I and You
By: Lauren Gunderson
Directed by: Juniper Wallace
Costume Design by: Lauren Ray
Produced by Fondren Theatre Workshop, August 2018 and January 2019
Directed by: Juniper Wallace
Costume Design by: Lauren Ray
Produced by Fondren Theatre Workshop, August 2018 and January 2019
Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who is Part T-Rex
By: Julia Weiss
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, December 2016
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, December 2016
Costume Design Statement: |
Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who Is Part T-Rex is an ode to 1990s middle school life. An exercise in fantastic realism - the main character is literally part dinosaur, the play explores ideas that are not unique to its characters. Tammy is a tormented 8th grade girl who believes that it is her differences (that whole dinosaur thing) that keep her from fitting in with the popular clique. Her well-adjusted best friend, Hope, doesn't see the appeal of having lots of insubstantial friends, and Jennica and Amber take pleasure in any opportunity to bully the title character. Tammy's crush, Cliff, is also a member of Jennica and Amber's clique, making Tammy's need to "be normal" and find acceptance in their group even more important.
The costume design for this show took inspiration from many 1990s television shows and films - from Saved by the Bell to All That and Clarissa Explains it All to She's All That and Never Been Kissed. The boys' costumes were inspired by 90's boy bands like NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and 90 Degrees. Mrs. Rex's dress and boots reflect the typical '90s sitcom mom, and Mrs. Sanchez' bold purple suit defined her character as stuck smack dab in the middle of the '80s.
Because Tammy serves as a mirror to everyone who has ever been an eighth grade girl - whose wants and needs are so deeply affected by her lack of self-confidence and need to fit in - her primary costume is very neutral. I avoided putting green costume pieces onstage throughout the majority of the show so that when Tammy comes to the dance, this bold new color of her dress speaks volumes about her character's state of mind. The black jumpsuit serves to indicate setting as well as situation.
Hope, Tammy's "well-adjusted best friend who doesn't care what anyone thinks," feels at home in grunge style clothing, wearing a yellow plaid flannel, distressed light-wash blue jeans over fishnet tights, Doc Marten-style boots, and a black beanie. She serves as an appropriate foil to the popular clique's preppy attire.
Jennica and Amber had the most challenging costume work in this show - each wearing a different outfit each time they came onstage. This decision - and much of the design itself - was inspired by Cher and Dionne from Clueless. The design goal for each of their costumes was to find outfits that coordinated, balanced the stage picture, and showed each character's unique personality, with Jennica wearing shorter skirts and edgier layers and Amber staying a bit more conservative in A-line dresses with Peter Pan collars.
The costume design for this show took inspiration from many 1990s television shows and films - from Saved by the Bell to All That and Clarissa Explains it All to She's All That and Never Been Kissed. The boys' costumes were inspired by 90's boy bands like NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and 90 Degrees. Mrs. Rex's dress and boots reflect the typical '90s sitcom mom, and Mrs. Sanchez' bold purple suit defined her character as stuck smack dab in the middle of the '80s.
Because Tammy serves as a mirror to everyone who has ever been an eighth grade girl - whose wants and needs are so deeply affected by her lack of self-confidence and need to fit in - her primary costume is very neutral. I avoided putting green costume pieces onstage throughout the majority of the show so that when Tammy comes to the dance, this bold new color of her dress speaks volumes about her character's state of mind. The black jumpsuit serves to indicate setting as well as situation.
Hope, Tammy's "well-adjusted best friend who doesn't care what anyone thinks," feels at home in grunge style clothing, wearing a yellow plaid flannel, distressed light-wash blue jeans over fishnet tights, Doc Marten-style boots, and a black beanie. She serves as an appropriate foil to the popular clique's preppy attire.
Jennica and Amber had the most challenging costume work in this show - each wearing a different outfit each time they came onstage. This decision - and much of the design itself - was inspired by Cher and Dionne from Clueless. The design goal for each of their costumes was to find outfits that coordinated, balanced the stage picture, and showed each character's unique personality, with Jennica wearing shorter skirts and edgier layers and Amber staying a bit more conservative in A-line dresses with Peter Pan collars.
