes and scraps with idyepoly, as well as dyed Artemis's under chiton green. Then I made up some French Enamel Varnish with purple acid dye for the leather straps on Erik's armor and his caligae.
Mon. April13: I started handsewing all the leather closures onto the breastplate and managed to get them all done before rehearsal. I also used the rubnbuff to highlight the snakes on the armor. I over dyed Becca's murder dress with Rit brown to get it to the same color as the original chitkon. It only took a few minutes to go the right color, soi I took it out and put in Chuckie's Agisthus chiton and the two pairs of white ballet slippers that I had to get because they were only available in white in a size 12.5. Sarah came in and hot glued the rest of the feathers onto the front right side of the wings, then Sam came in and hot glued the rest of the feathers on the front left side of the wings. All I have to do now is add handles and a chest strap with a buckle.
Tues. April 14: I had my class hand sew the rest of the buttons onto the bracers and greaves for the leather ties that we will use as closures. We ran out of buttons, so I had to order more, but they will be here tomorrow. I also found a belt scrap for the helmet chin strap and found earrings to use as trim on the horns and the ear flaps. I dyed the laces purple with FEV leftover from the shoes. Then I sorted the green scraps and started pinning them onto Maegera's Fury cape. I only got less than half of them sewn on, before I had to leave, so he won't be able to wear it for rehearsal tonight.
Wed. April 15: Melissa came in and added the applique she made to the Bloody Clytemnestra chiton and then she sewed on the rest of the scraps to Maegera's Fury cloak, while I pinned on the ones for Alecto's cloak. She and Rand stayed till 5 continuing to pin and sew on scraps to the six Fury cloaks.
Thurs. April 16: during class I had Sarah and Sam finish sewing on the newly arrived buttons onto the other greave so Erik could wear them for rehearsal. I found out that he won't be taking off his greaves, so I used black elastic for the lacing. I glued in the lining for Athena's helmet. I found a really big gold buckle that I'm going to use to fasten Athena's goat skin.
Fri. April 17: I hand sewed the boy snaps on the inside of Erik's helmet, and used the upholstery machine to sew the straps with the girl snaps onto the chin strap, which is a portion of a belt, that I dyed with FEV and purple acid dye. I also got out the scraps of embroidered sliver fabric that I was going to use on Artemis' costume. I ended up sewing four strips together to make one long piece of fabric for her himation.
Sat. April 18: Today was the 10 of 12 work call. I got there at noon. I made a slip for underneath Iphigenia's chiton because it was still see-through. I did fittings on all the rest of the cast. Becca did her own murder dress spatter paint project witht the blood I bought that dries but still looks wet, according to the reviews. It dried looking dry. So we're going to add makeup stage blood that will be wet every night, as well as pouring water on her, because she kills him int he bathtub, so there's no way she stabs him 10 times in the chest without getting splashed. Becca pulled jewelry for the gods and royals, Sam put the handles on the wings, I worked till 6, then came home.
Sun April 19: I went in to start doing the list of notes.
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: We were unable to come in the rest of spring break because the physical plant was cleaning the HVAC system and it was 100 degrees in the building the rest of the week.
Tues. March 17: I spent all day makng a pattern for the wing base and the small, medium, and large feathers. Students started cutting the feathers out of the three colors of foam that came in. I wish that I had ordered 1mm foam instead of 3mm, the would be 3X lighter when we're done. Oh well. We got 72 feathers cut out by the end of the day. Austan and I got the base cut out of grey foam, also 3mm, and wired around the perimeter. I used the same technique of wrapping wires into a U shape to run throught the lumbar support belt to give most of the weight onto his waist.
Wed. March 18: I attached the wing base to the lumbar support belt and added elastic to the wired bits with zip ties. The base is now ready for the wings to be added. Savannah came in and cut out the rest of the green feathers. I dyed Clytemnestra's chiton a coppery bronze color. I made more snakes from foam clay. I finished scoring the armor and the snakes and gluing them onto the pieces. I glued the horns that Randy 3-D printed onto the helmet. I made a "ponytail" holder out of two seperate silver hair pieces and backed them with foam clay to put around the yarn tassles. I poked holes for attaching the tassel later, after we finish painting. I did a fitting on Erik. I cut out the purple felt lining for all the amor pieces.
