Production Casebook: Significant Other, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Spring 2021. Guiding Technical Rehearsals as Costume Designer in Quarantine.
by Anastasia Goodwin
I am a costume designer with 16 years of total professional experience and close to 4 years in academia. I’d like to begin by saying that I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities that I did this school year. At a time when hundreds and thousands of students and colleagues were unable to do theatre at all, or were having to substitute everything that makes theatre, well, theatre, with a tiny camera and an unpredictable internet connection; I was able to be a part of a community small and safe enough to mount productions on a real stage, with actors in real time, and with a real (though very small) audience. All of which is a privilege given the state of our industry. However, our productions were still very different from anything we’ve done before.
All of our blocking incorporated social distancing of 6 feet or more. Actors wore clear masks onstage and changed or under-dressed disposable hospital masks backstage. Surfaces and props were wiped down and disinfected regularly. Hand-sanitizer was more ubiquitous than hairspray. Crews were masked, and, on occasion, gloved and gowned up. For the most part, actors performed their costume changes with minimal assistance. This was our new normal by the time we reached our third production of the season, Significant Other by Joshua Harmon.
Directed by graduating senior Arielle Miagkov, this contemporary take on a romantic comedy/coming-of-age story takes us through trials and tribulations of finding love and self-worth as a late-20-something gay man in New York City. The play’s main character, Jordan, can’t help but find himself left behind as his three best friends from college, all women, meet their significant others, get serious, and eventually, married, while he can’t seem to so much as work up the courage to ask someone out, and when he does, it just doesn’t work out. By the end of the play, he begins to understand that instead of obsessing over any guy that briefly gives him attention, he needs to be okay with himself and stop looking for someone else to make him feel happy. It’s a lovely text that explores many ideas and questions that our students grapple with as they are finishing college, and all the characters are funny and wonderfully relatable to the performers and audiences alike. 
Significant Other production photo. Pictured, left to right: Makenzie Tafralian, Isaiah West, Samuel Wersch, Anna Dale, Laura Herronen, Nathan Huberty. Photo by Jason Underferth
From a costume designer’s perspective, this is a contemporary show that’s a perfect blend of fun with a bit of a challenge, the latter including: a) two male actors portray 6 different characters, who each have more than one look; b) there are 3 weddings at different points in the script; and c) Jordan is onstage the entire time, while the scenes of this play take place over the span of about 3 years. To make it all work, a substantial quantity of costume pieces as well as a fair amount of quick-change choreography were necessary.
This show was originally approved for our season pre-COVID. In September, the student director and faculty made the decision that it can still be produced, as long as the staging incorporated social distancing and the production and tech process could follow all safety protocols. The show was cast in December with an opening date of February 20th, which gave me the advantage of being able to begin my work on acquisition over the holiday break. All of this year I planned my costume build schedules with an understanding that at any point anyone (including myself) may need to quarantine for 2 weeks. In practice, the following steps had to be incorporated into my process:
- costumes pieces had to be mostly pulled or purchased, with minimal alterations
- very few pieces would be a full build, and these would belimited to fairly simple design lines that could be established with minimal fittings
- when purchasing online, shipping times were a priority consideration
- it was necessary to keep a rack of potential options in case a costume piece needed to be replaced while I wasn’t around (it was decided that for this production, if an actor had to quarantine for the performance, an ASM would read their lines on book wearing stage blacks).
Additionally, here are some of the protocols we adhered to during the costume build:
- only doing a maximum of 5 fittings a day, with 5-15 minutes in between to clean the room, spray the tried-on costumes with disinfecting spray, and change out/in all the PPE
- using a mask and isolation gown during a fitting, remaining socially distant unless needing to pin, and sanitizing hands before/after each pinning
- keeping the fitting room open at all times when the performer wasn’t changing to maximize air flow
- no assistants in fittings
- though by the time we were working on this show the CDC had stated that COVID is extremely unlikely to spread through touching surfaces, in most cases I delayed working on any costume that a performer had tried on for about 24 hours
- it is worth noting that during the Spring 2021 semester our University made COVID testing available to students on campus about once every week, with mandatory testing during the week that everyone returned to campus.
Before the pandemic, I would always tell my students that costume design means having a very strong plan A, an equally strong plan B, and some idea of a plan C. This year, I had to expand that thinking to add plans D, E, and F. One of these letters had to include the possibility of myself having to quarantine. My family and I took safety precautions seriously, however, with a household that includes 3 children, possibility of exposure was always a consideration. Here again I must reflect on my good fortune, since I work with colleagues who agreed with the need to come up with at least a backbone of a plan to share responsibilities in case of quarantine for any of us. We checked in with each other during production meetings and beyond, so that we would have a better idea of how all of the shops were progressing. We reached out to students who could take on more leadership responsibilities if needed. We made sure to look through rehearsal materials, and we made use of the system that got set up at the beginning of the school year to record important rehearsals so that each designer could access them at any time. We kept our paperwork even more meticulously than usual, as it became an ever-important communication tool.
