COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP IN THEATRE

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Costume and make-up play fundamental roles in defining characters. They help to bring out the actors’ stage personalities, or the playwrights’ conceptions of what the actors’ physical appearances are. Heffner et al opine “that in supplementing the art of acting with the visual artistry of dress and facial make-up, the actor disguises his own personality in that of the part he is portraying”. (562).

In this unit, attempt will be made to explain the significance of costume and make-up in theatre productions.

3.1 The Concept of Costume

Generally speaking, costume can be described as stage dress, or wear, and its accessories like headgear, hat, ear-rings and necklace, etc. A costume can be derived from every day dress, or it can be symbolic. A dress made for a ghost, must of necessity; depart from the natural dress worn by a human being. It is usually symbolic.

TYPES OF COSTUME

Costume can be categorised into two major groups, period and ethnic costumes.

Period costume refers to a particular stage dress worn during a particular historical era. Thus, we can talk of 5th century B.C. costume, Renaissance costume, Elizabethan costume, nineteenth century costume, etc. Period costume is largely regulated by fashion. An important point about fashion is that it is cyclical. For example, the dresses worn in Nigeria in the 1960s and 1970s, which were abandoned in the 1980s and 1990s, are now fashionable in the country among the youths. They refer to those dresses as “old school”.

Ethnic costume is a cultural marker. This is because it tells you where somebody comes from. According to Julie Umukoro:

The African continent is a conglomerate of varying ethnic groups marked by notable cultural differences. This dichotomy is most visually perceived through features of dress ---- consequent on geographical, cultural and socio-political factors, consistent patterns are gradually evolved and features become repeatedly accentuated in their design. Over the years, their unique attributes become distinctive qualities of their kind, and by and by, they assume the image of cultural symbols indicative of their specific ethnic groups (1-2).

In Nigeria, ethnic groups can be identified by their indigenous wears.

For examples, the Hausas have the “Danciki” or what is today popularly referred to as the “Agbada”; the Igbos have the “Isi agu”; and the

Yorubas – the “Aso-oke”. Although the quest for national integration has made cross-cultural dressing acceptable in Nigeria, in theatre

practice, these dresses are used as means of character portraiture, to depict characters ethnically.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

List and discuss the two types of costume.

3.2 Styles of Costume

Stage dress can either be draped or fitted. According to Albright et al, “the art of draping is the art of securing abundant folds and graceful gathers by the way the cloth is hung about the body” (270). Draped costumes are generally loose and flowing. A good example of draped costume is the “Agbada” . In Europe we have the Greek Chiton and the Roman Toga. Draped costume is usually held in position at the shoulder, and or the waist areas. It permits graceful movement. On stage they are best, for Kings and the nobles, or the wealthy. Draped costume is at its best when the weight of the material is caused to accumulate at the hems.

The fitted costume is the type of costume made to suit the shape of the body of the wearer. It, in fact, reveals the outlines or contours of the body. The essential difference between the draped and fitted costume is that “the fitted costume directs attention to the physique of its wearer; the draped costume to the wearer’s movement’ (Albright et al, 269). Fitted costume is best for activities that require versatility in movements and gestures; such activities include dancing, acrobatic display, fighting, etc. However, depending on the roles to be played fitted design can co- exist with drape design in one costume.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What is a draped costume?

3.3 Functions of Costume

.Mark Twain in his “The Czar’s soliloquy” clarifies the role of costume e eloquently states:

There is no power without clothes. It is the power that governs the human race. Strip its chiefs to the skin,

and no state could be governed: naked officials could exercise no authority: they would look (and be) like  every one else-common place, inconsequential. A policeman in plain clothes is one man; in his uniform he is ten. Clothes and titles are the most potent thing, the most formidable influence, in the earth. They move the human race to willing and spontaneous respect for the judge, the bishop, the ambassador, the frivolous earl, the idiot duke, the Sultan, the king, the emperor. No great title is efficient without clothes to support it

(1).

Twain is very clear in telling us that clothes are means of distinguishing personalities. From the type of clothes an actor puts on, you can say much about his political power, economic standing and social class. You can say whether the actor is rich or poor, a master or servant. In fact, in theatre, costumes are means of depicting characters’ given circumstances.

.Costumes can be used to describe age and historical period of n play or a medieval play?

.Costumes can be used to accentuate mood. Is the character mourning he sad or happy?

.Costume can be used to distinguish occupation. Is the character a e, doctor, soldier or a farmer?

.Costume is a cultural marker. Is the actor from Tiv or Igbo, Housa or

.Costume can tell the time and weather of the play. Is the action taking morning or night? Is it occurring during the harmanttan or winter?

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3

List and discuss two functions of costumes in theatre production.

3.4 Qualities of Costume

A good stage costume is expected to possess the following qualities:

.It must agree with the overall style of production. According to al, the style of costume in any production is the externalization of the spirit of the

obriety or flippancy of its attitude toward life and the dignity or triviality of its theme, and on e period of its composition” (267).

