The Tempest - Sprites

   

Squeakydoor Theatre Company presented William Shakespeare's The Tempest at The Niddry in Edinburgh as part of Edinburgh Fringe Festival. All the costumes for the show were designed and made by Louise Wilson and myself. You can read a review of the show by the Edinburgh Spotlight here.

The sprites are 4 elemental sprits under the control of Ariel, a Magical spirit forced into service to Prospero. The sprites are not really described in the text so we had a lot of artistic licence with their design, the main requirements where that they be sexy, vibrant and the actresses could still move easily as they had very physical roles. We chose the elements design partly because the casting of 4 girls plus Ariel made this concept fit perfectly and it really lent itself to vibrancy and a really dramatic look. Ariel's costume was a combination of all 4 elements (Wind, Water, Fire and Earth) in roughly quarters. The 4 sprites were an element each. The director, Tracey Linegar, loved these designs and used the characteristics of each element int he individual direction of the sprites.

The costumes use flesh coloured full dance bodysuits which were then airbrushed with fabric paints to create the base colour and designs. A sense of movement was important to maintain whilst painting them, as was ensuring that the finished piece did not look to uniform, it is meant to look almost like their own skin. On top of the suits various fabrics were applied by hand, many being heat treated first to prevent fraying and create interesting effects such as bubbles for water or a mossy look for earth. Much of this was for the comfort of the actresses so they would not feel too exposed but it was, again, important to maintain a sense of flow and randomness not just an obvious attempt to cover sensitive areas.

Click on any of the images to view them full size. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the earth sprite as the actress was unable to perform on the night the images were taken. Further information about the play can be found at www.squeakydoor.co.uk. Makeup by Hilary Knight.

Also from The Tempest: Prospero