theatre creator and designer
Edmonton, Alberta
Costume Designer
Bleviss Laboratory Theatre
Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane
Directed by Amanda Goldberg
Set, Props, and Lighting by Skye Grinde
Photos by Mat Simpson Photography
Design Notes
Phaedra's Love was one of the first plays I read during my undergrad, so it was a sort of bookended experience for me to be on the otherside of an academic journey, designing costumes for this fiercely bloody show.
The director and I centered our shared image vocabulary around the images of melting wax, burning structures, and artificial materials. The colour palette became very stark black against the white -- to contrast the very grey moral worlds these characters lived and the notion that image Phaedra herself evoked for "burning" for Hippolytus's love and attention, and ultimately, destroying this outdated vestige of the monarchy in the present day. The infusion of plastic within their costumes came back to the resistance to outfit these people in precious metals, but that their reign is merely a facsimile of the past glory.
The plastic became increasingly important as it was a means of symbolizing connection and desire where we had to be socially distancing actors and even a practical material as this show was full of blood!
Scroll through the gallery below to see all costume renderings.
