Words from the Theatre

I am an MFA costume designer in the Theatre department. So in a nutshell, I read scripts, analyze characters,themes, etc. and work with a design/production team and actors to create a portion of the physical environment of the play. I am currently in the middle of designing for "Wild Stages: Kabarett MFA!" which is an original work (meaning there is no set script, making this a non-traditional process) based on the cabaret scene in Europe between 1890 and 1930. It's sort of like old school SNL. The show opens in early May, so it's going to be a busy quarter for me!

My sketches are in the costume shop right now, but hopefully I'll steal them back for a little while so I can share some of the process work with you. And then, in the end, there will be production photos and of course the actual play. (May 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 7:30 pm, May 4 at 3:00 pm at the Bowen Theatre)

It is difficult to say what my "style" is or to give some sort of artist's statement, because the nature of my work is to be adaptive to different projects' and directors' needs. I will say, though, that the notion of collaboration is very important to me. I could sit around and draw or paint all day, but the excitement for me is in interacting with a whole group of people to eventually come to a common vision that facilitates the communication of an idea or story to the audience.