Thurs. March 19: During class I had the students who were finished with their projects cut out the rest of the feathers. Our third production meeting we decided we needed irridescent flowy fabric to represent the otherworldly elements for the eagle puppet, white for the head, brown/copper for the whole body and then grey and white tatters for the wings the river (2 panels of 5 yds blue), Tantalus' tree puppet (green 2 yards for leaves), Cassandra's blood (4 yds red), and Iphigenia's wedding veil (4 yds white). We estimated how much yardage and what colors we wanted for each element and then I'm in charge of ordering it.
Fri. March 20: Rand came in to finish heat shaping the medium sized feathers. April took the rest of the feathers home to finish cutting them. Nathan, Austan and I finished putting the hoods on the Furies cloaks, and then made three more for some of the ensemble members. We found more fabric to use for the tattered bits we will apply later. Austan put another couple of coats of red plastidip on the armor.
Tech week for the opera: The only thing I got done was giving all the feathers one coat of plasti-dip during strike, mostly because I was sick.
Mon. March 30: I ordered more dye and spray paint and shoes. Then I dyed 4 underoos for Chuckie, Finn, Joseph, and Rand.
Tues. March 31: I started dyeing all the capes and fabric scraps for the Furies. The red turned out pink, probably due to there being polyester fiber in the fabric, or at least way more than I initially thought. THe green turned out a bright Kelly green, and the blue was either baby blue or a cornflower blue. So then I ordered idyePoly in crimson, navy, and hunter green and took them all home one at a time to dye them again.
Wed. April 1: Sewed the lining together for the armor helmets and paldrons. Melissa cut and stitched the diagonal designs from the cut pieces of tapestry linen, to put on Clytemnestra's chiton. Took Sarah and Rand's underroos home to dye.
Thurs. April 2: Spray painted the armor in satin finish bronze. It has no texture, so I ordered the "hammered" and "forged" versions in three different colors: amber, copper, and brown. I also finished sewing the capes as well for the Furies. I inserted shower curtain rings in them for closures. I was going to stay for the run of Act 2, but I had a coughing fit instead and went home. Took Manuel, Arlo, Kev, and Hannah's underoos home to dye.
Fri. April 3: no school off for Good Friday. Too exhausted to go back up to school and keep painting. Did more dyeing on Sunday.
Mon. April 6: I did Becca's fitting on her four Clytemnestra chitons. I took the red scraps home and redyed them with idyepoly.
Tues. April 7 We finished spray painting the feathers in class and then did a light dusting of gold and copper after choir. I figured out the closures for the amor. I took the green scraps home and redyed them with idyepoly.
Wed. April 8: Melissa, Savannah, and Nathan sewed up all the side seams of all the chitons while I was outside doing detail painting on the armor pieces.
Thurs. April 9: my class starting hot gluing the feathers onto the wings. They almost finished the back half before class was over. I took the masking tape off Agamemnon's helmet and gave the horns a clear gloss coat. I did fittings on Finn and Alex and hemmed their Euyminides chitons. I cut another 1.5 yards of the yellow chiffon and pleated it to use for the remaining half slips we need.
Fri. April 10: I trimmed away the purple felt lining from the armor and colored in the white serging on the appliques for Clytemnestra's chiton. I took all the things that still needed dyeing home to do over the weekend.
Sat. April 11: I redyed the blue Fury capes and scraps with idyepoly, as well as dyed Artemis's under chiton green. Then I made up some French Enamel Varnish with purple acid dye for the leather straps on Erik's armor and his caligae.
Mon. April13: I started handsewing all the leather closures onto the breastplate and managed to get them all done before rehearsal. I also used the rubnbuff to highlight the snakes on the armor. I over dyed Becca's murder dress with Rit brown to get it to the same color as the original chitkon. It only took a few minutes to go the right color, soi I took it out and put in Chuckie's Agisthus chiton and the two pairs of white ballet slippers that I had to get because they were only available in white in a size 12.5. Sarah came in and hot glued the rest of the feathers onto the front right side of the wings, then Sam came in and hot glued the rest of the feathers on the front left side of the wings. All I have to do now is add handles and a chest strap with a buckle.