Regardless of all this, however, when a death in my family and subsequent travel meant that I would have to quarantine during tech, it gave me considerable pause. One of the tenets of my education and practice has always been that a theatre designer has to see things live and in person, in real time under lights as the show is happening on stage. I remember just a few years prior, when I worked at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, discussing the ridiculousness of the idea of having a designer do a fitting over Skype. In very real ways I was worried whether my students, both actors and crew, would be able to handle the (rather complicated) costume plot for the show without me there walking them through every step. And of course, I worried that there would be issues with the costumes that I simply wouldn’t be able to catch unless I was looking at things from the front row. But this was the year of treading into uncharted territories, so I headed there with the support of my team. This is what tech looked like for me:
Saturday: Wardrobe crew training over Zoom. Myself at home, the crew (wardrobe manager Caitlin Ledin and 2 dressers, all students) together at the costume shop. We talked through the check-in and -out process, laundry procedures, and COVID protocols.
We looked at the costume plot and talked through each look, while the crew was able to really get to know the costumes on the rack. We ended the day by talking through the quick changes, agreeing on which ones to run during our quick-change rehearsal next day, and deciding who we thought would need help. Off Zoom, the wardrobe crew and stage management set up quick-change stations backstage, posted the costume plot and wardrobe run lists in several places for the actors to check, and loaded the costumes into dressing rooms.
Sunday morning: Quick-change rehearsals with my supervision over Zoom. We worked with our cast members separately. I talked them through their tracks, we agreed on which changes they wanted to run right now and discussed the blocking of each change. Then the actor and crew did the change out of my sight, but with me getting a rough time estimate. They returned to camera, we talked through what worked and what didn’t, and ran problem spots whenever necessary. Over the course of 2 hours, we all got a better idea of how things would work and all of us started feeling a bit more confident.
Sunday afternoon: first tech-dress run. We usually begin this process by having the cast meet the wardrobe crew in the house prior to everyone starting their pre-show routines. This time, it had to happen with me talking to the cast over Zoom on one of the production assistant’s laptops. All of the actors in this cast have been in department productions before and were familiar with our backstage process and the safety protocols put in place this year; yet refreshers and reminders are always beneficial. When the meeting ended, I remained on Zoom with both the PA and my wardrobe manager, so that either of them could ask me questions if needed, one from the house with the director and designers, one from backstage with the cast and the rest of the crew. Since the show was going to be live-streamed (as well as having a live audience limited only to students and faculty who were already on campus), there were 2 high-definition cameras set up in the house, one for the entire stage, one for close-ups. 10 minutes before official “go”, I logged into the rehearsal live stream – that way at least I had an idea of what a good portion of our audience would be looking at, not to mention seeing a lot more detail than on Zoom. When the rehearsal started, I was able to let the PA know if there were issues and they could alert the director and stage manager to ask for a hold. I am happy to say, however, that there were no major issues, and everyone was able to make it on stage on time and wearing correct costumes. After the run was over, I was present for the production meeting over Zoom in the house. And following that, I talked to my crew about any notes from the run before releasing them to do laundry.
Monday: in the morning, my colleague (scenic designer/technical director Niffer Pflager) dropped off a few pieces that needed attention from me, so I could work on them from home for a few hours before handing them back to her to take to the theatre for the evening. I sent a list of notes to one of my costume shop work-study students (Isabel Sugrue) who supervised the rest of the student staff in the afternoon. Before this night’s tech/dress run, I sent each actor notes on their makeup and hair, as these were being added. At call time, I got on to Zoom and the rest of the evening proceeded as before, with both the PA and wardrobe having access to me at any time, while I actively watched the rehearsal over the streaming platform. It was wonderful to chat with the cast as each of them said hi from the makeup room and we touched base on their final looks.
Tuesday and Wednesday: by now, everyone got our routine down pat. I didn’t have to check in with the cast or the crew quite as much pre-show. On most productions I try to get to the point where final dress night is show conditions, and though I am (typically) at the theatre, I stay out of the performers’ and the crew’s way unless they ask for assistance. The same was true this time: I am proud to say that by Wednesday our check-ins and notes were minimal. We were able to start our Zoom meetings a bit later in the night and do more immediate check-ins via text (sometimes with pictures).
