Hay Fever
Otterbein University Theatre 2019
Costume Design by Rebecca White
Directed by Lenny Leibowitz
Scenic Design by Edith Dinger Wadkins
Lighting Design by Matt Hazard
For this light comedy, Director Lenny Leibowitz and I sought to create a palette of eclectic characters, each more absorbed into their own pleasures than the comfort of any other. Three acts with different social situations and times of day provided an opportunity to show each character in three personalized looks. For the afternoon of Act I, the resident family is going about their own self indulgent activities, while the guests arrive in summery traveling clothes. Act II sees a formal dinner scene complete with tuxedos, silk, and sequins, while the final act sees the guests hurrying to escape, and the family enjoying a leisurely breakfast in their night clothes, oblivious to the hasty exits of the guests.
I chose to contrast the warm scenic design by Edie Watkins with a cool palette for the family, almost as if the guests fit into the stately home more than it's residents.
For this production, Costume Crafts students painted trompe l'oeil shoes using 1920's extant designs.