.A major quality of stage costume is mobility. An actor’s costume exible enough to permit him free access to execute his various stage business. Derek Bowskill hat there is a two-way movement between actor and clothes ccording to him:

The character created by the actor will suggest the clothes to be worn. The clothes themselves will suggest variations within that character and dramatic possibilities (295).

The above statement implies that costume should not be made for its own sake, but must stem from the script. It equally suggests that costume should be mobile enough to stimulate creativity on the part of the actor. Indeed, “it is the quality of the costumes’ movement and the way they look in motion which is the final measure of their effectiveness” (Albright et al, 275).

.Again costumes are frequently changed by the actors in the course of

s. Change of costumes is expected to occur within a twinkle of an eye. The audience is not to know that the actors are changing. This can be possible if the costumes are mobile.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISES 

Why does a costume need to be mobile?

3.5 Make-Up

Make-up essentially refers to the natural, as well chemically engineered cosmetic worn by the actors and actresses, in order to highlight their outward appearances as prescribed by the script, or interpreted by the director. “As one of the visual elements of production, make-up complements consumes in revealing the character embodied in the actor through his physical appearance” (Uto-Ezeajugh, 2005:157). Make-up reveals age, period, culture and mood.

TYPES OF MAKE-UP

There are basically two types of make-up. They are straight make-up and character make-up. Straight make-up is make-up merely worn to brighten up appearances. It is worn to accentuate the personal features of the actor. It also refers to the type worn for evening walk.

Character make-up aims at camouflage or transformation. Through character make-up, a young man can be turned into an octogenarian. Through character make-up, an actor is bequeathed the physical features of the character he is recreating, but which he lacks in a very promising degree. In character make-up, special attention is given to the face and the head. Head transformation, for example, can be achieved through weaving, hair cut, or through fixatives such as the wig. Character make- up is mostly used where the major features of the character are lacking in the actor.

APPLICATION OF MAKE-UP

The first stage in wearing make-up is the cleaning of the face. The face can be cleaned with water and soap, or by means of astringent-a cleansing lotion. This is followed by the application of the basic facial colour of the character. This step is known as the foundation because it is the first way of saying that the character is white or black or coloured. The next stage requires creativity. This is because this is the stage of painting the required features of the character. If he is an old man, this is the stage to reveal it. The final stage is the highlight stage. Here all the features painted are highlighted by means of highlight liners. The highlighting or the lining stage brings out the details of the lips, eyelids, wrinkle and other significant features on the face of the character.

NEED FOR LOCALLY MANUFACTURED MAKE-UP

Overemphasis on imported make-up leads Tracie Uto-Ezeajugh to stress the need for local alternatives. She laments that while “it is obvious that stage make-up existed in the Nigerian traditional society, and also played similar roles as they do in the theatre of today, these local

sources of stage make-up have remained largely unexplored” (168). Certainly, the high make-up demands of our daily exploding entertainment industry makes it imperative that we explore the

possibility of generating our own make-up locally. Nigeria has abundance raw materials for the production of make-up. We have black indigo, camwood, yellow ochre, charcoal and colour chalks, among others.

Explorations of local sources can equip the make-up artists with divergent skills. It can also be an attractive means of livelihood. In fact, Mrs. B.N. Chibuzo had started enjoying some financial rake in from her locally made costumes and make-up, before death untimely snatched her away from us. Samples of her ingenuity in this direction can be seen in the costumes and make-up room of the Department of theatre Arts,

University of Nigeria Nsukka, where she served as a technical staff.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 5

What is character make-up?

4.0 CONCLUSION

We have explained the functions of costume and, make-up as visual

elements of production. We explained that these elements can be used to clarify the status, period, age, and in fact, the given circumstances of the actor- which include his economic and socio-political attributes.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this study, we explained specifically, the concept of costume and

make-up, their typology, as well as their complementary role in bringing out the physical aspect of the character’s personality. We equally

highlighted the need for a local alternative to foreign make-up.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss two functions of costume.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Albright, H.D. William P. Halstead and Lee Mitchell (1968). Principle of Theatre Arts. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Bowskill, Derek (1979). Acting And Stage Craft Made Simple. London: W.H. Allen.

Heffner, Hubert C, Samuel Selden and Hunton D. Sellman (1967).

Modern Theatre Practice. New York: Appleton- Century- Cropt.

Twain, Mark . Cited by Julie Umukoro (2002).”The Dynamics of Power Symbolism in African Royal Regalia and Ritual Costumes” .

SONTA Conference, University of Uyo.

Umukoro, Julie (2002) “The Dynamics of Power Symbolism in African Royal Regalia and Ritual Costume”. A Paper Presented at

SONTA Conference, University of Uyo.

Uto-Ezeajugh, Tracie (2005). “Sustaining the Development of Theatre Practice through the Resuscitation of Traditional Design

Techniques: Uli Make-up Design among the Igbo”. In Nigeria Theatre Journal Vol. 8, Number 1.