Costume Designs for The Pinter Project
Faculty Mentor(s)
Professor Michelle Bombe, Hope College
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-15-2011
Abstract
In the spring semester of 2010, Katie Hoekstra designed the costumes for the Hope College Theatre production of The Pinter Project, which featured a collection of Harold Pinter’s works. The Pinter Ensemble performed two short plays, A Kind of Alaska and The Dumb Waiter, and seven revue sketches, Request Stop, Victoria Station, Black and White, Last to Go, Applicant, Night, and Trouble in the Works. As costume designer, Katie attended production meetings and collaborated with the director, John Tammi, and her mentor and the other designers in order to coordinate their vision for the scenes, and to be sure to compliment the set, lighting, and sound. The director envisioned the production to be set in England in the 1960s. Katie chose a color palette consisting of black, white, and other neutral tones. From reading the text, the idea arose that the piece should have a sense of grit and texture to the costumes. Katie began the design process by researching images of men and women’s clothing in the 1960s. She then created rough sketches of what she envisioned each of the characters wearing based on the characters crated in the text. To give the costumes authenticity and roughness, she chose to pull as many of the costumes as possible from the period stock of clothing in the department. She selected pieces based on period, the monochromatic color scheme, her sketches, and, of course, pieces which contributed to the character as developed by the text and the nuances of the actors. She continued to adjust the ensembles through fittings, a costume parade, and dress rehearsals. Once the designs were finalized, she drew renderings of the costumes from one of the revue sketches, Request Stop, which featured all of the Pinter Ensemble.
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