Much Ado About Nothing – The Women

Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing performed by the Knavish Hedgehogs at the Winnipeg Fringe, 2014.

The sketches were all provided to me by the director, Mariam Bernstein. I worked hard to maintain the look of the sketches on a $250 budget.

Beatrice:

The fabric I found at the second-hand store wasn’t enough for a complete long dress. I found some matching fabric and was able to custom build the dress for the actor.

Ursula, the faithful servant:

Ursula’s dress was made from a bedsheet. The edging on the sheet was used to build the contrasting trim at the neck and the sleeve cuffs. Originally the sash had been wrapped around her waist as an apron, but it was too similar to the other serving girl and, at the last minute, was changed to a simple sash.

Hero:

As both time and staff were limited, I reused a previous dress for Hero’s costume. The original dress was made by Hannah Beynon for Such Stuff Players’ Cymbeline. Using the dress as a base, I built a chiffon overdress from blue sheer that I found in the 99¢ discount bin at North West Fabrics.

Leonata:

Leonata (Leonato, in the original version of the play) needed to look older and commanding, without sacrificing femininity, as there was a subtle romantic sub-plot happening between her and Don Pedro. The fabric choice was bold and stunning, and, in truth, the result of frugality more than design choice. It did provide colour and flair on stage and the actor loved wearing it!