Pre-Show Activity: Costume Design

Warm Up:

1. The teacher divides the class up into small groups.
2. Each group must design a costume for each of the following iconic characters, spending about one minute on each:

• Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz) after the apocalypse
• Cinderella in ancient times
• Frankenstein Monster in the distant future

Main Activity:

1. The teacher divides the class up into small groups.
2. Have the students refer to the Plot Overview and Character List presented in this resource guide.
3. Have the students cut out clothing from magazines and create outfits for some of the characters mentioned in the summary. Though the play takes place from 1988 to 1990, the costumes for this activity can appear contemporary.
4. Glue the images to a piece of paper and have the students present them.

Discussion Questions

• How can a costume impact the audience's first impression of a character?
• What can a costume change tell you in the middle of the show?
• When making your collage, what aspects did you consider?
• What can the costumes tell you about an environment or time period?

After viewing the play, look back to the costume designs created in this activity and ask students to compare their work to what they saw in the production. What was similar? What was different? Why might that be?

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