Midsummer Night's Dream

I had a lot of fun interpreting A Midsummer Night's Dream as a militant production. Because a lot of the comedy is dependent on being invisible I thought that the fairies would be in a variety of camouflages, sometimes fanciful and sometimes serious. There is so much aggression between Titania and Oberon that a suggestion of military uniforms could distinguish between their factions.

Titania

Making Titania's (the Queen of the Fairies) dress was a very experimental process. It is entirely hand knitted which allowed for a lot of playing around with different wools and colours. I wanted it to have a very organic appearance, like a naturally occurring moss, so I made it as asymmetrical as possible while still retaining a clear structure. Thanks to my model, Emma, I found that it enhanced movement a lot more than I expected.

Construction Process

Puck

Puck (representing Oberon's faction) spends most of his time on stage as an invisible character so I made a piece that he / she could drape over their costume as a sort of cloak of invisibility. It is largely based on contemporary military camouflage. I think Puck, to compliment the abstract and ethereal theme of the fairies, would be a male actor in feminine costume.

It is entirely hand knotted to make it organic looking like Titania's costume, and the layers of colour in the twig pieces was achieved with battique.

Construction Process