Design Costumes for a Play.
“A Little War in Wales” is a one-act play based on real events from the Second World War. German Prisoners of War are sent out to work on farms deep in rural Wales, where the locals have to cope with the POWs, Allied servicemen and wartime shortages. The action centers around the home of Edna Richards and her daughters Ruby and Julia. Otto and Karl are German prisoners of war and Frank is their supervisor. Sam is an American GI and Simon is a pilot who suffered facial injuries and is staying with the Richards family to convalesce. The period costumes that I would create would reflect the toll that war has taken on all of the characters. Edna would be dressed as a typical housewife in cheap cotton dresses covered by the ever present and functional flowered apron. Ruby would be portrayed as a sixteen-year-old school girl who is trying to dress like an older woman when she goes to the dances in town. Unfortunately for her, her mother insists that she includes a gas mask as a fashion accessory. The American pilot and GI would be required to wear the uniform fitting their respective ranks even when they are attending the local functions. Therefore, I would have Sam wearing the traditional dress uniform for an American private. To make him appear more immature and young, I would have very few decorations or ribbons on the uniform so that the audience would recognize the fact that he is still a novice in war. I would dress Simon as the dashing American pilot, similar to the ones that have been portrayed in early John Wayne movies. Otto and Karl, as German POW’s, would wear cheap mismatched outfits that are not extremely shabby but definitely have shown some wear. All the costumes would be made from period materials—cheap cotton dresses and wool coats and uniforms—so that the audience can immediately recognize the time period.
“A Little War in Wales” is a one-act play based on real events from the Second World War. German Prisoners of War are sent out to work on farms deep in rural Wales, where the locals have to cope with the POWs, Allied servicemen and wartime shortages. The action centers around the home of Edna Richards and her daughters Ruby and Julia. Otto and Karl are German prisoners of war and Frank is their supervisor. Sam is an American GI and Simon is a pilot who suffered facial injuries and is staying with the Richards family to convalesce. The period costumes that I would create would reflect the toll that war has taken on all of the characters. Edna would be dressed as a typical housewife in cheap cotton dresses covered by the ever present and functional flowered apron. Ruby would be portrayed as a sixteen-year-old school girl who is trying to dress like an older woman when she goes to the dances in town. Unfortunately for her, her mother insists that she includes a gas mask as a fashion accessory. The American pilot and GI would be required to wear the uniform fitting their respective ranks even when they are attending the local functions. Therefore, I would have Sam wearing the traditional dress uniform for an American private. To make him appear more immature and young, I would have very few decorations or ribbons on the uniform so that the audience would recognize the fact that he is still a novice in war. I would dress Simon as the dashing American pilot, similar to the ones that have been portrayed in early John Wayne movies. Otto and Karl, as German POW’s, would wear cheap mismatched outfits that are not extremely shabby but definitely have shown some wear. All the costumes would be made from period materials—cheap cotton dresses and wool coats and uniforms—so that the audience can immediately recognize the time period.
