Today we were to explain our choice of costume to the class. I was impressed as my peers articulately conveyed their thoughts behind their costume and how it related to their chosen category of character. It is fascinating how we all had created different costumes for the same categories. We of course interpret the characters in the play differently, but also I think the diversity stems from the fact that we, with different backgrounds, have different perceptions and meanings linked to costumes. Though we emphasized different things, I noticed a theme; A red dress was a common choice to portray Medea. A symbol I think is virtually universal is the color red. It was a way of representing rage or other similar emotions of Medea. Costumes are used to communicate messages to the audience. However, it is impossible to know exactly how audience will perceive it. Hearing my peers explain their intended meaning behind their costumes certainly influenced how I viewed their performance; I perceived it differently after knowing the performer’s thoughts behind. Another important element of costume is how we use it. Trajal repetitively reminded us to make use of the costume. It was interesting how Eliza would alternate between having her face covered with her hood to then take it down again. I appreciate Ophelia’s point about the fact that costumes change how we move and that we all use costumes differently.
I would have probably never thought to do what Daniel did with the flower that represented bad news.

So much time and effort (not to mention money) goes into costumes, they play a major function in performance. Character is developed visually for the audience by help of costumes. It immediately tell the audience something about what’s going on.What would theater for example be without costumes? Use of costume perhaps not only tell the audience about the character but also the performer. The same way that uniforms are used in authoritarian positions, dressing up a certain way can give us the power or aid us to act in a certain way – pretend we are something else. I had been practicing without my costume until class today and I was amazed at how different it felt doing the same movements in the attire I had chosen to portray Medea. It felt more real for me to perform and also I think it made it easier to perform in front of an audience because I was in some sense not Anna but stepping into a different character. In some sense, we can disguise ourselves and try new identities through use of costumes. I think it is no coincidence that superhero costumes are so popular at costume parties…

It made me think of what we talked about in the context of voguing. In the voguing culture as seen in “Paris is burning”, their looks are crucial to them. We are all performing in everyday life – making statements through our garmins – dress to display who we are. Even if we claim that we do not care and wear just “neutral” clothing (whatever that is) it will be an aspect of our personality that we are conveying. Similarly, other things such as gender orientation, culture, socioeconomic status are assumed from the way we dress.
Costumes can both add or subtract to character. In the 1960’s in Judson church they tried to move away from performativity by stripping away with costumes “expressive” costumes to not set any statement this way. I am looking forward to learning how my peers will use their costume in their performances.