UC Santa Cruz

ABSTRACT

"Twenty-Four Power Suits" by Ellen Howes

This thesis sets out to illustrate my process as the costume designer for The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Theater Arts Department’s production of Congressladies, Mary Kay Gamel’s modern adaptation of Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae. In collaborating with the director, the designer must create designs that help connect the characters to the world in which the play takes place, as well as reflect the tone of the performance. This thesis will examine the process by which I achieved the actualization of the director's vision as well as explore the analytical layers beneath my designs. Throughout the chronological process, I will focus on the impact that my designs had in the satirizing of important political issues, the clarification of important plot points, and in paralleling Mary Kay Gamel’s modern adaptation to the original Aristophanic text.