Leave Only Footprints

Welp, I've finally done it. I've costumed my first ever theatre production. You may applaud. And now I've come to tell you all about it. But not all at once! Gotta dole it out slowly to keep you coming back (all 5 of you—hi mom and dad 👋).

A couple months back, I started volunteering at Annex Theatre, "a democratic collective of theatre artists dedicated to creating bold new work in an environment of improbability, resourcefulness, and risk." I was hoping to get some experience doing costume design—and generally just to see how a theatre runs. My only prior exposure to "working" in theatre was playing background characters in my high school productions of Annie Get Your Gun and A Christmas Carol. Suffice it to say, I don't think being "Cowboy #4" or "School Teacher" was really my jam.

My very first day at the theatre, I was invited by an Annex staff member (a friend of a friend of a friend), to drop by and say hi to everyone while they worked to tidy up the space. I said my hellos, but just generally felt guilty about not lending a hand while everyone else was hard at work.  It was suggested that I work on sorting their costume stock into things they should keep vs. get rid of. However, I had no idea what would be useful to them, or what was just taking up space. Like I said—this was my first time even stepping foot in there.

In the end, I came up with another idea: how about I take a picture of every single item in the costume stock; note its size, description, and location; and then upload the pictures to create a digital library? That way, people didn't have to sift through all the racks, boxes, and drawers to see what the theatre had. Seemed simple enough. Wrong. By the time everyone started heading home for the day, I hadn't even gotten through a fifth of the wardrobe. I ended up coming back. Again. And Again. And again. On a couple occasions, people took pity on me and lent a hand, and eventually it got done! But this initial catalogue didn't account for the constant up-keep such a thing requires. Deleting things when they are gotten rid of, uploading photos and info when new items are added or altered, etc. I still plan on improving the system eventually. Maybe I'll create a database with a check-in and check-out system like a library. But that's a problem for another day.

My point is, eventually I had shown my face enough for people to become familiar with me, and I was invited to work on costumes for an upcoming project: Leave Only Footprints: An Immersive and Haunted Experience

What waits for you in the woods? Leave Only Footprints is an immersive and haunted experience set in a cursed Pacific Northwest state park along the Salish Sea where a lone hiker has recently gone missing. Venture inside to explore the mysterious wood, encounter its inhuman inhabitants, and uncover the mystery of the wayward hiker’s disappearance. As you puzzle your way through the eldritch forest, remember to stay on the path or risk leaving only footprints.

—Quote from AnnexTheatre.org

This project was honestly perfect for me. Just a year prior to this, I had planned my very own Murder Mystery party with escape-room-esque puzzles. I was somewhat limited in what I could do budget, decor, and space-wise at my own house, but now with a whole theatre? The possibilities seemed endless. 

Except...that's not entirely true. You see, I only had a budget of $200, and the whole thing was double cast, so with six different characters, that meant I had to dress 12 people (minus one, but I won't get into that.) Some costume pieces could be shared between the actors playing the same character, but that still didn't leave much wiggle room in the budget. I had to be pretty judicious about what I spent money on, and the rest had to be obtained via begging, borrowing, and stealing. Okay...I didn't actually resort to theft, but I can't say I wasn't tempted :P

As previously mentioned, there were six characters I had to create costumes for: a Park Ranger, a Camper, a Ghost, a Witch, a Siren, and a Bat Monster. The narrative itself was yet to be created, because the idea was that, through working collaboratively between set, sound, costumes, writing, lights, actors, and directors, we would organically come up with a narrative that would unify the whole piece.

My biggest contribution to the narrative (I think) was the idea to use masks. Tune in next week to find out what I mean by that!

In any case, I am extremely proud of how the whole thing turned out, and I'm not the only one! The show was covered by a couple local publications: The Evergreen Echo and The Seattle Collegian, just to name...the only ones.

Here's a quote, as it pertains specifically to my work:

"The costumes were spectacular," 

-Vrindha, The Seattle Collegian

That's it. That's the quote. Go me 😎