Tues. April 14: I had my class hand sew the rest of the buttons onto the bracers and greaves for the leather ties that we will use as closures. We ran out of buttons, so I had to order more, but they will be here tomorrow. I also found a belt scrap for the helmet chin strap and found earrings to use as trim on the horns and the ear flaps. I dyed the laces purple with FEV leftover from the shoes. Then I sorted the green scraps and started pinning them onto Maegera's Fury cape. I only got less than half of them sewn on, before I had to leave, so he won't be able to wear it for rehearsal tonight.
Wed. April 15: Melissa came in and added the applique she made to the Bloody Clytemnestra chiton and then she sewed on the rest of the scraps to Maegera's Fury cloak, while I pinned on the ones for Alecto's cloak. She and Rand stayed till 5 continuing to pin and sew on scraps to the six Fury cloaks.
Thurs. April 16: during class I had Sarah and Sam finish sewing on the newly arrived buttons onto the other greave so Erik could wear them for rehearsal. I found out that he won't be taking off his greaves, so I used black elastic for the lacing. I glued in the lining for Athena's helmet. I found a really big gold buckle that I'm going to use to fasten Athena's goat skin.
Fri. April 17: I hand sewed the boy snaps on the inside of Erik's helmet, and used the upholstery machine to sew the straps with the girl snaps onto the chin strap, which is a portion of a belt, that I dyed with FEV and purple acid dye. I also got out the scraps of embroidered sliver fabric that I was going to use on Artemis' costume. I ended up sewing four strips together to make one long piece of fabric for her himation.
Sat. April 18: Today was the 10 of 12 work call. I got there at noon. I made a slip for underneath Iphigenia's chiton because it was still see-through. I did fittings on all the rest of the cast. Becca did her own murder dress spatter paint project witht the blood I bought that dries but still looks wet, according to the reviews. It dried looking dry. So we're going to add makeup stage blood that will be wet every night, as well as pouring water on her, because she kills him int he bathtub, so there's no way she stabs him 10 times in the chest without getting splashed. Becca pulled jewelry for the gods and royals, Sam put the handles on the wings, I worked till 6, then came home.
Sun April 19: I went in to start doing the list of notes.
Nemisis
Wings: 14 X4 = 56 of large size feathers in four rows, 26X4= 105 of medium in five rows, 36X4 =144 of the small size in a spiral pattern at the top for a total of 305 feathers!s Plus two rows more of the medium size 5-6 each for the middle outside back and one row of the small size at the top 4-5 each row. Fold over the seam allowance to the back side of the top row. on the middle of the inside, two rows of small ones. We ended up with almost 200 feathers out of red, green, and blue, so we cut additional feathers out of the leftover gray from the base. Each one has to be heat sealed, then scored, then folded in half, pressed, then shaped around a drumstick, then cut into individual feathers. I am really regretting not ordering the 1mm foam right now. The 3mm doesn't want to shape easily, which is why we started scoring it from behind, where the quill would go. Sarah started out cutting the feathers with craft shears, but only got 5 done in 90 minutes. Using a scalpel made it go much faster. I got the rest of the large sized ones cut in the next two hours by myself. April took the rest of them home over the weekend and finished scoring and feathering them. We now have a total of 175 feathers of 4 different colors and 3 different sizes. I spent Sunday giving them all one coat of Plasti-dip front and back except for the part that will be glued down. Now they need to be painted with the correct color acrylic spray paint and evenly divied up into four groups between the front, back, right and left sides. That means we will only have 43 feathers per side to cover the whole base. The original tutorial had 305 feathers, so hopefully the wings won't look too sparse. I decided later on that that wouldn't be nearly enough feathers, so I cut much smaller ones out of the remaining scraps. I used a scalpel to cut the individual feathers. The students heat sealed, then plastidipped the scraps and then the next day gave them all one coat of acrylic spray paint and a light dusing of gold and copper spray paint to finish. In class on Thursday they got the back half of the wings covered with feathers. We still have to cover the front side. That happened the next Monday. Now all we have to do is add a chest strap and handles.
