GALLERY: A BACKSTAGE VIEW OF DRESSING FOR SHAKESPEARE
Shakespearean Costumes from the Federal Theatre Project
The Work Projects Administration was established during America’s Great Depression (1929-1939) to alleviate unemployment and lift citizens from poverty. The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the WPA geared specifically to the theatrical arts by assisting actors, artists, artisans, lighting technicians, publicists, and stagehands from across the country. Professional designers, tailors, and seamstresses were also hired to create sets and costumes for touring troupes. Federal investment in the arts served to lift national spirits as well as income. (Scroll to the bottom of this gallery for more details.)
See more about this collection here.
Shakespearean Costumes from the Federal Theatre Project
The Work Projects Administration was established during America’s Great Depression (1929-1939) to alleviate unemployment and lift citizens from poverty. The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the WPA geared specifically to the theatrical arts by assisting actors, artists, artisans, lighting technicians, publicists, and stagehands from across the country. Professional designers, tailors, and seamstresses were also hired to create sets and costumes for touring troupes. Federal investment in the arts served to lift national spirits as well as income.
These stylized togas and doublet with accompanying design drawings are sourced from separate repositories. The original costume design drawings for Julius Caesar, The Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night are housed by the Library of Congress while their digital scans were created from 35mm slides produced by George Mason University Libraries’ Special Collections & Archives Repository Service. The costumes themselves are on loan from JMU’s School of Theatre & Dance.
When the Federal Theatre Project was disbanded, its properties and costumes were dispersed to non-profit educational institutions across the country including Madison College and other state teacher training schools in Virginia. The costumes were serviceable and re-purposed for productions through the 1950s and possibly even into the 1970s. The Margaret Webster Touring Company which performed Julius Caesar on campus in 1950 may have used the same or similar designs, but no images have been found to corroborate that theory.
More on the individual costumes and items in this exhibit:
Wool Crepe Waist with Hand Embroidery c. 1910-1915
Madison College Stage Costume Inventory pre-1975
This homemade garment possesses traits of the ‘Orientalism’ emulated in high fashion at the end of the 19th century and reflecting the art world’s fascination with Northern Africa and the Middle East. The experimental Ballets Russes formed by Sergei Diaghliev in 1909 captured the attention of Parisian designer, Paul Poiret, who was in turn known for an ‘ethnic look’ inspired by Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine and Turkish patterns.
Raw Silk Dress with Black Silk Sash c. 1915
The widespread use of white in fashion was a holdover from the Victorian era that continued through the Edwardian and was ubiquitous with the Normal School’s very identity. Group photographs from the first decade of yearbooks show a sea of white garments on campus Spring, Summer, and Fall. White was equally prevalent as a fashion staple for day and afternoon attire in the local community. A dress like this might have been worn by a spectator to the Shakespeare Pageant in 1916.
White Cotton Child’s Dress c. 1915
Boys are often mistaken for girls in early 20th century images because their dress was virtually the same. This child’s dress is similar in style to the one worn by John Wayland Jr. for the Arbor Day ceremony of 1913. John Jr. served as the Senior Class Mascot that year. According to Professor Raymond Dingledine:“The Seniors planted ivy which Miss Cleveland brought back…from Warwick Castle, England.”
Blue Wool Serge Skirt c. 1910
A well-made skirt was a staple in a woman’s wardrobe able to be worn with multiple blouses.Sometimes these skirts were part of tailor-made, or a suit which could service almost any occasion from church to work to social gatherings.
Federal Theatre Project Costumes for Julius Caesar c. 1935
These blue and white togas with their strong geometric forms are reminiscent of the Cubist and Futurist influenced art movements of the early 20th century that would soon give rise to the bold angles and rectilinear style of the Art Deco period that flourished into the 1940s.
“Viola” from Twelfth Night c. 1939
This striped doublet bears a strong resemblance to Alexander Jones’ sketch of “iondello” fromTaming of the Shrew but bears a production tag inside for Twelfth Night. Re-purposing of costumes for plays of the same time period is common practice. The doublet may have been intended for the character, Viola, who dresses as a man to gain entrance to court and finds herself pursued by Olivia. Shakespeare himself would have approved of the triple irony here: an actress from a women’s college playing a female role played exclusively by male actors in Elizabethan times.
Bust of William Shakespeare
Alexander Backer Company, New York
Painted “chalkware” c. 1940
Loan courtesy of Adam and Lilia Murray Family
Fencing Foil c. 1940
Gift of 1942 graduate, Iris Alina “Titi” Ruiz Family.
A similar foil would have been used as a prop by the character “Toby Belch” in a February 1, 1936 campus production of Twelfth Night.
JMU Special Collections #5051
School Ma’am 1916
The 1916 Editorial Staff dedicated their work to “The Spirit of Shakespeare” complete with the motto “All’s well that ends well.” From a four page acrostic calendar spelling out William Shakespeare to a list of “bloopers” titled “Comedy of Errors ‘What fools these mortals be!’” to a special panoramic pull-out poster of the Shakespearean pageant—the Bard was well-represented throughout the yearbook.
Hand Forged Steel Dagger c. 2000
Created by Bert Green
Loan courtesy of Paula F. G. Weddle