As with all elements of stagecraft, costumes have changed radically in the last 100 years. The elaborate clothing of melodrama gave way to the detailed and believable styles of realism and naturalism at the end of the nineteenth century. With the growing range of theatrical forms in the twentieth century, costume styles became more and more diverse. In the early part of the twenty-first century, there is no single accepted style. While realism is still the dominant style for plays, costuming ranges from the most lifelike to the totally abstract. A number of forms of theatre make extensive use of surreal costume, particularly physical theatre, black light theatre and contemporary dance drama.

Costume can also have symbolic importance both for the characters and for the text. In Waiting for Godot the two central characters are described as tramps in the original text, but in a number of productions they have been dressed as clowns, which changes the perceptions of the audience and therefore affects the meaning of the play. The use of the Incas' cloaks as mountains in The Royal Hunt of the Sun gives those costumes a powerful symbolic meaning as well as transforming the actors' appearance.

Costume can have a huge effect on how a character is perceived.

EG: In the 'Traditional' Globe production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', puck is a 'young apprentice' type character who gets things wrong.

In 'The Bollywood' Dream - Puck is an over energetic, young, female prankster.

In the Julie Taymor version she is a very mysterious and slightly creepy trouble maker.

Interview with a costume designer for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Check out these HSC student designs from the play 'Buried Child'

Mr Quelch's Final Design