{"id":1892,"date":"2023-08-03T12:39:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T16:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2024-02-01T12:57:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T17:57:19","slug":"function-and-freedom-the-costume-design-of-hamlet-50-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/function-and-freedom-the-costume-design-of-hamlet-50-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Function and Freedom: The Costume Design of \u201cHamlet 50\/50\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe triumph of simplicity is important,\u201d says Hamlet 50\/50<\/em> costume designer Elivia Bovenzi Blitz, and her work for this production is certainly a triumph in that regard. For this brand new, world premiere adaptation of Hamlet<\/em>, Blitz collaborated with director Vanessa Morosco to create a dynamic, familiar-yet-new look to the costumes which conveys the essence of character in a bold and unique fashion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Oriented<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blitz\u2019s work for Hamlet 50\/50<\/em> began in early 2023. Blitz had worked with director Vanessa Morosco in the past, and Morosco\u2019s direction to her design crew for this production was to find their own inspiration for creating the world of the play. For Blitz, that was a good thing \u2013 not having a set idea in mind helped her to bring innovative ideas to the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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As a designer, Blitz\u2019s typical approach is to use the costumes to show the differences in power in the world of the play, and to convey the character without them having to say a word. As the process evolved, Blitz settled on a blend of her own personal style (favoring mixed patterns for the players) with a cleaner, more Scandinavian aesthetic that was functional and utilitarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blitz\u2019s approach was to create a contemporary look, without being period-specific. The design is relatively modern, but not necessarily of the real world. It\u2019s an elevated style using details that define characters, such as the capes that we see on Gertrude and Claudius: a look that denotes regal and ceremonial authority, but blended with more everyday styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Function and Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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In a typical Shakespeare production, certain characters have more preferential treatment, based on their importance in the story; Shakespeare doesn\u2019t necessarily call for multiple elaborate looks and changes. In Hamlet 50\/50<\/em>, however, everyone has a more equitable amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Blitz describes it, function and freedom became the two most important characteristics of the 50\/50 ethos when applied to the costumes. Part of the conversation was making the backstage elements more equitable \u2013 for example, making sure that costumes for women don\u2019t take longer to change than those of the men. Footwear was another important piece of the puzzle; the intent was to create more ways for actors to move around the stage by keeping actors out of footwear, like high heels, that might limit their motion. <\/p>\n\n\n

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One element of the costume design that reflects the 50\/50 ethos is the choice to put all of the characters in gender-neutral trousers, which allow for functionality and freedom of movement without fear of exposure. For Ophelia, the skirt was a careful choice, one that conveyed youth and innocence. But other characters\u2019 costumes have skirts as a layer amongst other layers. Similarly, Claudius\u2019s cape was originally designed to be shorter, but in the development process, it became more of an Elizabethan-inspired style which lives over one shoulder. \u201cI didn\u2019t want him to look like a magician!\u201d Blitz laughs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 50\/50 production ethos extended into the build of the costumes as well. For Hamlet 50\/50<\/em>, the idea was to give the shop an opportunity to build more things and use more of their skills and talents in a better way, instead of just altering store-bought clothing. Costume builds were assigned in a different manner; Blitz\u2019s list of dream builds seemed impossible at first, but to her surprise, the shop didn\u2019t flinch at the ask, and actually even surpassed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a costume designer, you have to be so multifaceted,\u201d Blitz notes. \u201cYou have to be able to perceive actors\u2019 individual needs, read body language, and be very intuitive and diplomatic. No one\u2019s on the operating table \u2013 it is not life or death. We have high standards for our work, but we want to execute it as simply and easily as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn more about Hamlet 50\/50<\/em> at shakespeare.nd.edu<\/strong>. Performances run Aug. 15-27, 2023 at the University of Notre Dame \u2013 don\u2019t miss it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe triumph of simplicity is important,\u201d says Hamlet 50\/50 costume designer Elivia Bovenzi Blitz, and her work for this production is certainly a triumph in that regard. For this brand new, world premiere adaptation of Hamlet, Blitz collaborated with director … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[514266,47488,47487],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ndsf-2023","category-notre-dame-shakespeare-festival","category-shakespeare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1903,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/shakespeare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}