Design For Costume & Object by Louise Groarke. Performing Arts Year two.
For my Design work for Mystery Bouffe, I made two masks made from clay and paper mache, a glove, a hat made from card, and another mask made from a papercup.
I have put my photographs on my Pinterest site, and this Wix site will be all my blog on the work i did, to get my final designs.
The link is https://www.pinterest.co.uk/user_reklooageuisr
my initial ideas and Inspiration
When this module started i knew very little about Russia and the political situation, at the time the play is written. i decided to watch some documentaries and watch films about the Russian Revolution. One film that inspired my ideas for my version of the play was the 1979 film Nicholas And Alexandra, starring Janet Suzman, Lynne Frederick, and Micheal Jaysten. It was amusing to watch how the family coped when they were removed from power, they no longer had the luxury lifestyle, and how scared they all were for the future. They were also then all fully aware and shocked about the publics' true feelings and anger towards them, in the scene where the family walked to get into the cart, they had very little security and were terrified of the intense hatred towards them. Before they fell from power, they had the illusion they were loved, they could get away with murder, and they could treat people like dirt.
I thought the idea of the class system being reversed, was a very fascinating concept. I started to think how the British Royal Family and the rich elite in the UK, would cope if they suddenly lost all their wealth, power, and privileges. They have not really worked for, any of the wealth and they think that the working class and the poor people are beneath them, and unworthy. It would be a massive shock to them all, even more so if they had to work normal jobs, and worry about paying rent, bills, and feeding the family. The class system is evident through the play, as the poor and working class characters such as Truck Driver, Lamplighter, Miner etc, are the Unclean Characters, and the Clean characters are the rich elite and are the Indian Raja, A diplomat, The Negus of Abyssinia. The Clean think they deserve all the luxuries and the fine things in life, and the poor (unclean) deserve to work till they drop, and they should live in misery, both in real life and they should be in pain for all eternity too.
The documentary that i found the most interesting was called Russian Revolution, which was made in 2017. It was very detailed and informative about that time period. I also thought the Documentary The Art Of Russia Smashing The Mould, showed how art was at the forefront of throwing out 1,000 years of the .had lots of information about the author of Mystery Bouffe, Vladimir Mayakovsky,
For the Moodboard, i decided to look at articles that focused on the current divisions in society, with the Covid Vaccine. The debate about Vaccine passports is ongoing, and it will be for a long time. I learned that different countries in Europe, and in the world have different laws regarding Vaccine Passports, travelling abroad, and working in healthcare settings. I also spent time looking at articles about the current covid and vaccine situation in Russia, as that is where I wanted my play to be based. I also did some research on The Spanish Flu, also known as the Great Influenza, It infected a third of the world population, and killed an estimated 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million. That pandemic just after the first world war, was similar to Covid, as it happened in 4 waves, the public were encouraged to wear masks. A major difference was, as there was no social media or internet in those days, conspiracy theorists didnt really have a platform to share false news, and people believed what they were told in the media. There was some resistance to mask-wearing especially amongst men, as it was seen as unmasculine.
FINAL DESIGNS FOR MYSTERY BOUFFE CHARACTERS
In class we made masks of our faces, using clay and paper mache. I desided to cut the mask in half, and the top half would be the one of the Clean characters, that has to wear a mask when near the Unclean, to prevent them from contracting the virus. The bottom half was going to be a mask for one of the Unclean characters, who has the virus, but has to wear mask 24/7, so they dont give the virus to the Clean characters, as the mouth is partly covered.
In the end I decided that the blue mask is for the Blacksmith, who is now The Well Fed Persian. He has lots of jewels and diamonds on his mask to show off his newfound wealth, and position of privilege. I used sequins, to make the mask sparkle, and they are supposed to represent diamonds and jewels.
This yellow mask is for the former Indian Raja, who is now just a Farmhand. He is infected with the virus, so the green spots represent the nasty spots that his whole body is covered with. The black glitter represents the covid that is in the air, and the virus is on his mask. This is similar to the recent tv advert where it showed how the virus spread using black spots in the air, going from person to person.
The four finger glove is also worn by the former Indian Raja, now a Farmhand. He has lost his thumb as a side effect of the vaccine. The green spots match the yellow mask that he has to wear 24/7.
The link to my Pintrest site is https://www.pinterest.co.uk/user_reklooageuisr