Dressing for the part
December 20, 2011
In rehearsal I like to wear something that is close to what I will be wearing 'on the night'. The clothes, especially the shoes, affect the way one stands, moves and holds oneself - and, to a significant degree, how one feels about oneself.
I remember when I was doing Iceman Cometh at the Almeida I felt Piet Wetjohn - especially his Afrikaans accent - was so far away from me I needed all the help I could get. On the second day I went in early and trawled through a few charity shops till I found some old tatty ill-fitting clothes and a hat that I could bash about and plonk on my head.
I was particularly pleased with a great wide leather belt that held everything together like the proverbial sack of potatoes (rather appropriate because the Afrikaans man I spoke to at the South African embassy where I had gone in panic the night before, looked to me like a human potato!)
I think the company thought I was a bit mad, getting into this 'costume even before we'd fixed the blocking or learned the lines. But it really worked for me and I began to feel very comfortable and at home in the role that had so daunted me. (It was especially daunting because both Howard Davies, director, and Jonathan Kent, Artistic Director, were under the impression I was South African when they cast me!)
So... determined to get into the skin of Toby Belch as soon as I could, and not really sure what the designer and director had in mind, I did the charity shop thing early in Twelfth Night rehearsals looking for some sort of beach bum clothing.
I found a pair of ill-fitting three-quarter length jeans that seemed ideal. I also found a huge tea shirt down which I promptly and proudly spilled my coffee. Imagine my delight, then, when John the designer showed me his sketch for my costume which he had simply drawn from what I was wearing during our last rehearsal.
He particularly liked the trousers which accidentally fell down when Maria tried to pull me back, by the waist band, from Olivia's bedroom! We may keep that in.
(The What Country Friends is This? plays are; The Tempest, Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors, and are part of the RSC's World Shakespeare Festival)
by Nick Day
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