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Day of the Dead
theme lends brilliant color to Cocteau’s darkly comic play
“Orpheus”
When the University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film
season opened October 12, 2012—Día de la Raza—with Jean
Cocteau’s darkly comic play “Orpheus,” it did so in surprisingly
brilliant color. Director Jessica Bonenfant and costume
designer Erica Frank had chosen to use a Dia de los
Muertos (Day-of-the-Dead) aesthetic to represent the invitation
of the dead into the world of the living.
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“Orpheus” is Cocteau’s surrealist
reworking of the classical myth. Orpheus, a poet, makes an
impossible deal with Death to rescue his love, Eurydice, from
the underworld: he promises never to look upon her again. A
mirror serves as portal between life and death, and movement
between the realms is characterized by distinct shifts in color,
costume and atmosphere. Cocteau also explores contact with the
spirit-world by adding a table rapping horse to the mix.
“The play takes place in the liminal
space between magic and reality, where anything can happen,”
says Jessica Bonenfant, creative director of Lola Lola Dance
Theatre in New York, who is the guest director for the UT
production of “Orpheus.”
Both Bonenfant and Frank were
intrigued by Frida Kahlo de Rivera, known for her
self-portraits and her colorful clothing. Her style as well as
traditional Day–of-the-Dead celebrations have served as a
kind of muse for the costume design. Flowers, elaborate grave
decorations, lavish costumes, food and festivities traditionally
mark the Mexican Day of the Dead, similar to All Souls Day,
which remembers loved ones who died during the year.
In the play, Death – a young woman
adorned with pink flowers, ribbons and paint, visits the living
world. “The costuming, skeletons and funeral flowers associated
with Day of the Dead are the perfect way for her to fit into and
hide out in our world while also being very ethereal,” says
Frank.
Bonenfant adds that Frank’s design
reflects the fact that “Cocteau’s work uses surrealism to alter
the audience's perceptions of time and reality, yet maintains a
narrative that is easy to follow.” |
