Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Importance of being Steampunk

This afternoon a group of us went to see Roundabout Theatre's Broadway production of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. A screening of a film thereof; we did not dispatch ourselves to New York, alas! But it was at the Penthouse in Brooklyn; a small and delightfully chic satellite suburb of Wellington.
Anyway being Us, we dressed up. Noone however thought to bring a camera!! Quelle fromage! It is such a cute theatre! We did make a bit of a stir, and I was asked where I bought my hat and goggles by a woman who is holding a steampunk party. I took great delight in saying, oh, Glastonbury, but you can get them in the Camden market too! She didn't invite us either. Pah.
Here I am, a little worse for wear, afterwards back at home:
Very pleased with my hair, which is my own teased out a lot, then curled up and pinned all around, then my fall added and its ringlets pinned up to build up the back so my hat would sit jauntily. BIG HAIR after all of that!
As for the show itself, it was fun. I love this play. I can't find any photos from Act One online, however I was struck by how similar Gwendolyn's costume in the show was like my interpretation, as above, back in 2006. Annette Thomson shown, and Margaret Thomson as Lady Bracknell :) Yes, they are mother and daughter also!

Those were the days...

3 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. C.,
    What a fun, insouciant photo of you after the play. Wow, such costumes in the play itself. The version I saw here in the States was drab by comparison.

    Very best,
    Natalie

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  2. It was very colourful! Gwen wore a particularly virulent cyclamen mauve and white lace dress in Act 2-3 that reminded me more of 1960's lingerie, and Cecily's costume was execrably cut, and only Miss Prism and Gwen wore corsets, which is a mistake in any peiod show, where corsets maketh the costume And the character.
    The ones above are from a production I worked on and the only instruction the Director gave us was, no reds. How mean to say that to moi! So we used a pallet of mauves, greens, browns, blues, burgundy and pink. Margaret was particularly pleased with her olive green and gold sari turned into dress as it is among her favourite colours.

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  3. Oooh! I like your costumes so much better than the Roundabout Theatre ones! Your costume does look a LOT like the one my colleague designed in 2003 though.

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