Locaha- Developing My Character Through Costume

Locaha, as the 'living' representation of death, is very gothic and so as an exception to the other characters and cast, we will be wearing very dark clothing. It is even more effective because we are the only ones because it will make us look even more out of place and therefore will support the idea that we are abstract and not necessarily from the same world as Mau and Daphne. I will be wearing:

 Black make-up- we chose to make this part of Locaha's make-up as the facial make-up can have a relevance to the characters emotions and therefore their personality. As dark make-up is often associated with 'goths' we decided that we could use that identity when we are playing teenagers in the first scene and carry on that costume and make-up when we become Locaha. Eyes can convey a lot of emotion and the intentions of a character. Therefore having  dark make-up shows a deeper sense of my characters make-up as a person.

As the main part of the play is staged on an exotic island we felt that we needed to include a more tribal element in the play that fitted the setting. Therefore we decided to include black henna in our costume. We have planned to have it extending for our eyes, across our cheeks, across our lips, down our necks and down one arm. This gives us tribal element and makes us stand out, adding to the gothic theme.

For our actual clothing we decided to wear a long black skirt. Although Locaha is scary, there is also an elegant element to our characters. We have a constant presence and confidence in the space and a skirt allows us to move with conviction and grace. Plus, as all of us are female, a skirt gives a feminine hint that allows us to interact with the characters in a certain way; even if it as a strong female character or a childlike girl like my character.

The second part of my Locaha costume is a black crop top. This fits the theme of the play being set on an exotic island and it also supports the underlying femininity of the character. 

As it is an ensemble piece, I am playing other characters throughout the play. The other character I am going to be playing is an islander on the island. I need something I can efficiently put on that fits my character. I thought a floral headband would look effective both as a character and will be efficient to put on and take off. It wont take too much time to take off my make-up and re-apply it every time I change character, so the headscarf will draw attention away to the dark make-up and counteract it.

Costume is very important when developing a character. When you put on a costume it is like putting on the skin of your character. It is the final layer of your character and it helps you get into character. Like my costume, when it is different to your everyday clothes it allows you to defy normality and become your character completely.

To test the effect of my costume, I put on the costume and make-up and showed it to my family. They were very shocked and they were uncomfortable seeing me in such a gothic outfit. They commented of how scary it was, proving that if people who know me very well are effected by a costume, proves the effect it really has. For them to now longer see me as Olivia but as Locaha is exactly the effect any costume should have. Moreover because they found me scary means this costume was fulfilling its objective for this particular performance, which was to scare.