The Furies
We pleated the chiffon for the three Furies chitons and then stitched it together and added the gathering cord. Then we cut out cloaks for them with sleeves and hoods that we'll dye the proper colors to match their chitons and add torn scraps to them to make them look raggedy. In the production meeting it was decided that Clytemnestra needed one also for Act 2, and then later that 3 of the ensemble also needed them for Act 1, so I ended up making 6 and Clytemnestra will have to wear one of the ensembles for Act 2, since there wasn't any more fabric. Dyeing the cloaks was discouraging as there was more polyester in the blend than I at first thought. I used fiber reactive crimson dye for the red and it came out pink. The green is too bright and the blue is too pale. So then I redyed them with acid dye in case the other fiber was nylon. That didn't work either, so now I'm going to re-redye them with synthetic dye because the fibers are obviously poly. I may use the extra chiffon to make scraps for their cloaks to make them look more ethereal than the ones the ensemble are going to wear. Once I started fittings, the yellow chiffon was too sheer and you could see their underoos right through it, so when we cut off the excess at the hems, we sewed it into half slips that they can wear underneath.
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. We didn't have enough leftover of the grey fabric that I used originalliy, so Austan removed tshe collars from the shirts from Passage to use for the rest of the trim. We need three (or just two) more Furies cloaks for the ensemble to do the movement piece for end of Act I, Iphigenia's sacrifice, for Sam and Chuckie and Sarah, who can just wear the one that Clytemnestra will wear later after Orestes kills her.
ARtemis
Kev has makeup to cover up her various tattoos. I'm buying silver hair spray to add to her blue/green hair. I dyed her under chiton green to stand out better under the green lace layer.
Athena
We pleated this this fabric. I bought an alpaca skin for her Aegis and a Medusa mold. William made her helmet. I also found gold tassle/fringe to add to the goat skin as per the Illiad. Rand added the Medusa piece to her helmet and then Austan plastidipped it. I cut out purple felt lining for it and stitched it together. It still needs to be painted before we can glue the lining in.
Apollo
We pleated his chiton and then put some gold trim on the himation along with gold cording/piping on the hem. We painted his shoes gold.
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. When we started fittings, we discovered that the chiffon was still too sheer even after it was pleated, so since we had so much yardage, we just cut and pleated a few more yards of it to make half slips that the actors will wear under the chitons. I finished the two other half slips for Finn and Alex today.
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. Needs a bridal veil. Her bridal veil is going to be an irridescent chiffon that will be about 3 yards long. Clytemnestra will use it later to strangle Agamemnon. I ordered the silk dianthis and aster flowers that Savannah will make into a wreath for her hair. The flowers came in Monay and Savannah wove them into a wreath today in class. We had to paint the centers yellow wtih acrylic paint.
Agamemnon
I ordered foam 5mm black, plasti-dip, bronze spray paint, and contact cement, we had plenty of scalpels and blades left over from She Kills Monsters. I used the same cosplay armor patterns also. We had to blow the patterns up to make them big enough for Erik. We did a fitting in the paper pattern and then cut out all the foam and got it glued together Monday of spring break. We ended up making 16 long snakes from foam clay and the molds, and 6 coiled snakes. We still need to pattern a belt out of leather. I already have a gold buckle. I want it to be very wide like a corsalet in the research. All the felt lining is cut, but needs to be stitched together. The armor still needs to get several coats of plasti-dip, then bronze spray paint. I still need to devise the closures straps and/or ties, because he has to take it all off in front of the audience. His purple cloak needs closures and a way to attach it to his breastplate. I am unhappy with the color of the caligae, and will either dye or paint them a darker brown or perhaps purple.
I neglected to get photos of the armor after the plastidip stage. I bought leather straps with snaps from Amazon as the solution to closures that would be quick and easy and not too modern like velcro or elastic. I also bought large copper buttons that I can use with leather laces for a sort of frog closure. I bought blue and purple wool yarn to make the ponytail for his helmet and Rachael and Austan cut it into 36" lengths for me. I folded it in half and tied it up and around, then braided four sections to use as ties to anchor it to the helmet, which I punched holes into to thread the braids through to give it a more sturdy hold. I found two silver hair buckles that were designed to have chopstick put through them and I added a backing of foam clay to make them solid. When it dries I will wire the two pieces together and spray paint it bronze and glue it to the helmet to keep the ponytail in place. I ordered four colors of rubnbuff to do final metallic touches on the armor. I"m still trying to find a belt that is big enough for Erik.
