Kanata Theatre makes an early start on period plays

by Dewi Williams

Two productions in Kanata Theatre's 39th season will be "period" plays: The Heiress by Ruth and Augustus Goetz (set in New York in the 1850s) and The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, which takes place in Russia before the revolution. The Heiress opens the season on September 18th. However the directors, Eufron Williams and Dewi Williams, have chosen to select their cast before summer vacations start, so that designers, tailors and seamstresses will have all summer to create the period costumes needed for the play. Auditions for the 12 roles will take place on June 18 and June 19 though rehearsals will not start until August. The costuming crew will measure all the actors as soon as the cast is chosen.

Producing a "period" play has problems not found when presenting plays set in the present time. For the audience to believe that they are looking into a scene from the past, the scenery, the furniture, the props used by the actors, and above all the costumes, must be in keeping with the chosen era. The costumes present a special challenge as each must be made or adjusted to fit the actor, and some of the cast have up to four changes of costume.

The "Heiress" of the title lives with her widowed father, a doctor, in Washington Square, an affluent area of New York. She herself has several changes of clothing during the time-span of the play: as the seasons change, as she dresses up for a family get-together and as she returns from a stay in Europe. Creating costumes for each of these situations and for all the other actors means researching what people wore at that time, what fabrics and colours were used, and what decoration would be added. Even finding the fabrics poses a challenge: under stage lighting, the materials used must look like fabrics from the era. Brenda Parr, the costume designer, has already been busy scouring stores in the Ottawa area to find suitable materials.

Then comes the challenge of fitting the style to the actor. For contemporary clothing, a sewer can purchase a pattern for any set of measurements. For a historic costume, the tailor must first create the pattern using whatever sources are available: pictures from the past, specimens in museums, or other (but similar) patterns. This all takes time for the volunteer membership of Kanata Theatre, which is why the casting - and measurement of the chosen cast - must take place so far ahead of the production date. Anyone wishing to assist Brenda Parr in creating costumes should call her at 613-832-3296.

The Heiress will run in the Ron Maslin Playhouse, 1 Ron Maslin Way, Kanata, on Tuesday to Saturday September 18th to 29th with blackouts on Sunday and Monday. Season tickets for all five plays in the 39th season can be purchased from the box office. Please call the box office at (613) 831-4435 or visit www.kanatatheatre.com for more details.