Every theater production involves numerous people. The best collaboration amplifies strengths of every participant. The beauty of the production process is in its diversity that comes together to form a unity. Every dimension of the resulting product, including costumes, has to be in harmony with others but maintain independence to preserve richness and the feeling of authenticity. I think it is very important to be able to hear the director's vision and match their expectation with a product that enhances the whole, interact with production crew, and it is also important to consider uniqueness of actors. We dress real people who play particular roles.
My design motto is "Expressive and not excessive." I strive for clarity of the image. Overly complex costumes may be disruptive, overly simplistic costumes may convey lack of credibility. Sometimes I think that success happens when costuming is not mentioned in a review. It means that costumes were a perfectly natural fit for the particular production.
The whole costume ensemble is what matters, one mismatch may be enough to ruin the cohesiveness of costuming and disrupt a flow of the show.
People see big things first but it is the details that make costumes holistic. Minor things, like a shape of the bra or the form of the glasses, have to fall together to form an image and are translated into truthfulness of the costume of a particular character on stage. While the audience may not be into a professional analysis of costumes, they do have cultural references and, probably mostly unconsciously, judge what they see, becoming either more open and receptive to the performance, or less so. Specifically, period costumes require particular attention to details, and hence research is a priority. Finding a way to express a character within period constraints is a truly rewarding challenge.
Collaboration happens on many levels and in different dimensions. Stanislavsky said that the theater starts with the coat room (for spectators); he had not said where it ends.
Theater production is an extended process that requires flexibility and change to the very last minute.
The world is not perfect and production budgets are always limited. Costuming requires an ability to use every dollar wise, work within limits, and utilize available support networks.
