By Josephine Osborne.
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As a Geography student, I’m used to certain jokes. Normally, I would question their accuracy but during this period of social isolation I have found myself with colouring pencils and various other craft materials. However, it has no relation to the two fieldwork reports I should currently be writing. Instead, I have found myself incredibly busy helping my mum to make costumes for the West-End and Hamburg tours of the musical adaptation of Disney’s ‘Frozen.’ These are due to start in Autumn and Spring respectively. Even after over 25 years as a freelance costume props maker my mum has found this job particularly challenging because of the sheer volume of work which has to be done. By the Summer we have to produce two identical sets of twenty-four finished outfits for dancers playing ‘The Hidden Folk’ in both productions. These tailed creatures from Scandinavian folklore have replaced the Kristoff-and-Sven rearing trolls of the original movie; think sexy woodland nymphs with hair reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper’s in her 1980s prime.
Despite the rather daunting task ahead, the chance to be creative is a welcome relief. The hectic Oxford terms and long vacations I spend waitressing at a local restaurant sadly offer little time for creativity. Therefore, it has been a joy to pull out the sewing machine and embroidery threads from my bedroom cupboard. The nature of the designs, with embellishment on every part of the belts, codpieces, vambraces, trousers and waistcoats, has given us free rein to try out new techniques. Over the past few weeks, I have managed to master, or at least attempt, a range of craft skills using the magic of obscure YouTube tutorials. These include flat felting, macramé, crochet, and American smocking. Having only ever seen macramé in the context of dated beige wall hangings in the homes of my elderly relatives, it has surprised me to see how these techniques can be updated by using ribbons of cloth in the place of plain chord. Certain tasks are mind-numbingly dull, such as cutting the fabric into the hundreds of strips which will eventually be added to the female dancer’s skirts either directly or plaited into braids which will adorn belts, vambraces and anklets. Much more concentration is required to make the smocking, by working across a grid to create a repeating pattern of folds which transform a flat piece of fabric into a three-dimensional woven lattice or series of curved ridges.
These are difficult times for us all and theatres are just one example of the many organisations facing uncertain futures. At the moment no-one knows if the tours of Frozen will go ahead as planned, but for now, I am planning to follow the advice of a certain aquatic Disney character: ‘just keep swimming!’
Edited by Marnie Ashbridge.
The Quarantine Times 