Page 14 - Thietre Arts

Theatre Arts For Secondary Schools

Roles of costumes

Apart from other garments or clothes, costumes serve as a powerful channel of
expression, identity and cultural reflection. The roles that costumes play within lives
and society are to:
(a) Enable one to identify the time which the performance was set. The time may
involve different seasons or types of weather, such as rainy, sunny or cold.
Therefore, the costumes used in the performance should reflect such periods.
For instance, costumes such as sweaters and light clothes suggest weather
conditions while track suits suggest sports gear.
(b) Help in telling the story and simplifying messages to the audience.
(c) Help actors get into characters and they tell the audience something about
what is going on.

(d) Help one to identify and differentiate gender and characters. For example, a
female from a male, a banker from a farmer, a doctor from a nurse, a grandmother
from a young woman and the like.
(e) Help to describe age of the performer. Audience can easily know if the
performer plays a role of an old person or young ones through their dressing
during performance.

Props

These are items used by performers during a theatrical performance. Props are also
known as properties. Props are of two types, namely, hand and set props. Hand props
are all items the performers carry during the performance such as a bag, a watch, a
hoe, an arrow, whiskers, a spear, a shield, a pen and a book provided that they are used
by the performer while performing. Set props include all objects on stage which are
part of the set such as tables, chairs, a bed, a wardrobe, a cupboard and a bookshelf
placed on the performing space to support the performer while assuming his or her
role. Set props offer some details of the performance. An individual who organises
the use of props in performances is called a prop designer. Figure 1.4 shows various
kinds of hand and set props.

Figure 1. 4 (a) : Hand props

6 Student’s Book Form One

18/10/2024 18:39
Theatre arts form 1.indd 6
Theatre arts form 1.indd 6 18/10/2024 18:39