A Midsummer Night's Dream

Makeup and Hair Design

University of Wisconsin- Parkside; Spring 2015

Directed by Matt Schwader-Harbor

Scenic Designer: Jody Sekas; Lighting Designer: Jake Bray; Costume Designer: Antonio Torrez

Concept:

For our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the director chose a Steampunk concept. This idea marries styles of the Industrial Revolution with an element of fantasy. I worked very closely with the director and the costume designer to create characters that were cohesive in the way that they moved and the way that they looked. Our cast was made up of sixteen performers, several of whom had to make quickchanges into different characters. Because of this, many of the designs that I had come up with needed to be quickly applied and quickly taken off or changed.

Watch the Trailer:

The Fairies

Photo Courtesy to UW-Parkside

The director wanted the fairies to appear more mechanical and less human than the other characters in the show. Their movements were based on different machines such as clocks, presses, and clockwork toys. I was inspired by doll-like makeup and clock-face makeups that I had found to be popular in Steampunk styles.

Titania's look includes clock hands in addition to colorful beauty makeup. This is because she talks about time and how her fight with Oberon has effected the flow of time. Our Titania was also cast as Hippolita, so the clock hands were aluminum pieces that were attached with toupee tape so that they could be taken off and reapplied easily.

The lesser fairies like Cobweb and Mustardseed were based of different machines and I drew inspiration from more doll-like makeup that I made more rigid by breaking their faces up into more geometric shapes. This was achieved by using an airbrush and stencils that I had created to apply the makeup to the actors quickly.

Research Images

Mustardseed

Titania

Cobweb

The Mechanicals

Photo Courtesy to UW-Parkside

The mechanicals are the working class of Athens in the play, and so their looks are more mundane than the fairies. These characters are also fully human. I was inspired mostly by simpler, more civilian styles of makeup and hair. Our production also cast the character of Peter Quince as a female and called her Mistress Quince. When I think of the word "mistress," I think of old west madames and based Mistress Quince's makeup on Gunsmoke's Miss Kitty.