Dressing actors for Auckland Theatre Company's period piece Mary Stuart doesn't mean slavish adherence to Tudor fashion.
Talk about clothes for princesses and if you're not thinking of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and co, you'll likely be remembering historic drawings of a regal Elizabeth I in voluminous bejewelled gowns with cartridge-pleated neck ruffs.
But instead of focusing on the woman herself and her remarkable 45-year reign as Queen of England, it is easy to become distracted by the clothes. Could she sit down in those dresses? Did her neck hurt from wearing a ruff all day? Did jewels fall from the dresses when she walked - and who surely ended up vision-impaired from sewing them on in bad light?
Given this propensity to focus on the clothes, it is not surprising that costume designer Elizabeth Whiting has opted to forgo the traditional Tudor princess look as she dresses the cast of Auckland Theatre Company's Mary Stuart production.
"I do think that style of dress can be distracting for an audience," says Whiting, who for 30 years has designed and made costumes for dance, theatre and opera. "I know people look at films like Shakespeare in Love, for example, and get terribly upset that the costumes aren't authentic but I do understand why this is.
"The clothing is simply too far removed from what we are used to, especially in New Zealand where we don't have costume museums or the frequent exposure to period piece dramas. It means the costumes can alienate an audience because we see the clothes, not the character. What we want is for the audience to relate to the characters as they would if they met someone in a social setting. You want the character to be tangible and for the audience not to dismiss them as being irrelevant because they come from a long time ago."
Described as a European masterpiece, Mary Stuart takes history and turns it ever so slightly on its head. It portrays what might have happened had Elizabeth I met her nemesis the Scottish Queen and claimant to the throne of England, her cousin Mary Stuart. In reality, the two women never met during the 19 years Mary was imprisoned in England by Elizabeth who eventually - reluctantly, it seems - ordered Mary be beheaded.
To give princess power-dressing new and relevant meaning, Whiting has blended historic royal touches with contemporary styles, textured fabrics and contrasting hues. Rather than feminine, frilly or ruffled, the clothes worn by Elizabeth Hawthorne as Elizabeth I and Robyn Malcolm as the titular Mary Stuart reflect the power these real-life princesses might have wielded.
To keep with the virginal image, Elizabeth I wears white and her gown is regal and tailored rather than flowing. Adornments are more subtle so as not to overwhelm but nevertheless demonstrate her status as Queen.
In marked contrast, Mary - Whiting calls her a less controlled and more impulsive creature of instinct - wears red with a black coat and matching boots. When she puts her head on the chopping block, she'll wear a diaphanous red silk petticoat, the symbolism of which needs no explanation.
Rather than tights, bloomers and codpieces, the male characters wear more modern-looking three piece suits with touches, like neck ruffs, which reference Tudor dress. Most wear black, except Elizabeth's favoured courtier and suitor, the roguish Robert Dudley whose suit is scarlet.
Whiting sees it as her job to help performers "clarify" their characters and to use clothing to communicate more subtle nuances and traits about them.
"When I design costumes, I look at how the performers move. Robyn Malcolm uses her whole body so she would lose that flexibility if I were to dress her in a rigid period costume. Nothing I give a performer should contradict how he or she is going to play their role."
Her job has been made easier by ATC's move to new premises in Mt Eden. For the first time in its 19-year history, the company has a well-ventilated wardrobe space where its hundreds of costumes, accessories, shoes, hats and wigs have been sorted into categories, hung on hangers or stacked in labelled boxes on modular shelving units.
It means boxes labelled "fishnets" and "horses hooves" take their place among more regular collections of shoes, belts and braces and it's far less time-consuming for costume designers to look and sort through clothes which might be suitable for the latest productions.
Previously the costumes, some of which were donated, were stored in boxes and bags in a corner of the ATC office. Whiting says finding costumes and getting them fitted involved going through these multitude of boxes, pulling out everything you thought you might need, carrying it down four flights of stairs and into a waiting - and often double-parked - van, driving to the rehearsal room, parking illegally in a bus stop, unloading and hauling the clothes up three flights of stairs.
Not only were they difficult for costume designers to access, the clothes were vulnerable to moisture and mildew. While costumes are sometimes made from scratch, other times existing ones are modified. There's certainly no shortage of garments to choose from.
The weird, like a flesh-coloured and appropriately heavy pregnancy belly suit, through to the wonderful, like the striking red coat dress Sophia Hawthorne wore in The Duchess of Malfi, are all represented in ATC's "magic" wardrobe. Others, like a green leather jacket which might have been worn by a pop star in 1983 or a purple and gold brocade number circa 1974, are clearly products of their respective times.
Whiting says she has no problem modifying garments.
"Are we precious about the clothes and the fabrics because they are representative - iconic, if you like - or do we look at ways in which we can recycle elements of these? I have no qualms about altering and using things in new ways otherwise they just hang there and are never seen or used in any form."
* Mary Stuart runs from 5-8 May at the Maidment Theatre. Click here to book.
