Working for the show 'Hedda Gabler': My work in Pop-art, Millinery and Graphics

The last few weeks have been busy preparing for our opening of the show Hedda Gabler, which is tonight.

My wish to learn the skill of lightboard operator came with this show - I will running the light and sound boards - the lights of which I also designed. I am a little bit of a tech-head, so I picked it up quickly and enjoyed it. It's interesting to see the effects and moods you can create using dramatic lighting it really can transform the space. I designed light to create hours of the day for this show - early morning and evening. I learnt to program preset lights into the board which is very useful for light changes. The sound board at the Teatro L'Archiliuto is a much newer and better quality piece of equipment than the one we used for the last show, Under The Overcoat.

One of the requirements of my painting was that it had to look like the actress who was playing Hedda. This was so that the link between the two would be easy to make. To achieve this, I took a photo of Aleshiya and edited in photoshop so that she had more masculine features. This was a challenge. I then added a general's outfit on to her and used this digital image to draw out the shapes for my painting. 

The reason the digital images looks very different is due to the fact that the director requested that the face be more stern and looking forward. I was required to make the necessary changes to create the desired impact. 

"The portrait of the general that stares out and follows you around the room"

Though not one of my best paintings, I am pleased with the outcome. Pop-Art is not my favourite style yet I feel I managed to capture the crisp lines that make it so recognisable.


Here is the first steps of the fascinator, I used feathers from what seems like an old burlesque style, feather pom pom which I bought from a gypsy at the market... It really is fantastic! The feathers are black with that twinge of green and blues depending on the light. I have a feeling it will make an appearance in my final year project somehow.. There are lots of feathers to adorn garments/art with and it will fit nicely with the nature theme of my work.

Using knowledge of fascinators from my first year at university

Gaby left it to me to design the promotional posters for this show, instead of going to the paid professional who usually does them. This gave me a good feeling, I am confident in my ability to create a visually effective poster.

The first poster was creating using a photo taken by the director to provoke underlying themes in the show… He likes getting a reaction for Italians and over here this photo certainly does that! The poster looks far from innocent and certainly has slightly sexual imagery. The Italians also have very strong views on violence to women (it looks like the gun is pointed by someone else however, it is actually her own hand) so it is quite controversial. 

Due to the other poster being a little too 'explicit' for certain promotional uses, Gaby requested that created a second suitable for the Italian magazines etc. I manipulated an image and changed more than enough to comply with copyright laws, this has inspired me to create an image from scratch next time. If I could improve my ability to do it would be a good skill to have not only for creating poster graphics, but also for fashion designs and illustrations. I think it's time to get back on illustrator because I think with a little practice I could nail it!

Aside from owning the English Theatre of Rome, Gaby runs a drama club at the John Cabot University. The students will be performing 'Nine', a story which follows Guido, a director and his relationships with all the women in his life. It is based on a film called 8 and a half, which is a very interesting Italian black and white film. It's quite unusual and the clothes are also fantastic. It also was good for my Italian watching a subtitled Italian film. I have been looking into the fashion worn in the film and will also be looking at Federico Fellini films and avante garde for inspiration.

I am really excited for his show. I will have more free reign for it than I have had for Hedda as Gaby is much more relaxed with decisions. Daniel, the director for Hedda Gabler is very certain about what he wants and has taken it upon himself to do most things. I think we are slightly similar in personality!

To support my work for Nine, I will to create my own research document on fashion through different eras. I am not sure yet what format I would like to do it in. I work very well digitally so I think I'll create A4/A3 boards on Photoshop, have them printed and then add texture and samples to them. 

Upcoming show: 'Hedda Gabler' A great story by Henrik Ibsen - Suicide and Incest

After a nice, long Christmas holiday I returned back to Rome.

Over the holiday I spent 8 days in Shoreditch, London which was great, it's a cool area for fashion and independent brands and it gave me a real desire to move there after my degree and hopefully start up my own independent trade (or at least find work in London to fund myself to do so!)