Mutually Assured Destruction: 10 Short Plays About Brothers and Sisters
By: Don Zolidis
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, April 2016
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, April 2016
Scenic Design Statement |
Mutually Assured Destruction is an episodic full-length play in which teenagers from different decades interact and seek to overcome the often-comic, universal struggles of being an adolescent. Like A. R. Gurney's The Dining Room, the setting for MAD remains consistent throughout the vignettes, despite their spanning nearly a century.
Because of the need for timelessness, we opted to pull elements from throughout history, with colors (examples include: the yellow walls and couch; two shades of grey that repeat in the table, the stairs, the doors, some of the wall hangings and the couch; the natural wood of the chair and the bookcase that is also reflected in several photo frames), textures, and materials from throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first century. In order to avoid major set changes between scenes, all of the furnishings necessary for any piece stayed on stage throughout all ten vignettes.
Playing on the idea of this room being one room in one house, the exits remained consistent throughout, too, with the stairs stage right heading up to bedrooms, the center left door going outside to the front of the house, and the far left door heading into the kitchen.
Because of the need for timelessness, we opted to pull elements from throughout history, with colors (examples include: the yellow walls and couch; two shades of grey that repeat in the table, the stairs, the doors, some of the wall hangings and the couch; the natural wood of the chair and the bookcase that is also reflected in several photo frames), textures, and materials from throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first century. In order to avoid major set changes between scenes, all of the furnishings necessary for any piece stayed on stage throughout all ten vignettes.
Playing on the idea of this room being one room in one house, the exits remained consistent throughout, too, with the stairs stage right heading up to bedrooms, the center left door going outside to the front of the house, and the far left door heading into the kitchen.
Costume Design Statement |
Zolidis' series of short plays about brothers and sisters provides unique design challenges by setting two characters in each of ten decades, beginning with the 2010s and moving backwards in time to the early 1920s. For each play within the larger work, the costumes needed to reflect both the personality of and the time in which the character lives. With the costume design for this production, we sought to stay as true as possible to the age of the characters and the world they inhabit.
Numbers
By: Kieron Barry
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, December 2015
Designed and Directed by: Lauren Ray
Produced by: Jackson Academy Performing Arts, December 2015
Costume Design Statement
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Numbers is set in the common room of an English girls' boarding school, and the play tackles contemporary issues like rejection, bullying, and standing up to injustice.
Because the actors in our production attend a private college preparatory school whose dress code is uniform, we opted to wear pieces of their school uniforms as costumes. Within the uniform guidelines for their school clothes are several options of skirt style, and we carefully tailored the cut to each character. Additionally, attention to sleeve length; choice of shoes and socks - both in color and cut; and accessories, hair, and makeup helped give subtle but important cues to members of the audience about each girl's personality.
Drawing from past personal experiences and conversations with each of our actors informed costuming choices that delineated the characters' socioeconomic status and hierarchy within the social structure of the school. Hetty's long skirt, dark tights, and flats separated her visually from Katherine, whose tailored (read: "shortened") skirt, knee socks, and heels implied the power of her position. The other girls balanced these two ends of the spectrum, with darkness and light elements that both supported their uniform look and allowed them to maintain their unique identities.
Because the actors in our production attend a private college preparatory school whose dress code is uniform, we opted to wear pieces of their school uniforms as costumes. Within the uniform guidelines for their school clothes are several options of skirt style, and we carefully tailored the cut to each character. Additionally, attention to sleeve length; choice of shoes and socks - both in color and cut; and accessories, hair, and makeup helped give subtle but important cues to members of the audience about each girl's personality.
Drawing from past personal experiences and conversations with each of our actors informed costuming choices that delineated the characters' socioeconomic status and hierarchy within the social structure of the school. Hetty's long skirt, dark tights, and flats separated her visually from Katherine, whose tailored (read: "shortened") skirt, knee socks, and heels implied the power of her position. The other girls balanced these two ends of the spectrum, with darkness and light elements that both supported their uniform look and allowed them to maintain their unique identities.