Sunday, January 31, 2010

Dressing

In being fitted for my costume for the production of Shakespeare’s Richard II, that we are rehearsing, I got stuck trying to take off my outer layer with the laces. It became clear why the nobles had servants to dress and undress them. It was impossible to do it by yourself.

That incident threw me back in time when I was two or three years old and learning to dress myself. I remembered vividly the frustration I experienced as my feet got tangled in the arm holes and the wrong leg went into the other side of my leggings, so that they would end up backwards. They had suspenders that held them up under my matching coat, but did my skirt go on top of the leggings or did it get stuffed into them? Such a dilemma! My sweaters never buttoned up the way they should and I would have to unbutton them and start all over again. My little fingers would get so tired.

Then there was this unruly mop of curly hair that was a tangled mess to brush or comb. Yelps and tears were the norm and I am sure my governess was more upset than I was. How hard it was to reach that facility that now, I take for granted.

Well, sort of. Here I am, at an advanced age, struggling with the same incompetence in dressing as when I was a little girl. All the actors will help each other with our costumes as we will all be in the same boat. Since there are quite a few costume changes, we will be rather busy.

When I played on Broadway, we had union dressers but Boulder is a long way from Broadway.



Prema Rose

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