On stage, costume designer resurrects dynasties
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EDITOR’S Note:
Laughs, tears and a lot of sweat — after a long slump, drama is blooming on China’s mainland. Theater is now an integral part of the city’s cosmopolitan lifestyle, and production budgets increase along with audience numbers. Numerous outstanding talents are emerging as they try to pursue their dream of being on stage. In this column, we interview those devoted to producing original theater in China — from directors, playwrights and actors to those pulling the strings behind the curtain.
Over the past 25 years, Hu Xiaohui designed up to 10,000 costumes for the stage of the Shanghai Drama Arts Center.
She’s a passionate designer, especially when it comes to historic costumes for traditional Chinese plays.
For stories that play during the times of the dynasties, Hu has to become an investigator and researcher before she pulls out her sketch book.
“As soon as I get the script, I do my homework first and research the historic background — the age of the characters, what they should wear at that time, what fits their age, social class and characteristics,” she says.
It’s a job she takes very seriously, and research, she says, can take several weeks. “The communication with director is also very important. We need to settle down the basic style of the play and then I can start with my design,” Hu says.
She is working on “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains,” set during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which will be staged at the Arts Center this month.
“The whole style of the play is set to be light and soft, and this feature will be presented in the dresses,” Hu says as she shows her drawing book of the costumes on this play. Seersucker and georgette fabrics will be used to make the dresses look as light and soft as a poem, she says.
In her sketch book, she has scribbled notes on textile materials and other details that came up during her research. “A play usually needs 40 to 100 costumes, for different roles in different occasions — this is a very complex work — all the details are important,” she says.
For “Into-Sky,” a play about Chinese astronauts produced by the Drama Arts Center which was staged recently, Hu designed over 40 costumes for 16 actors. Within a month, Hu completed the work, from the selection of the materials to the last stitches, on a budget of 40,000 yuan (US$6,187).
“People think a designer needs a lot of inspirations,” Hu says. “Yes we do; but what’s more important is we need to think about more trivial matters — like how fast actors can change the costume backstage.”
“It’s really a challenging and time-consuming work, but at the same time it gives you a sense of achievement, space and freedom to create. That’s why I have loved this job for such a long time,” she says.
Hu, who graduated from Shanghai Theater Academy, also designs costumes for TV series, but her passion is the stage.
“The working style has also changed a lot these years,” she says. “People used to respect the history in the play and try their best to copy the original look with the costumes. But now they hope for more creative designs with eye-catching materials and colors.”
Hu tries to do both. “I have to respect the core elements of the dressing style in history — for example, the coats for young ladies in China’s Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have fancy borders on the skirt, and I will never forget this when I design for a Qing Dynasty play,” Hu says.
“Changing or creating something new is not simple at all — it needs wisdom, and the principle is to make everything beautiful and reasonable... People’s dresses reflect their class and characteristics — you need to respect the roles, the stories and the history.”
Hu recalls the days when she started her career in 1990s and how she struggled to find fabrics.
“I walked from Huaihai Road to Nanjing Road, and then back the Huaihai Road,” she says, naming the only two commercial streets in Shanghai at that time, “the materials you could find were very limited. Now you have Taobao and plenty of markets to get whatever you want, with reasonable prices. This is the change brought by economy development in this country.”
Hu says that she has changed over the years. “I can accept more advice now, compared with when I was very young, at the begging of my career life,” says Hu.
She now hopes actors come to talk to her, giving her advice and suggestions about her design.
Hu mentioned a prize-winning play “The Scholar and the Executioner” directed by Guo Xiaonan in 2006 and also restaged last year. In cooperation with senior stage designer Huang Haiwei, Hu designed costumes for the play, and got a lot of inspiration from Huang.
This year the Drama Arts Center will produce a number of Shakespeare classics and Hu is looking forward to the cooperation with the UK production team. “Never stop learning. That’s what makes you more and more qualified for this job,” she says.
‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’
Date: Through April 23, 7:30pm
Tickets: 180-300 yuan
Venue: Zhou Xinfang Theater Space
Address: 1198 Tianyaoqiao Rd
Date: July 26-31, 7:30pm
Tickets: 80-300 yuan
Tel: 6467-2100, 6322-5294
Venue: Shanghai Drama Arts Center
Address: 288 Anfu Rd
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