Ballet British Columbia

Set and costume designer Kim Nielsen has worked with Ballet British Columbia many, many times, including The Faerie Queen, Orpheus, Carmina Burana, Scheherazade, The Rite of Spring, Septet and Schubert. "It is ideas in design that get the ball rolling," Nielsen says. "The concept for the look of the piece usually comes after a thorough reading of the play and long discussions with the director/choreographer to clarify exactly what the intention is."

The period in which Streetcar is set is shortly after World War II. It had a tremendous impact on everyday life and changed the world of fashion forever. For one thing New York fashion designers were cut off from Paris couture as result of the war and the occupation of Paris. In response American designers had to create a new style for American women. Skirts were short and straight topped by jackets. Cardigans matched skirts and sheath evening dresses became the rage. The hallmarks of fashion in the 40s included an austere silhouette with narrow hips, padded shoulders and all manner of hats. In 1947, Dior introduced the 'New Look' featuring longer lengths and fuller skirts; a return to classic femininity with a nipped-in waist. The use of yards of fabric in garments was now seen as lavish and opulent. Women's fashion changed to a soft, feminine and romantic image, setting the stage for the next decade.

How do these changes in fashion affect the way a production based in that period looks? Is the choreographer looking at literal period dress? Or is this a 'free' avant garde production where high concept counts more than budget? It is true that budget constraints can sometimes enrich a production by pushing a director into taking a chance with an unusual idea. Just because a designer has the budget to do a lavish, complex show, doesn't mean that he must. A good theatre designer will match the costume design to the show, the characters and to the director's concept.

Creating the costumes for Streetcar required serious discussion of all of these components: budget often being primary among the issues, followed by many months of design, costume construction, sourcing the right fabrics, finding someone to hand paint them if necessary and finally fitting them to the dancers. Kate Burrows, head of wardrobe for Ballet BC for several years now, worked with a team of sewers and dyers to create some of the most beautiful costumes the company has ever had.

Can't find exactly what you want? Limited by available fabric or by money? The answer to these potentially huge problems can be easily overcome by thinking about what color, texture and detail scheme you want, then putting it into action with some dye and paints. If you can get light fabrics you can make heavy ones by interlining. As long as you can get pale fabrics you can get dark ones by dyeing. Plain fabrics become patterned ones by painting them. These aren't new tricks but speak to the creative nature of costume design, particularly with the fiscal restraints of major funding to the arts.

For Streetcar, the nature of the play suggested that Realism should be the predominant design style. Realism--although an over used style but also a tremendously underrated one--is often put down because it is used on inappropriate plays, or more often is simply poorly done. Certain plays need the period detail to set them in context, particularly 20th century American work which is often so low-key and realistic in style that any unusual costuming would distract from the script. Realism requires a passionate search for appropriate detail, fabric and color, with no sloppiness about research, cut, accessories or character. It is probably the most difficult style to do well, but one of the most satisfying for a designer. When it is perfectly pulled off, everyone can see what the designer did and the great precision involved.

For a theatre designer, success comes through research into the history of costumes, art and theatre, intense scrutiny of physical objects, conscious study of manuscripts and character to find the right ideas for a show. Life for a designer is a continual diet of aesthetics, drawn from both history and daily life, as it applies to design. This information is then processed into ideas, collected and expanded upon and ultimately used in production design.