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The Folger Spotlight

District Merchants Costume Design

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District Merchants costume designer Meghan Raham previously designed the sets for the Folger Theatre productions of The Conference of the Birds and Romeo and Juliet. Learn about her design process for this “Uneasy Comedy” below, and join us for District Merchants starting May 31. Research and design sketches courtesy of Meghan.

From Meghan –

“In designing a play, I try to reflect the content (character, plot, situational facts), but also to reflect the form of the piece (style, genre, tone—the way the content is being shared with us).  In District Merchants, the characters and plot are inspired by The Merchant of Venice and transposed into Reconstruction-era Washington, D.C., but Aaron’s style also gives us characters who speak directly to us, and share with us that they are telling us this story.  They are both people in the room with us now, and also characters in a play in the 1870s.”

“This form choice gave us some freedom in thinking about how “period” the clothing should be, and so in my early research for each character I looked both for images of who this character would be if we created an entirely 1870s world, and also who they would be now.”

“Ultimately, we settled on a sort of theatricalized, fabled version of Victorian clothing—a storytelling version—that feels like we are looking at that time through a modern lens and sensibility.  It’s Victorian enough to help us imagine we’re in another time, but also accessible enough to feel like we’re having a contemporary conversation about who we are now, and maybe how we got here.”

” It’s also a new play, so we’re learning new things about its inhabitants as we go! I’ve learned much from having the actors in fittings and seeing them in rehearsal.  We start the rehearsal process with the renderings as a map to where we think we’d like to go, but may take some detours along the way…”

Join us for District Merchants starting May 31 to see Meghan and our other designers’ work onstage! You can check out more of Meghan’s work as a set and costume designer on her website.

Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre is the vibrant center piece of the Folger’s public programs. With a focus on Shakespeare, Folger Theatre produces plays reflecting the breadth of the library’s peerless collection. In this unique setting, with collaborations between artists and experts, Folger Theatre produces innovative stagings that have been commended as “breathtakingly original...strikingly contemporary” (The Washington Post). Led since 1991 by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has received 135 nominations and 23 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production. During the recent seasons Folger Theatre has received the Outstanding Resident Play Award for its productions of Measure for Measure in 2007, Hamlet in 2011 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013. Other highlights from Folger Theatre’s producing history include these Helen Hayes Award recipients or nominees for outstanding production: Romeo and Juliet (2013), Orestes: A Tragic Romp (2010), Henry VIII (2010), Arcadia (2009), Macbeth (2008), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2006), Melissa Arctic (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2002), Shakespeare’s R & J (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (1998), and Romeo and Juliet (1997). — View all posts by Folger Theatre

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[…] the costume and set designs and view rehearsal and production photos for District Merchants on The Folger […]

ENCORES: 'District Merchants' performed by Folger Theatre (2016) - The Folger Spotlight — March 25, 2022