I neglected to get photos of the armor after the plastidip stage. I bought leather straps with snaps from Amazon as the solution to closures that would be quick and easy and not too modern like velcro or elastic. I also bought large copper buttons that I can use with leather laces for a sort of frog closure. I bought blue and purple wool yarn to make the ponytail for his helmet and Rachael and Austan cut it into 36" lengths for me. I folded it in half and tied it up and around, then braided four sections to use as ties to anchor it to the helmet, which I punched holes into to thread the braids through to give it a more sturdy hold. I found two silver hair buckles that were designed to have chopstick put through them and I added a backing of foam clay to make them solid. When it dries I will wire the two pieces together and spray paint it bronze and glue it to the helmet to keep the ponytail in place. I ordered four colors of rubnbuff to do final metallic touches on the armor. I"m still trying to find a belt that is big enough for Erik.
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. Needs long red cape with train, yardage of fabric to be blood, attached to the back of her 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.
Wacoan Article, april 2-26
Production Photos
Budget
Fabrics: $125.82
Dyes: $299.18
Craft Foam $146.51
Shoes $272.63
Underoos: $391.13
Spray Paint: $308.31
Molds: $33.96
Clay: $27.99
Yarn: $11.98
Glue: $28.02
Cording $7.59
Pleating supplies: rulers, shoelaces, pantyhose: $94.29
Running Total: $1747.41
Dyes: $299.18
Craft Foam $146.51
Shoes $272.63
Underoos: $391.13
Spray Paint: $308.31
Molds: $33.96
Clay: $27.99
Yarn: $11.98
Glue: $28.02
Cording $7.59
Pleating supplies: rulers, shoelaces, pantyhose: $94.29
Running Total: $1747.41
Total spent: $2425.78
Waco Trib ARticle
by Carl Hoover
Ancient history and the present align this weekend when McLennan Community College English professor Nick Webb's original play "The Song of Iphigenia" debuts.
Drawn from Greek tragedian Aeschylus' trilogy "The Oresteia," the drama follows a cycle of violence as it passes through a royal family, the House of Atreus, with spouses and children trapped by murder, revenge, honor and duty.
While the setting is ancient Greece in the aftermath of the Trojan War, its depiction of the stubborn legacy of violence still is relevant.
"The Song of Iphigenia" follows the "Oresteia's" main characters and storyline, starting with Greek King Agamemnon (Erik Anderson), who sacrifices his eldest daughter Iphigenia (Myla Lindsey) so the gods would give his fleet favorable winds in his attack on Troy.
After the war, he returns to his kingdom and is murdered by his queen Clytemnestra (Rebecca Woolls), still enraged at her daughter's death.
Clytemnestra, in turn, and her lover Aegisthus (Chuckie Castillo) are murdered by her son Orestes (Samuel Arias), duty-bound to avenge his father's death and aided by his sister Electra (Paiten Rand). He, in turn, is tormented by the Furies for his mother's death.
It wouldn't be Greek tragedy without interference by the gods and Apollo (Cormac Spiares), Athena (Hannah White) and Artemis (Kev Riley) do their part.
While the stories in the Oresteian trilogy have long captivated Webb, much of its writing, development and production took place over the last five years.
MCC theater students and faculty helped shape his play, first workshopped in 2024, with students taking part in script readings, discussions and revisions.
Webb, an MCC faculty member for 20 years with 12 as a tenured professor, has experience writing for the ear of a contemporary audience, crafting the composition textbook used by MCC's English department, "Writing Is Easier Than You Think," several years ago.
That textbook was part of an attempt to make learning resources more affordable for MCC students, and "The Song of Iphigenia" has a student-friendly dimension as well.
Webb opted to waive copyright restrictions on its production, allowing it to be filmed so student actors and crew members could use footage in demo reels for potential jobs or programs.
Webb was on leave and could not be reached this week for comment, but was expected to attend some of his play's performances this weekend.
MCC choreography instructor Joseph Taylor, who created the production's stage movement with his students, said Webb's script breaks up the long monologues often found in Greek drama into dialogues more accessible to audiences. "Nick has written this beautiful literary tale," he said.
The McLennan Theatre production features a 19-actor cast and full participation by MCC theatre faculty, with Kelly Parker as director and lighting designer, Cori Burkett as voice and text director, Taylor as stage movement director, costuming by Kathleen Laundy, scenic design by Benjamin Mason and sound design shared by Taylor and Burkett.