Thursday: opening night and the day my quarantine ended. I was finally able to come to the theatre, touch the costumes, and do the small handful of notes in my shop (as opposed to my kitchen table). Perhaps more importantly, I was able to give opening night cards to my cast and my amazing crew, who went above and beyond all expectations. And when I watched the show from the house for the first time on opening night, even though I noticed a few things that I probably would have wanted to adjust or tweak were I able to earlier, I felt that they were very minor issues that couldn’t possibly obscure the great work that was happening on stage – and backstage.
After the show closed, I asked my wardrobe manager, Caitlin Ledin, a few questions about what the process was like for her. Here is what she had to say:
- What were the most challenging aspects of working with a designer over a combination of Zoom, email, and text? – “The most challenging aspects of working with a designer over zoom/text/email was that if there were immediate questions from actors about costumes, they would be brought to me. I didn’t see the costumes until the first tech day, so I had no insight into the vision of the show until I started to work with the costumes more and more. Even trying to describe problem areas and express specific costume questions to the designer was very difficult because I couldn’t just show the issues. Ultimately this challenge required me as a wardrobe head to be more independent since the designer was not physically present.”
- Were there any issues that you thought might come up that never did? – “I thought that quick
changes were going to be a lot more stressful than they were. My team was only a team of three against 7 actors, four of which changed a lot. I thought that it was going to be more of a challenge than it was; one, because of team size, and two, Anastasia wasn’t there in person with us to talk us through stuff. However, the actors proved to be very competent to dress themselves and change quickly without much contact from the dresser (which was great because it was more COVID-safe). Our main job was tracking everything during the show and pre-setting items to make it easier on the actors.” - Do you have any advice for any student who might end up in a similar situation? To put it slightly differently, what was the thing that was the most helpful to you in order to get through this process? – “The most helpful thing for me was everyone’s patience throughout the process. I was able to do my job well because the entire cast and crew knew the situation. Communication is key for an event like this and Anastasia and I always had good communication with each other whether that was through zoom, email, or text. I would recommend communication; when in doubt, ask the question, stay over zoom when possible, and always be ready for anything. Overall, this was a very insightful experience and gave me skills that I can use in the future”.
Looking back on this experience, it’s easy to wonder what it means for the future. After all, the idea of a designer who is not at the theatre during tech – all of tech – sounded so outlandish just a couple of years ago. And yet I did it, and the show ended up a success. Everyone looked great, the changes worked smoothly, and the costumes (including the wedding dresses) garnered many a compliment from audience members both live and virtual. So, does that mean that this can be done more, and that in place of a quarantined designer you would have an out-of-town one? Can this be a process by which designers could get more work at more theatres?
From my point of view, the answer is still no, at least, not exactly. There were many factors that made this production work with our particular circumstances: a play with contemporary pieces that didn’t require specialized fit or care; production planning with a few extra weeks that allowed for flexibility in case of quarantine; experienced cast, a very dedicated wardrobe crew, and a director who was an excellent communicator, willing and able to compromise and be flexible when asked to – to name a few. If any one of these pieces weren’t in place, the production could have come to a grinding halt. I’ve done theatre long enough now to know that even though the sense of fellowship and company that we were able to create with Significant Other is something we always strive for when working on a production, it is actually quite rare. And it was achieved because the relationships of support, care, and trust were built the same way that they always are in theatre – in person, during shop hours, rehearsal visits, and fittings, masks and social distancing notwithstanding. I was able to successfully guide tech through quarantine as a costume designer because of all the help I got from my colleagues and an incredible group of theatre students, who knew me well and trusted my choices.
I would like to conclude this article by saying that the memory of this experience fills me with so much gratitude. I am incredibly lucky to work with a group of theatre professionals and educators who every day strive to create the best world for our students to reach for and achieve their dreams. As I was expressing my concerns and worries about not being there physically and how it might affect student morale, a colleague told me that it was just as important for them to see that there are things in life (such as being there for your spouse who just lost a parent) that need to come before working, because they definitely are getting the “you will ruin every relationship you have for the sake of art” message from multiple fronts, and we can and should model a different, healthier, more supportive creative environment. Above all I want to acknowledge my students: Caitlin Ledin, Arielle Miagkov, Isabel Sugrue, and many more at Saint Mary’s, whose professionalism, dedication, and perseverance in the face of so many unexpected things that life had thrown at them this year make me believe that the future of theatre is in great hands.
[ ]
Significant Other Directed by Arielle Miagkov, scenic design by Niffer Pflager, lighting design by Jason Underferth, costume design by Anastasia Goodwin.
Ed Note: Anastasia Goodwin is the Costume Designer and Costume Shop Supervisor in the Theatre and Dance Department at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.