The first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think of the behind the scenes aspect of a live theater is building sets. But there is much more that goes into the production of a play. An important aspect of making a production immersive is costuming. Costumes can tell the audience a lot about the era and location in which the story is set, as well as bring out characters’ individual identities.
Quill Inda (11), a now veteran member of the Dos Pueblos Theater Company’s costume crew, joined as a freshman, not even knowing how to sew. As they spent time in the costuming room they learned a number of skills that have helped them in day to day life.
“I never knew how to take measurements,” Inda said. “Now I can, like, take measurements for myself, like when I’m buying clothes, [I can] get the exact stuff … I’ve sewed a bunch of my own clothes…”
More often than not, the costume crew sources garments from the many walls full of pre-existing clothes, a process referred to as “pulling”. It’s rare for them to sew garments from scratch, though everyone who joins the team learns to hand sew and machine sew.
Costuming for a theater company isn’t just about the clothing. Costume crew also makes props for actors to use on stage, along with styling their hair, and doing their makeup. For this year’s spring musical “Anything Goes,” set in 1934, many of the women have their hair done up in intricately curled styles.
“For this show we’re doing, like, a lot of [pin] curls,” Inda explained, “which I have zero experience doing … so anyway, that’s gonna be fun.”
In previous years costuming had struggled to recruit members, but this year there was an overflow of applications. Inda thinks the reason behind this was their increased self-promotion on their TikTok account, @dphscostumecrew.
In fact, a number of applications were denied simply because the costuming room doesn’t have enough space. The room was originally built for storing set pieces, but had to be converted into a costume room. This is because when the EPAC was built the architects didn’t include a costume room. Despite this strange issue, the costuming team has put together many amazing creations over the years, for shows as complex as Beauty and the Beast.
Inda mostly enjoys the social aspect of costuming. They spend a lot of time with the actors, as well as their fellow costumers.
Next year Inda will replace Luna Santamaria (12) as head of costuming, giving them more responsibility in the team and the theater department. Besides taking on more of a leadership role in the costume room, the head of costuming must also communicate with the rest of the Theater Advisory Board when there is an issue that they need help solving. While Inda does have some apprehension about that, the fear is outweighed by their excitement to continue making costumes.
