Cadging from Chekhov

I had a brief preliminary discussion about costumes with Geri Dittrich, the Walterdale’s very own Edith Head. Talking to someone who’s been designing and constructing costumes for years, and trying to put my embryonic thoughts about Lear into practical terms, I realize how little I have figured out. “Sort of pre-history...but not really Druid stuff...but also sort of Renaissance...maybe sort of outside of time?”

I’m obviously going to have to get things straighted out a bit better in my own head before I do any more recruitment. It’s hardly inspiring for artists and designers coming on board a project as complex as King Lear to be greeted at the door with those sorts of vagaries.

So here is what I think about costumes now, having had a chance to think and write about it a bit. I think that pre-historic Druidic robes are cliché, and I think that Renaissance costuming is safe but boring. I think that, if I had to pick another setting, I would be most inclined to a late nineteenth century Eastern European or Russian setting—the sort of costumes one expects to see on characters in a Chekhov play.

There are two reasons for choosing that setting: first, it hasn’t been overdone, at least not with respect to Lear. True, Grigori Kozinstev’s film version of Lear (1969) is set in Russia, but it’s more of a medieval Russia—and, in any case, not many Canadians have seen that film.

The second reason is because I think that setting can illustrate two of the play’s central themes quite effectively. It can capture the political dimensions of the play because it has a great deal to say on the subject of class and status. In pre-revolutionary Russia, there was a tremendous cultural gap between landholders and the serfs who worked for them. And it can also serve as a shorthand for the family theme, mostly because of Chekhov. His plays were all family affairs, and when we see characters onstage in those sorts of costumes, we come to expect a drawing-room drama. Lear is different from Chekhov, of course, but its differences speak for itself, whereas its similarities need a bit of help to become clear.

In preparing for the season launch in May, my next task is finding photography and artwork that we can use to advertise the six shows in the season. Now that I have a stronger idea for the appearance of Lear, I can look for images which reflect that theme. If I’m lucky, I’ll stumble on some which I can then pass on to Geri, to inspire her. And then she’ll make some sketches, and they’ll inspire the actors, and the inspiration wheel will continue to turn.