As stated in the director’s note, WAKEUP theatre do not want their audience to be bombarded with visual spectacle in the palpable forms of set and costume design. Therefore, the costume for 130, 000 had to represent this. The director discussed that she wanted very simple costume so WAKEUP’s actors could multi-role efficiently and at a fast pace. In order to achieve this it was decided that all of WAKEUP’s actors would wear a black top, black bottoms and black shoes as a costume base. Any other costume would take form in an accessary or jacket so it could be easily taken on or off.
Roy Williams and director of Channel 4’s adaptation of Fallout are praised by critics for providing costume and language that is ‘so close to their own’ (Mason, 2008, Online) . Ian Rickson took the play back to the streets of London with his visually correct costume and design; WAKEUP Theatre need to provide the same visual stimulant. As each actor in the production only have one item of costume per character, the concept of jackets for the London gang seemed appropriate. Costumes that were used in channel 4’s interpretation of Fallout, and the films Kidulthood and Adulthood were WAKEUP’s main inspiration, this is because the young men featured in the films are similar to the ones in Fallout.
Dwayne – the leader of the gang would wear this jacket:
Followed by Emile’s jacket shown here:
Emile is constantly in Dwaynes shadow so having the two boys in the same jacket but contrasting colours will reveal to the audience this copy-cat relationship. This will also visually aid the audience to see the hierarchy within the gang and the constant desire that Emile seeks respect from Dwayne.
Perry and Clinton’s costumes weren’t as visibly poignant, shown here:
As both characters constantly try hard to fit in it was decided that their symbolic item of clothing needent be a point of attention. Placing them both in typical South-East London youth attire it was clear to an audience who they were.
When first choosing an outfit for Shanice we wanted a jacket that represented the area she was from but also showed her inner flirtatious girlie character.
When first placing her in this jacket for the promotional pictures it really worked, but once placing it upon a stage the jacket became more of a coat and didn’t look right. It was then decided that Shanice needed to look more like she was working. Once the polo top and the hat was worn, the costume suited the stage.
As Shanice and Ronnie are best friends, placing them both in pink seemed fitting to our production.
For Kwame, his costume was chosen because of the verbatim extracts that were read in the production. Both transcripts from Doreen and the brief that detective Emma provides both mention he was on his way home from school when he was attacked. Therefore a simple tie and an urban street hoody would do the trick!
Detective Emma and detective Joe were in simple smart clothing to portray their authority, shown here:
The rest of the characters within 130, 000 are those that spoke in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. The director equally distributed the verbatim extracts and most of them are played by two or more actors, so a simple black blazer or prop would suffice. (see props list).
Works Cited
Mason, Rowena (2008) Channel 4 Fallout film exposes ‘real’ face of London knife crime, Online: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2240872/Channel-4-Fallout-film-exposes-real-face-of-London-knife-crime.html (accessed 01 May 2013).