Costume Journal: My time working on a play

 My posts have been sparse of late but as I mentioned, I have been helping with costumes for a play at my church. It's given me a lot more insight into costume production, considerations for this unique situation, and how much my technical writer job came into play. 

Really lit up!

The Boar's Head Pageant

This is a medieval play about the Epiphany. It depicts the medieval celebration of the Boar's Head feast and its new role as a celebration of Christmas and the Epiphany (the visit of the Magi). It's a Christian thing to put on this part medieval and part Christmas pageant. My parish had its first Boar's Head Pageant in 2003 and has put it on nearly every year since. We did not put on any production during the pandemic so instead of celebrating the 20th annual, it's the 17th. We're getting there! 

The first portion of the play includes lots of singing of carols, both common and obscure, professional and not-so-professional performances. The second portion of the play is a bit more like a traditional Christmas pageant, with the arrival of the shepherds and the wise men to see the infant Jesus. Everyone exits the play following the Holy Family. 

The cast consists of pretty much anyone who wants to participate. No prerequisites except a willingness to participate (and preferably reliable). Non-Christians are welcome to participate, but it usually ends up mostly being parishioners. So, that means the cast is hardly ever set in stone. You can't predict who will play what role or how many people will be on stage. There are over 200 costumes, so we can have a fairly large potential cast...and to me...a logistics nightmare. 

The Costume Considerations

Because the play is volunteer-based with a diverse cast, there's a lot of costume variety and as I mentioned a lot of logistics to consider. 

Style and Look

The medieval costumes are period costumes from England (supposedly). This means, using fairly expensive fabric to make royals look royal and things are non-stretch by default so making things adjustable requires planning. The ancient costumes are a bit more simplistic in style (with the exception of the Magi but that's mostly due to lots of jewelry). Color choice, fabric type and footwear really play a big role in making these costumes look believable because we have to be a bit more forgiving when it comes to accuracy. (Which is hard for me, a historic costume nerd...although...I do commit the same sins in my Japanese costumes so...I will not cast stones.) 

Accommodating Multiple Sizes

To me the biggest challenge is having the costumes fit as many sizes as possible. We never know who will be who in the show until they get fitted for a costume. Sadly, if you don't fit, you can't play that role. (Which, to me, can be kind of upsetting to deal with for both parties. 😖) However, we made many costumes adjustable because of the variety of sizes that tend to play them. Most of the nobility and royal family are kind of stuck within a certain size range. But dancing girls have elastic collars and waistbands and safety pins to adjust the belts. The swiss guard use side ties for the pantaloons and shirts. (Kind of a cinching situation). And all the costumes were made with generous seams that could be taken out or in if necessary. (To me, impressive foresight.) 

Care and Upkeep 

These same costumes get used year after year. Again, the original costume makers thought ahead and made everything machine washable. Which surprised me because I was certain that the royal court costumes were dry clean only! The costumes that were used are washed after the show. Before the next show starts, we check for any damage or signs of unauthorized usage and address them. We also launder a few things again before the next show. We try to do fittings a couple weeks before the show so we have time for adjustments and repairs. And, on rare occasions, make new pieces or whole new costumes. 

The costumes are stored on racks that are covered with a plastic sheet and then stored away. 

Inventory Management

There are over 200 costumes available and a few more pieces that are retired but could be used as spare parts. The available costumes are hung on 6 metal racks organized by role groups. (Royal Family, Magi and Holy Family, Poor People, Palace staff, etc.) Each costume hanger has a plastic tag with a card indicating the rack number, costume description, and number. So, Rack #4 Female Minstrel #7 is my current costume. The numbers usually also indicate a general size (usually height) from shortest to tallest. 

Other costume parts like hats, belts or gloves are stored in various bins. (Thankfully, labeled.) 

Currently, associated accessories and the costume they belong to are not documented, but rely on memory. 

Managing Cast and People

Management is a strong word for an all volunteer cast and crew. You don't have a lot of incentive to get people to commit and yet, non-commitment causes problems that cause stressful ripple effects. 

The policy of the show, since it is a community lead production, is you must be fitted for a costume to be in the play. If the costume doesn't fit, you have to play a different role. The sooner you come in to get fitted, the more likely it is you will get the role you want. Otherwise, you are left with table scraps. 

We did an online spreadsheet for costume fitting and signups this year. Which is a great step in the right direction. However, we still used paper checklists for handing out costumes for dress rehearsal and the night of the show. I am not good with names and faces and the way the list was organized was by costume rack instead of last name like the online list. A person checks in at the entrance of the costume room. They get their costume and accessories. Then they get double checked before they exit the room to go change and get any hand-held props. After the show, they change back, drop off props (a different department), come back to the costume room to check in their costume and accessories. 

Chaos of a Young Cast and EIM 

There's always one...

As a minister in the Catholic Church, I am required to receive Ethics and Integrity in Ministry (EIM) training every 3 years. It is the most unpleasant necessity. When I became a lector, I had to take this because I MIGHT be in the same room as a young altar server. The training is on how to behave around minors and other vulnerable persons, as well as how to recognize signs of abuse. Like I said...AWFUL necessity, and it is triggering. Now, I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable around other people's children. However, young cast members don't have self-control. They run around, shout, interrupt, and are generally chaotic. Making it a challenge to get adults fitted, protect the costumes, and not get in trouble socially or legally. 😅

It's double tough because these costumes are re-used every year we try to protect them because they're expensive to replace and clean. So, we have a policy of NO FOOD or DRINK around the costumes. It's hard enough taking out sweat stains and accidental makeup smears, but food stains on a white angel robe? Forget about it! But we also WANT children in the production because it is for and by the community, and they are a big part of it. 

My Struggles 

Here were some of MY pain points as a volunteer

• Relying on the memory of shows past, someone else has the pictures. I've done the show only once and I don't remember the costumes well enough to know which sizes can fit or which accessory goes with it. 
• Few bilingual volunteers. We have many Hispanic parishioners that only speak Spanish. I don't speak it, so that's a barrier to entry. 
• Using paper checklists for check-in and check-out (even though we had a google sheets list with all the same information.) I get more people to understand it, but the spreadsheets were MUCH better organized and grouped by last name so when a whole family came in to pick up their costume I didn't have to scan across 6 columns of papers to find all their children. 
• Not knowing how to handle exceptions. We have expectations, but we make exceptions to fill key roles and not make people feel bad. Like people saying they signed up but never got fitted for a costume. And it's a child. 😬 Or they no longer fit in the costume they wanted. 😱 Or they don't fit in ANY current costume. 💀

Anyway, a recording of this year's show is available here: