GESAMTKUNSTWERK

 

The costumes for the piece are simple and pedestrian.  I wanted the cast to look like normal human beings, but with enough strangeness to defy specifics of location and era.  To achieve this, I used an assortment of white costumes with an air of formality.  The costumes, though bordering on fancy, are in many cases ill-fitting, mis-matched, worn, and stained.  The effect is that this community has dignity and pride, but no longer has the resources to dress accordingly.  They appear to be doing their best with what they have.  The white costumes also establish the general theme of life.  As the cast develops into a group of followers and non-believers, their white costumes affirm that they are all lives that will prevail in some way in spite of their choices.