The style of the play
Plays are costumed differently according to the style of your play. For instance, The Old Vic’s production of Tennessee Williams’s play, Sweet Bird of Youth, chose a style that wasn’t bright and animated as specified in Williams’s stage instructions.
If the play is ‘Brechtian’ in style, the costume might be simple and representational with an actor putting on a hat to denote a change of character. In a naturalistic work, the costume should be as authentic as possible.
In this clip from Romeo and Juliet Uncut, costume designers explain their ideas for a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s play. The designers focus on how the costume choices should reflect the type of character they’re dressing. This is because the costume that a character wears provides a lot of information to the audience before the actor even speaks. You can quickly work out if the character is rich or poor, shy or flamboyant, or fashionable or not.
