The Merch Boy

My first time heading up designs

In the spring of 2007, a friend of mine was elected to co-direct the college's student-run Shakespeare Players' fall production. She immediately asked if I was interested in helping out with sets and/or costuming, and I said sure. I became the official Artistic Director for the production.

She and her co-director decided to do "The Merchant of Venice," which features a conflict between a Jewish merchant and a Venetian merchant. One of the show's main themes is racism, as Jews were considered second-class citizens in Shakespeare's day. To make this theme easier to spot, the directors decided to do a dichotomous color scheme. We put the Venetians in reds, greens, browns, and golds, and the Jews in turquoisey blue and deep brown.

Because the directors were elected and the show selected the semester prior to performances, I had the entire summer to work the sales at the fabric stores. I lucked out several times, getting expensive home dec fabrics for less than half of their original price. I also discovered that while many people breeze past the clearance sections in fabric stores, assuming the worst, a lot of the time, those fabrics are beautiful, and if not ideal for real life, will translate perfectly for stage.

Through this project, which turned out to be a much grander undertaking than I had initially realized, I met a huge crowd of talented volunteers. It was always so rewarding to hand off a stack of fabrics, sizes, sketches, and have them come back a week later as a gorgeous costume.

One of our best seamstresses was a professor's wife, a recent import from England who rattled along in her lovely thick accent almost too fast for your ears to follow. Luckily for me, she sewed just as fast. She made all of the doublets and vests, and came back asking for more. Each time she brought me something new, she asked if there was anything else. In the end, I just gave her my wish list, things I really hadn't ever thought would happen, but I knew would add just the right touch. She managed to cross all but one of those items off the list. We wouldn't have had the same show without her.

One of the plot lines of the show includes many a suitor coming in and trying to woo a rich Italian heiress. They all fail, of course, so that our young, noble, down-on-his-luck protagonist can sweep her off her feet and she can provide the means to save him from the evil Jew's clutches.

The group enjoyed the fact that all of the suitors were played by females (such is the gender ratio at the college) though they all rose to the challenge admirably, the Prince of Morocco, (who the directors took some artistic liberties with, giving him a more Arabian- type aesthetic) played by Miss Vilmary Lopez, stole the show with her grand posturing and bravado. Two of our seamstresses even got to make cameos as harem girls, a title they proudly bear to this day.

This show was a huge learning experience for me, about working time lines, working with and organizing and delegating a large crew, communicating with those working above me as well as those below. I learned lessons about budgets, schedules, mass emails, sewing, and perhaps most importantly, people. This show, overwhelming and hectic as it felt at times, was hugely rewarding and ultimately, the only reason I got into directing, and for this, I am truly grateful.

Photography in this entry by James Ratchford