Creating Costumes for Devised Theatre

Creating Costumes for Devised Theatre combines perspectives from a variety of theatre practitioners to guide artists through the journey of creating costumes for devised work.

Devised theatre can take a number of different forms, and it can be a challenge for the costume department to plan, organize, and assemble things for performers to wear while the entire shape of the piece is constantly changing. This book provides practical resources to guide the theatre artist through the journey of designing costumes as the characters are created. It addresses a wide range of questions, including how to adapt traditional methods of costume design to non-traditional practices, how to effectively collaborate with a team, and how to adapt costume technology practices to meet the needs of devising. Stories and photographs from performers, designers, technicians, directors, writers, educators, students, and activists working in the realm of devised theatre around the world are contextualized through the author’s own involvement in unscripted, partially scripted, and otherwise dynamic drama, dance, and physical theatre to offer tangible solutions to streamline costume design and construction processes.

This book is an invaluable guide for both experienced and novice costume designers, costume technicians, students, teachers, directors, managers, and theatre artists who exist in the spaces where all these roles overlap.

Kyla Kazuschyk is Associate Professor of Costume Technology at Louisiana State University. Kyla holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Costume Technology from Ohio University. She has created costumes for the Santa Fe Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Florida Grand Opera, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the Texas Shakespeare Festival, as well as uniforms for the dance teams of professional basketball teams the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons. Professional costume design credits include Airline Highway, Disgraced, and The Mountaintop at Louisiana’s Swine Palace Theatre in addition to several devised adventures.