Those who might assume Greek drama involves actors in white togas will find a production rich in color, from lighting to Laundy's costuming. Taylor noted that Laundy's costuming combines fabrics using natural fibers, saturated colors and historical techniques such as primitive pleating where gravity plays a part.
"The Song of Iphigenia's" themes of death and violence make this more suitable for adults and families with older children, though the onstage violence isn't graphic, Taylor said.
The two-act play runs approximately two and a half hours with intermission. The Friday and Saturday performances are sold out, but tickets were still available midweek for the Thursday and Sunday performances.
"The Song Of Iphigenia"By McLennan Theatre
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday at McLennan Community College's Ball Performing Arts Center. Friday and Saturday performances are sold out.
Tickets: $10 and $12. Call 254-299-8200 or email [email protected] for tickets.
Ancient history and the present align this weekend when McLennan Community College English professor Nick Webb's original play "The Song of Iphigenia" debuts.
Drawn from Greek tragedian Aeschylus' trilogy "The Oresteia," the drama follows a cycle of violence as it passes through a royal family, the House of Atreus, with spouses and children trapped by murder, revenge, honor and duty.
While the setting is ancient Greece in the aftermath of the Trojan War, its depiction of the stubborn legacy of violence still is relevant.
"The Song of Iphigenia" follows the "Oresteia's" main characters and storyline, starting with Greek King Agamemnon (Erik Anderson), who sacrifices his eldest daughter Iphigenia (Myla Lindsey) so the gods would give his fleet favorable winds in his attack on Troy.
After the war, he returns to his kingdom and is murdered by his queen Clytemnestra (Rebecca Woolls), still enraged at her daughter's death.
Clytemnestra, in turn, and her lover Aegisthus (Chuckie Castillo) are murdered by her son Orestes (Samuel Arias), duty-bound to avenge his father's death and aided by his sister Electra (Paiten Rand). He, in turn, is tormented by the Furies for his mother's death.
It wouldn't be Greek tragedy without interference by the gods and Apollo (Cormac Spiares), Athena (Hannah White) and Artemis (Kev Riley) do their part.
While the stories in the Oresteian trilogy have long captivated Webb, much of its writing, development and production took place over the last five years.
MCC theater students and faculty helped shape his play, first workshopped in 2024, with students taking part in script readings, discussions and revisions.
Webb, an MCC faculty member for 20 years with 12 as a tenured professor, has experience writing for the ear of a contemporary audience, crafting the composition textbook used by MCC's English department, "Writing Is Easier Than You Think," several years ago.
That textbook was part of an attempt to make learning resources more affordable for MCC students, and "The Song of Iphigenia" has a student-friendly dimension as well.
Webb opted to waive copyright restrictions on its production, allowing it to be filmed so student actors and crew members could use footage in demo reels for potential jobs or programs.
Webb was on leave and could not be reached this week for comment, but was expected to attend some of his play's performances this weekend.
MCC choreography instructor Joseph Taylor, who created the production's stage movement with his students, said Webb's script breaks up the long monologues often found in Greek drama into dialogues more accessible to audiences. "Nick has written this beautiful literary tale," he said.
The McLennan Theatre production features a 19-actor cast and full participation by MCC theatre faculty, with Kelly Parker as director and lighting designer, Cori Burkett as voice and text director, Taylor as stage movement director, costuming by Kathleen Laundy, scenic design by Benjamin Mason and sound design shared by Taylor and Burkett.
Those who might assume Greek drama involves actors in white togas will find a production rich in color, from lighting to Laundy's costuming. Taylor noted that Laundy's costuming combines fabrics using natural fibers, saturated colors and historical techniques such as primitive pleating where gravity plays a part.
"The Song of Iphigenia's" themes of death and violence make this more suitable for adults and families with older children, though the onstage violence isn't graphic, Taylor said.
The two-act play runs approximately two and a half hours with intermission. The Friday and Saturday performances are sold out, but tickets were still available midweek for the Thursday and Sunday performances.
"The Song Of Iphigenia"By McLennan Theatre
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday at McLennan Community College's Ball Performing Arts Center. Friday and Saturday performances are sold out.
Tickets: $10 and $12. Call 254-299-8200 or email [email protected] for tickets.