Since being back preparations are under-way for Hedda Gabler. The director made the decision to adapt the play to a modern setting. This means unfortunately the costumes will not be as exciting as I'd have liked (I am a fan of period clothing!) but I do still have the responsibility of sourcing the clothes and modifying garments appropriately. I will be using my knowledge of making fascinators that I learnt in my first year as I have to create one for one of the characters. I enjoying the construction aspect of making head pieces, they are almost comparable to sculpture, something I have enjoyed previously.

Alongside designing and organising the costumes I am responsible for sourcing and making the stage props needed for the show. I am currently working on a pop-art style portrait (to fit with the modern era) of the General to be the main centrepiece of the stage set. This painting is an incredibly important part of the set, as it is referred to often in the script. This is a perfect opportunity for me to show off my painting skills, something I have always enjoyed since GCSE. 

The vital prop - One of generals pistols..

I have also began working on some of my own art work in my spare time. I think this is down to the fact that I have been getting really inspired recently, mostly by nature. I will use the inspiration gained out here in my final project - I have been getting lots of ideas for what it is I want to do. 

Promotional work is something I have been continuing to do for the company which means creating the posters, sending the promotional emails and over Christmas I also created a new Twitter page. As I am not an avid social networker this has been good for me to begin to understand what people want to see and what makes a page popular. This is a skill I will also utilise in my third year for promoting myself as in independent designer. I plan to elaborate on the branding project we did in third year and mainly focus on visual merchandising. I want to create something that can be viewed as installation art but that would also be used in visual merchandising. I do not know fully how the third year brief works however I am aware we have a certain amount of free reign with it - so these are just some ideas I am considering. 

You can visit The English Theatre of Rome's twitter here: @rometheatre

Last week I joined Gaby at her after school theatre class she teaches. They are a group of students from a nearby university and will be performing a musical in April. I will be working as the costume designer for this too. Meeting large groups of people is incredibly beneficial to my communication skills - in fact, the whole internship has been fantastic for that.

I have met a lot of very talented and different personalities whilst out here and I enjoy liaising with different people. Everyone has different talents and connections and I now appreciate how important this is within the design world. 

Working as a costume designer - (Plus my latest leather bargain - PIERO GUIDI)

Hedda Gabler auditions have been continuing this week. As the costume designer, I need to pay close attention to who is is cast for each role as I will be tweaking, fitting and manipulating costumes to fit each person. During the week I met with Gaby to go through all the clothes that are available. She taught me some more about period fashion, and made me aware of how little I actually know on the topic.

As mentioned before - the theatre works on a very low budget, this means we have to be imaginative when looking at the garments we have available. There are some super old pieces (well, old to little me!) and I discovered a bag of lace which we can use to customising plain blouses and shirts to create Victorian replica clothing. For me, this is a really interesting way to work and it adds an element of challenge - you really have to look further than the garment you initially see and experiment with how it works with other pieces.

Outside of the theatre I am one of 5 people taking part in a linguistics project ran by an American university. The project focuses on how a computer can interpret phrases, sentences or paragraphs and summarize them. They have selected us to read through paragraphs, phrases and sentences and give our own summaries to help with their research. The depth and accuracy of our summary is dictated by a rating - for example if they need a '1' we should give a bad summary, if they need a '4' we give something very closely accurate. We are being paid very nicely for helping with the research - 160+euro for 15 hours and it also very interesting. We met for the induction there which involved debate - firstly on the summaries, and then on the rating which we had given. When we had different opinions it sparked a lot of discussion which was good fun. 

Walking to Gaby's I noticed a perfect colour coordination with my Italian boots, Viv westwood jeans and the beautiful fallen leaves. Definitely an ideal colour palette for my third year project! Inspired

Monday and Tuesday next week Gaby and I are hosting the casting for a film coming up in Spring, in which they will needing English speakers. There will short interviews for the actors, they speak a little about themselves and answer some questions. I will be organising the event and filming each interview. I will also be giving it ago myself - it takes place in late Spring so it would be a nice extra experience before my placement ends!

