Faculty Sponsor(s)
Laurel Peterson and Tyrone Marshall
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Subject Area
Theatre
Description
This poster presentation provides information about my final design for the Linfield College Theatre Program’s Costume Design course taught by Laurel Peterson during the 2016 fall semester. I created an unrealized design for Ben Jonson’s Volpone written in 1605. Jonson uses the immorality of the play’s characters for comedic effect and to make a social statement. Taking place amongst the Italian upper class, the play focuses on the scheme of the con artist, Volpone (the fox), who manipulates his victims (also with animal namesakes) into making him even wealthier. Jonson mocks the ultra rich and their vices through outlandish characters and situations. With the costumes, I aimed to reinforce the excessive classism and decadence illustrated in the play.
My design approach combined elements of traditional Italian Commedia costumes with pieces of early seventeenth-century period dress, as well as some of the animalistic qualities associated with the characters, to create opulent costumes that support the comedic dialogue and absurd characters. As they shamelessly indulge in their antics, the costumes help the audience see the frivolity and duplicitousness that Ben Jonson mocks.
This project was presented at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Costume Design Competition in Denver, Colorado.
Recommended Citation
Olson, Rosalie S., "Costume Design for Volpone by Ben Jonson" (2017). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 38.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2017/all/38
Costume Design for Volpone by Ben Jonson
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
This poster presentation provides information about my final design for the Linfield College Theatre Program’s Costume Design course taught by Laurel Peterson during the 2016 fall semester. I created an unrealized design for Ben Jonson’s Volpone written in 1605. Jonson uses the immorality of the play’s characters for comedic effect and to make a social statement. Taking place amongst the Italian upper class, the play focuses on the scheme of the con artist, Volpone (the fox), who manipulates his victims (also with animal namesakes) into making him even wealthier. Jonson mocks the ultra rich and their vices through outlandish characters and situations. With the costumes, I aimed to reinforce the excessive classism and decadence illustrated in the play.
My design approach combined elements of traditional Italian Commedia costumes with pieces of early seventeenth-century period dress, as well as some of the animalistic qualities associated with the characters, to create opulent costumes that support the comedic dialogue and absurd characters. As they shamelessly indulge in their antics, the costumes help the audience see the frivolity and duplicitousness that Ben Jonson mocks.
This project was presented at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Costume Design Competition in Denver, Colorado.
