Mr. Tallwell
Justin Whyte, Entertainment Editor
THE Little Theatre Movement is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and as part of the events to commemorate this milestone, the organisation has mounted an exhibition which provides an assemblage of costumes used over the years.
The Jamaican pantomime is an offshoot of the British Pantomime, which is synonymous with Christmastime, when theatrical entertainment is based on such traditional children's fairytales as the 'Mother Goose' story. These presentations are usually accompanied by rich, lively music consisting of humorous and sentimental songs.
In Jamaica, most of our pantomimes do not contain mythical characters and, instead, engage elements of the Jamaican culture, 'Anancyism' being the chief one. In addition, folk characters are typical to villages and towns, while beauty spots and landmarks are skillfully included in the props to create a style of its own with humorous utterances, compelling pranks and antics.
But creative costumes are needed to bring the storyline and characters to life.
Suitable costumes
"It takes a lot of thought and dialogue to arrive at the use of suitable costumes which enhance the storyline", explained Barbara Gloudon, founding member of the LTM and scriptwriter for many years.
"Whereas a play can use two sofas, centre table and a chair and a make-shift curtain, pantomime costumes have to be elaborate... be a part of the plot. This is why costuming and set designs cost us thousands of dollars each year," she continued.
According to Anya Gloudon, one of the island's outstanding young designers and a graduate of the Edna Manley College for The Visual and Performing Arts: "Before costumes are constructed one has to be familiar with the script and how each cast member portrays his or her charaacter. One has to determine whether the concept is contemporary, fantasy or one which depicts old-time Jamaica. This will determine what each character should wear. In fact, the costume idea will come from the actor's interpretation of the lines".
Denise Forbes, graduate of St. Martins College of Art and Design, London, who has had four years of set designing experience in pantomime agreed that the art of designing for a pantomime is a multi-faceted one.
"One has to watch the developing script at production meetings, rehearsals, use sketches and models and develop a working relationship with the lighting man and the carpenter. The costume designer has to work in harmony with the set designer to arrive at uniformity of colours," he said.
Miss Forbes also explained that "the costume designer had to produce samples of materials and drawings of the costumes showing proposed colours."
Showbiz spoke with Michael Lorde, a graduate of the University of Florida, who also designed costumes for 'Sky Boy' and 'Minister Tallwell' in 'Anansi Web', and who has designed the set for this year's pantomime 'Jack and The Macca Tree'.
"Creating designs is similar to architecture. We create the spaces on stage for actors and directors", he said.
"The costume designer and myself have to work closely. For example, for this year's pantomime, we had to do an in-depth research on old Jamaica to arrive at colour schemes and scales of buildings. The costume designer and myself also developed a colour chart and mixed paints to ensure co-ordination between backdrop and set," he said.
According to the costume designer, "a set cannot be constructed for each scene, so one has to work for each scene."
This year's pantomime used a lot of animals and all of them had to look as true to life as possible. The colours have to complement each other and not be overpowering.
Anya Gloudon told Showbiz that in designing costumes, the fabric should not be too heavy or light.
"Some characters have about three to four changes of costumes and there are 20 persons to a set," she said.
"Everything should complement each other", Brian Heap, director of Jack And The Macca Tree, told Showbiz. "We all work together to ensure that the overall production is a success working with available materials," he explained.
Some of the outstanding pantomime costumes over the years have been worn by such notable Jamaicans of international stature as Louise Bennett-Coverley, Lois Kelly Miller, Ranny Williams, Leonie Forbes, Oliver Samuels and Volier Johnson.