The first of Kevin Gildeas stand up show is tonight. I will be picking him up and directing him to the theatre. This show will be an opportunity for me to learn how to work with the lighting. This is something I can see being very beneficial in the future in aspects such as fashion photography. I will learn about how to effectively use lighting to create certain moods, times of day and situations.

Near by my house there is a HUGE flea market called Porta Portese. You can get everything there, for every price. My favourite are the 50 cents and 1 euro store but I couldn't resist when I saw this gorgeous, colourful little Piero Guidi bag - with circus print! I managed to haggle the guy down from 70 euro to 30 (the remaining contents of my purse) and walked away a very very happy lady. 

This little piggy went to market - thank God I didn't stay at home!

Period Fashion of the late 1880's

Since our return from the countryside (boo), auditions for the next show have gone under-way. I have been present at all them all, meeting the potential cast members and the director. These situations are really boosting my confidence. I am constantly meeting new people and speaking with large groups of people older than myself which is doing wonders for my maturity.

I have also been conducting research into fashion of the late 1880's. I do not have a clue when it comes to period fashion so this challenge will expand my own knowledge - I have already learnt a little from my research however I would like to learn more. I have to say, I particularly like the detail in Victorian clothing. The use of lace is grand and the high collars are one of my favourite aspects. I will select costume from the theatre personal collection of clothes, and consider what garments I can put together to create authentic Victorian dress. This is good practice for re-creating period fashion from pieces from various decades.

My first attempt creating Victorian Fashion

The slightly boring job of sending out the promotion emails has come around again. The job is not a challenge because it is very simple, however I completely understand that it is vital to filling the theatre. I do however set myself challenges of how many I can draft and send in 30 minutes.. it gets them done fast and keeps me occupied.

Kevin Gildea, an Irish stand-up comedian is coming to the theatre on the 6th December. I have been co managing this performance too which involved negotiating with Kevin, working out the dates for the show and finally booking his flights and managing his trip during his duration in Rome. These small tasks are a great practice for me in organising and making final decisions.

The poster I designed to promote Kevin's show

Bomarzo - A Beautiful 16th Century town in Italy - You Must Visit!

Once 'Under the Overcoat' was finished and we had completed post-production, I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Gaby's country home. I've learnt that almost everybody in Rome has a second home - a vice and escape from the city life - usually in the country or by the seaside.

The old fort at the top of the hill, Bormarzo

Gaby's escape is in a darling 16th century town called Bomarzo. Being from the UK I had never seen a place with such obvious age that was still in tact and with no obvious renovation.

The 16th century homes of a small community

 It was actually quite amazing the good it can do for personal well-being. After spending a few days their I was relaxed, had cleared my mind and would be returning to Rome refreshed, rejuvenated and revitalised.

Not a bad view to eat your breakfast, eh?

Just before I headed home though.. there was one place I had to check out. It's called 'Parco Dei Mostri' which literally translates to The Monster Park. It is also 16th Century, built by a man called Vicino; a patron of the arts and so devoted to his wife that he built the gardens in her memory when she died. 

These statues in the gardens were not your average white stone statues of Gods and Goddess and such that you find in Rome. I have pictured some of my favourite parts of the park. I received a map which was excellent as it gives you information on each piece.

Il Drago

"For Ligurio, the dragon was not a symbol of destruction but rather of time and wisdom. Here, it is fighting a dog, lion and wolf - symbols of spring, summer and winter - the present, future and past. Some say they are 3 lions? The dragon is curiously adorned with butterfly-like wings, indicating its solar spirit."

Casa Pendente

 "The strange, leaning house serves as a passage to the upper garden level. The head-spinning unease of standing inside is meant to spur you on to the rest of the garden. The Orsini coat of arms and motto are in-scribed on the facade of the house."

