Amanda K. Bailey, costume designer

Amanda K. Bailey is an M.F.A. costume design student, andLysistrata is her M.F.A. thesis production. Amanda took her undergraduate training at Olivet Nazarene University, where she was make-up designer for The Voice of the Prairie, Why Do We Laugh, The Balcony Scene, and costume designer for An Evening with Shakespeare. At Indiana University, she has designed costumes for Translations, Equus, The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild. She has also designed costumes for the Brown County Playhouse productions of The Miss Firecracker Contest, Murder Among Friends and the Bloomington Playwrights Project productions of Theodora: An Unauthorized Biography, and The Scrooge Variations (co-designer).

Notes on the Costume Design

      The costumes for our production of Lysistrata are unlike any I’ve had the chance to design before. It was decided early on that the design team would be creating a world which had never before existed, so the considerations that went into the design were also unusual. The basic principles that guided the costume design were these:

1. The costumes would reflect the time period in which the play was first produced, without being a faithful or realistic reproduction of the ancient Greek costume silhouette.
2. Unusual materials would be used in the costumes.
3. Modern items, or items with specific associations in modern society, would be used in unusual or unexpected ways to help convey the personality of each character as well as her or his place in society.

      The script’s necessity for use of the Ancient Greek phallus device set the comic tone for the design—a style I’ve dubbed “Cheeky-Greeky”. There was also a consideration of the need for the actors to be able to move freely, which was one of the factors influencing the decision to place the phallus at the waist instead of its anatomically correct position. It was also felt that the phallus’ exaggerated appearance would serve as a statement that this was a piece of clothing rather than their actual anatomy, which is worn by the men to meet social expectation (the old adage that bigger is better), as well as to serve as an often-referenced comical device in the play.
      The Women’s costumes began with a strong look at what is considered sexy in our modern society. The element of subtlety was used instead of full-nudity in the costumes, stemming from the perspective that what you can almost see is more alluring than full-exposure. Also, the women’s nudity is a statement to a modern audience of how serious they are about achieving their goal. Showing us that they will give up anything—even sex, the thing they love most of all—to secure peace.
      The most challenging aspect of this design for me is that even now the design is still evolving. Some of the costume elements in the design have been altered in order to more clearly communicate an element of a character’s personality or social standing, while some have remained exactly as was planned when the renderings were completed in November. So when the show opens, even I don’t yet know exactly what these characters will have evolved into!

Costume designs for Lysistrata by Amanda K. Bailey
Lysistrata	Kalonike	Magistrate	Spartan Herald	Tramps
Boetian	Corinthian	Kinesias	Myrrhina	Female Chorus
Harmony	Lampito	Manes	Spartan Ambassador	Male Chorus

Where to go:

Notes from director Noah Alexis Tuleja
Designs and notes from scenic designer Van M. Tinkham

Lysistrata page
IU Theatre and Drama home page
Indiana University Bloomington home page