Plays — LUCAS O'BRIEN

Rosencrantz
& Guildenstern
Are Dead

by Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was the fall 2017 play for the Kenyon College Drama Department. I was tasked with costume designing as part of my capstone thesis exercise for my major in Drama. The director, John Tazewell, required an “all period-no period” design scheme. Taking place in the exterior space of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I wanted to obscure the play’s Elizabethan roots. I decided to take inspiration from current Vogue Magazine fashion editorials and design aesthetics from many contemporary decades to mix and match a design scheme that could transcend a specific time and place.

Thesis Project. Kenyon College
Jon Tazewell, direction
Rebecca Wolf, Lighting & Scenic Design
Cameron Peters, photos

Rosencrantz
& Guildenstern Are Dead: Sketches

Rosencrantz
& Guildenstern: Fitting

The Moors

by Jen Silverman

Jen Silverman’s The Moors was produced by the all female “Stagefemmes” theater troupe at Kenyon College in the spring of 2018. The costumes for this production were the main focal point of design. Staged in a black box with a minimal set, the costumes set the “1840s-ish, english moors” setting the playwright intended. The main characters, Agatha, Huldey, and Emilie’s costumes were all constructed from the ground up using period specific patterns and textiles. The Moorhen and Mastiff animal characters were pulled from our costume stock, and brought a contemporary aspect to the design scheme.

Kenyon College
Mackenna Goodrich, direction
Cameron Peters, photos

The Moors: Sketches

The Moors: Fitting

Venus in Fur

by David Ives

David Ives’ Venus in Fur was the senior thesis production of a fellow drama major, Anika Massmann. Set in present day New York City, the play follows the director, Thomas, on his hunt to find a leading lady for his adapted production of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s “Venus in Furs.” Vanda, a bold and ambitious actress, comes in to audition and captures Thomas’ attention. The play’s setting goes in and out of reality of the audition room and the source material. The costumes represent each character’s personality, but also represent the characters of the 19th century tale. Vanda oscillates between the flamboyant New York Actress, assertive dominatrix, and domineering leading lady. Thomas is a beleaguered playwright/director. His costume was inspired by Manhattan street style - men you’d see around SoHo, coffee in hand, consumed by their current projects, but still on trend and suave.

Kenyon College
Anika Massmann, direction
AJ Reid, photos

Venus in Fur:
Fitting

Costume Construction

Below is a collection of costumes I constructed throughout my career working in the Kenyon College Costume shop from 2014-2018 and during a summer job at Boston’s Huntington Theatre in 2016. I was fortunate to work with the master designer Robert Morgan on their Fall production of Sunday in the Park With George as a construction assistant.

All pieces were built from the ground up and were fit to the actors for each production. I styled these images with a photographer to document these builds. Inspired by museum curation, I designed all paper hair wigs to coordinate with each character and time period of the dramatic work.

New York
Lucas O’Brien, design
Sam Lee, photos