L'Elefante

"Elephants carrying castles were popular symbols in medieval and Renaissance art, standing for both strength and restraint, often with reference to Hannibal's famous use of elephants to invade the Italian peninsular. This elephant holds a wounded or dead Roman soldier in its trunk who, in turn, holds a now unidentifiable object loosely in his right hand. Scholars argue over whether he is being caught or thrown by the elephant - protecting or discarding. Regardless, the elephant represents both the triumphs and defeats of Rome. It is also an african elephant, therefore, likely to be recalling Scipio, an African who according to legend, never left the side of his war elephants."

If ever you are in the area and have a chance to visit this place - I could not recommend it more. It's fascinating, beautiful and a little out of the ordinary. 

Being props master can be stressful - But fun! 'Under The Overcoat'

Last weekend was the final weekend of the show.

During the show my responsibility was to ensure the cast had their costume ready, were wearing it correctly, and that the props were all correct and present on the props table. This was really important because the table was on view to the audience and once the show begun, all the prop changes were done on the stage.

The props table that would be on display

This job I actually found rather stressful. After each show (and the rehearsals) the actors in their own rush would leave numerous clothes and props scattered everywhere. This meant Eve and I had to then gather them all up and tidy them or re-arrange them. This was using more of time then necessary and the question "Why is my..." really began to grate also. To solve this problem we addressed the actors and asked them to please take responsibility for their costume/prop once they had used it. We had to ask this several times and I can be quite a soft touch but learnt to stand my ground.

I mingled with the audience during the intermission, offering authentic Italian food to compliment the theme of the story and give the cast time to prepare for Act II. One night, I also got to see the rather hilarious sight of half of the audience members gasping for water after eating curry that was just too hot for them to handle. He he

During the show, I was the soundboard operator. This involved playing sound effects and music at just the right moments and fading them in/out effectively. I enjoyed this role, and when I had time peeked over Eve as she ran the light board. It was interesting to see how lighting can create a dramatic look on stage and add to the imagery, I wanted the opportunity to run the light board in the future and create some light design myself. It would be useful skill to be able to design lights, not only for in the theatre - but also during photography shoots and films.

Dramatic lighting effect creating during a 'Train Crash' scene

Eve and I in the tech box.. where the off-stage magic happens

After the show comes post-production which involved returning any props, dry cleaning and returning the beautiful saris and other garments lent by the Indian Embassy ladies. This I took upon myself and actually went into the Indian Embassy in Rome which I have to say is really a beautiful, beautiful building inside and out.

Next week we will begin work on pre-production for the upcoming show - Hedda Gabler. I am keen to start work on this as I will be involved from the very beginning, able to conduct my own research and create suitable costume for the characters. I felt that I did not quite have that with Under the Overcoat because I joined later.

I received positive feedback from both Theo and Gaby. Theo recognised that I am a hard worker however advised me that I need to be more confident when making decisions - If question myself, then other people will too. I found this feedback useful and will be more assertive when working with the next project. I feel like I will be more confident in doing so as I will have been present from the start.

Theodora, the cast, and I before the final show

Great fabric shop in the heart of Rome - Fratelli Basetti Tessuti

During these weeks I was busy finalising costume, attending rehearsals and working on the head pieces. I also had to make a tradition western wedding veil. So with the need for tulle I headed to what I had read was the largest fabric store in Rome - Fratelli Basetti Tessuti (Doesn't it have a ring to it!)

Inside one of the multiple rooms/floor at Fratelli Basetti Tessuti

Rolls and rolls of brightly coloured material

I hadn't yet had a chance visit the trade fairs in Paris with the fashion department back in Coventry so I was still a little naive to the amount of fabric one place can hold. Oh boy. This place was incredible. It had a double height ceiling, every inch filled with the most amazing fabrics. I took the time to rub a fair few of them in between my thumb and finger, getting a good feel of their luxury.

I also started a part-time job at a tourist restaurant which is a great way for my Italian speaking as most of the chefs do not speak English. Having a job alongside my intern-ship whilst still continuing my job in the UK as the promotional/graphic designer for my local bar is teaching me to manage my time effectively and follow through with my own deadlines that I set. My time keeping skills improved massively and I am now certainly seeing the benefits.