Laura Hanson

   When looking for a period in which to set As You Like It, both the director and I responded to images from the 18th century artist Watteau. Many of his paintings depict pastoral scenes, with the well-dressed upper class or lowly shepherds frolicking in forests.  The director particularly likes to incorporate modern elements into a period piece, so I created my own modern “take” on Watteau’s 18th century style.  We crafted simple 18th century silhouettes made from bold fabrics of today, combined with other contemporary details, such as  modern menswear suits “refashioned” into an 18th century look.

   Early in the design process it was decided that the set would be minimal, consisting of one bold image for each act.  The Forest of Arden would not be represented realistically.  With a minimal set, the costumes become more of a focus, and while browsing for fabrics early on, I happened upon large-patterned decorator fabrics.  It struck me that if we weren’t going to build the forest on stage, let’s wear the forest!  So you will notice that Duke Senior and his court-in-exile are costumed in large leaf-patterned fabrics.  Other groups of characters are also related by colors and/or pattern—bold florals for the rustic shepherds and menswear grays for the threatening court of Duke Frederick.

   It was a fun and fascinating design process, but a long way from Watteau!