With the upcoming theater production of They Don’t Pay, We Won’t Pay just around the corner, we asked guest artist Genevieve Beller some questions about her work and creative process as a costume designer.
Nicole Huh: What got you interested in becoming a costume designer?
Genevieve Beller: I have always been interested in stories and how different cultures express themselves through art. In fact, I had a keen interest in anthropology as a career right up until being assigned to the costume crew for a high school production. The idea of learning about and telling the stories of so many different people while tapping into my own artistic side resonated strongly.
NH: This isn’t your first time at Whitman College as a costume designer. What made you come back and do another production?
GB: This will be my fourth production with Whitman College. When I designed my first production of Hair in 2015 I fell in love with Walla Walla both within and outside the university. Whitman is a very collaborative environment within an extremely welcoming city. After a pandemic, a career shift into television and a new baby, the timing felt right to come back to what I consider an artistic home.
NH: What is your creative process as a costume designer? What would you say was/is your creative process for They Won’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! Did you run into any challenges or do you foresee any challenges in the creative process?
GB: The process is a little different with each show. For They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! I wanted the characters to feel like they were all part of a unique community with its own history and social customs. There are not a lot of contextual clues in the script but it is clear that these people all know each other and function as a community on a personal level that is separate from the structure of the Capitalist State that they rebel against. Northern New Jersey is a working class area with a strong and unique cultural background. While the play is certainly not set in New Jersey, I found that using that culture as a jumping off point to a new culture was helpful in making these characters feel grounded within the absurdity of their circumstance. Once you know who the people are you know what their “closet” looks like. The next step of the process is to bring that closet to fittings with our actors and find the look that tells our story best.
Without giving anything away, this play has a lot of practical effects that present a challenge for the costumes. Clothes on stage always have to perform on a different level than clothing on the street; but when you are also asking them to make silly and impossible things happen you run into some interesting feats of engineering. The research and development of those effects continues to be fun and interesting.
NH: What do you believe is your favorite part of the scenic design for this production? Are there any specific parts that resonated with you?
GB: My favorite part of the scenic design for this production is that my day rate and design fee is equal to that of the scenic designer. There is a long history of undervaluing “pink labor” in the theatre and it has been refreshing to watch Whitman move closer to pay and labor equity over the last 7 years.
On an artistic level, I really enjoy the textures being woven into the different elements of the set. There has been a lot of care taken to show what these character’s daily lives look like in a way that makes the satirical elements of the play truly stand out.
To see Genevieve’s creative process come to life, join us for the upcoming theater production, They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! Tickets go live on September 15th and opening night is on Thursday, September 29th.