Miriam Goldstein

December 5, 2011

The Key
Living statues. Talking birds. Singing apples. The world of Carlo Gozzis The Green Bird
is so unfamiliar that an extensive amount of time cannot be spent on direct characterization. A
play with no subplots and only one setting can spend a great deal of time on such features, but
this is not one of those plays. However, a solution exists: By utilizing effective costuming, there
is no need to take additional time to describe characters. Costume is that expression of ones
inner self that is visible from first sight, for clothing reflects both personality and expected
action. In Vanderbilt University Theatres production of The Green Bird, the costumes mesh
with the characters personalities so exactly that no second must be wasted to otherwise
illuminate them. They carry the play by allowing the audience to grasp the reasoning behind the
characters actions, a feat that would be impossible to as effectively convey through any other
medium.
When Renzo and Barbarina, the bastard twins whose actions are the center focus of the
play, first appear on stage, they are clad in ragged wisps of costumes that reflect the poverty of
their adoptive parents, Truffaldino and Smeraldina. In their great similarity, the only difference
being that Renzo wears pants while Barbarinas costume is skirted, one automatically notices
their kinship, their devotion to one another, and the resemblance of their ideas and goals. Their
glasses, which neither Truffaldino nor Smeraldina wear, give a sense of independence from those
who raised them and reveal their fondness for reading, as also obviously reflected in the stacks
upon stacks of books that make up the set. Until Renzo and Barbarina become wealthy, they do
not search for other clothing. They are content in their rags because of their philosophy of
banishing self-love.
Once granted an infinite amount of money, Renzo and Barbarina automatically long for
all those symbols of it, including fancy costumes. No other characters experience a change in
clothing, just as their ideals do not change as drastically as Renzo and Barbarinas do. As soon as
the twins don their new attire, the audience automatically realizes that their perspective on life
has changed and can anticipate their future actions from this alteration. However, the change in
costuming is not its only feature that carries the play along. Articles of Barbarinas second outfit
further the action all by themselves. Her sparkling dress, featuring a form-fitted bodice, allows
the king, Tartaglia her own father to be fascinated by her far-off beauty. She would not have
been noticed out on the balcony in her less impressive garb or without the lighting that beams
down on her balcony, illuminating her as a beacon of warmth in Tartaglias cold and lonely
world. Also, Barbarinas glittery golden pumps become the center of attention as the spotlight
points them out when she must position herself precisely in front of the Green Bird. In this
instance, they are reminiscent of The Wizard of Ozs ruby slippers, guiding not only Barbarina
but determining the fate of all those she loves. Without the shift in Renzo and Barbarinas
costumes, they would not have been able to learn the lessons that they do.
Whereas Renzo and Barbarina change dramatically over the course of the play and
therefore require that their costumes change as well, the other characters are so static that they
need a defining symbol. In Tartaglia especially, such a motif is established. He wears fleurs-delis on his crown the mark of a jester. Artificial flowers cover his suit, similar to those that
squirt water from a clown. His oversized pink tie and the primarily purple coloring of his other
articles of clothing evoke a comic nature. Tartaglia truly is this buffoon, with everyone always
manipulating him and poking fun. His mother, Tartagliona, has complete power over him. He
even allows her to hold his wife captive for eighteen years and attempt to murder his only son
and daughter. In many regards, she has kept him in a very childlike state, so much so that he can
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Miriam Goldstein

December 5, 2011

make no decisions for himself. Whenever he falls in love, his mother must approve of the
woman. This immaturity also causes him to blindly worship a woman he has never officially
met, one who just so happens to be his lost daughter. Life seems to be constantly laughing at
Tartaglia, and his costume seems to allow this to happen.
Tartaglia is not at all the only character whose clothing reflects his clichd role. The most
self-interested characters, Brighella and Tartagliona, reveal this egotism early on through their
costumes. Everything about Brighellas costume is inflated and flamboyant. His enormous hat
mirrors his bigheadedness. The flowing, multicolored, oriental-styled top and pants reveal his
very lavish, exaggerated mannerisms and personality. He is essentially a con man, using his
poetry in an attempt to swindle the queen out of all of her riches. His clothing reflects this
attitude. The object of his affections, Tartagliona, the queen, also exposes her inner
motivations through her attire. The tight fitting, leatherette bodice of her dress reveals her inner
rebel and her carnal appetite. The high slit in her skirt, baring her legs, furthers this image. She
dresses in a provocative fashion, much too revealing for a woman of her age, because of her
vanity. One can expect that she will attempt to seduce or rather control all those in her path. As a
result of their wickedness, Brighella and Tartagliona are forced to live the rest of their days as a
donkey and a turtle, respectively. So, they do experience a form of costume change, but this
adjustment is forced, whereas Renzo and Barbarina elect to wear new attire. These new
costumes try to convert the characters into their opposites. A donkey is one of the least
eloquent, simplest creatures on the planet. The turtle cowers and hides its body in its shell instead
of presenting itself to the whole world. Only by transforming Brighella and Tartagliona into
animals with completely opposite images from their previous selves can the others attempt to
control their problematic demeanors.
The other costumes in the play are clearly important to the conceptualization of the
characters, but because many of these characters are relatively flat, their clothes do not
necessarily need to explain their acts. For example, Truffaldino and Smeraldina, with their
bloody, aproned outfits, clearly are a poor butcher and his wife. The costumes communicate their
social standing and occupation, but they do little else simply because they do not have to. The
Green Birds costume, in its festiveness, does enough to show off his mystique. Serpentinas
costume is similar in the way that it gives her an enchanting quality. Pantalones regal vestments
identify him as a servant of the royals. The grey, stone-like getup of Calmon and the other
statues does scarcely more than communicate that they are indeed sculpted creatures. The apples
have enough glamour to be the diva singers they are. The lion is a lion, and the tiger is a tiger. At
this level, the costumes begin to become less like costumes and more like parts of the set.
Ninettas costume is most like this, for it allows her to become both a character and pipes. The
costumes goal is to represent, as well as to coordinate with the rest of the production. The
costumes of the minor characters help to further build up the fantastical world of the play. They
would not, for the most part, be seen on individuals in the real world, so they give off a definite
air of the nonsensical. The costumes also coordinate with the setting of the play through color.
Many of them involve purple tones, a direct contrast with the slightly yellow tint of the set. The
green of many other costumes is somewhere in-between the yellow and purple that make up
much of the rest of the color scheme. With minimal lighting changes as well, the costumes can
go from dark and drab to bright and cheerful or even change shades slightly to match the rest of
the setting. In this regard, the minor characters can easily morph into the makeup of the scene,
allowing the main characters to bounce off of them as easily as they pull from the more concrete
world surrounding them.
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Miriam Goldstein

December 5, 2011

As shown by The Green Bird, one cannot simply design costumes that look beautiful,
allow the actors to move easily, or suit the set design. More important than any other quality is
their capacity to communicate the identities and motives of the characters. If they fail to do so,
especially in plays that involve too many plot twists to leave much room for character
description, they have not done their job. Even in plays that include expert characterization,
costume can enhance it further. The styles, the colors, the material of costumes can vary, but in
the end, they are all the same: A key into the soul of every character.