When Gloria Blackwell asked me to design the costumes for this production of Lysistrata, I admit I had a few reservations. Why would I be eager to design for a play written thousands of years ago? What new and illuminating ideas could I bring to a play that had been produced so many times? Gloria is known for her feminist works, highlighting gender inequality, bias, and disparities. The last adaptation of Lysistrata I had heard of was Lysistrata Jones, a 2011 musical comedy about cheerleaders who withheld sex from their basketball player boyfriends until they won a game, and this did not seem to fit the Blackwell Agenda I knew so well. What did Gloria believe she could do to remove the inherently sexist attitude of the original production and
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The actors playing women will wear typical housewife, cinched-waist dresses in bright colors, with floral accents. Those playing the chorus of older women will have similar dresses, but longer and more conservative in mute colors. Instead of flowers, their dresses will feature repeating patterns. Those reigning from None of the women will wear white, but muted forms are acceptable, such as light gray, since purity is not a theme this play seeks to evoke. The men’s costumes may give prominence to white, but only in the form of clean-cut button downs. Most of the men in power, such as the magistrate, delegates, and ambassadors, would wear suits typical of the era, while the policemen would wear vintage police uniforms to accentuate how they are different from the other dominant males. The chorus of old men would follow suit, both literally and figuratively. It serves to represent the ancestral element within the play by dressing the elderly chorus members as a duller version of their younger complement, just as is done with the ladies. The slaves and the doorkeeper would be in the attire of younger men of the time, in sweaters and vests. They would not dress in the rebellious garb of the likes of James Dean, but their lack of suits would still show them to be lesser than the others. The herald would equate to a Paper Boy, a common trope in this time, and would be dressed with in a button down and vest with the quintessential newsboy
The actors playing women will wear typical housewife, cinched-waist dresses in bright colors, with floral accents. Those playing the chorus of older women will have similar dresses, but longer and more conservative in mute colors. Instead of flowers, their dresses will feature repeating patterns. Those reigning from None of the women will wear white, but muted forms are acceptable, such as light gray, since purity is not a theme this play seeks to evoke. The men’s costumes may give prominence to white, but only in the form of clean-cut button downs. Most of the men in power, such as the magistrate, delegates, and ambassadors, would wear suits typical of the era, while the policemen would wear vintage police uniforms to accentuate how they are different from the other dominant males. The chorus of old men would follow suit, both literally and figuratively. It serves to represent the ancestral element within the play by dressing the elderly chorus members as a duller version of their younger complement, just as is done with the ladies. The slaves and the doorkeeper would be in the attire of younger men of the time, in sweaters and vests. They would not dress in the rebellious garb of the likes of James Dean, but their lack of suits would still show them to be lesser than the others. The herald would equate to a Paper Boy, a common trope in this time, and would be dressed with in a button down and vest with the quintessential newsboy