Background Research for “She Kills Monsters” Battle Corset

Genre, Locale and Setting of the Play

The action and most of the characters (portrayed as their alternate gaming characters) in the show move between the present (1995) reality of the mid-west (Athens, Ohio) and a timeless fantasy world (New Landia) of creatures and quests.

Locations in the reality world included a family home, a school and a gaming store.

The “fantasy” play is a mixture of comedy and drama touches on a number of sensitive coming-of-age topics including suicide, homosexuality, and promiscuity.

Artistic and Practical Needs that Impact the Construction

In this production, real-life characters and their fantasy counterparts were played by two different actors. As a result, there were elements in overall costume design that needed to tie them together.

With Agnes and Tilly, a different approach was taken in that they each remained “planted” in one world allowing for single casting of the characters and their alternate selves. Still, attention to familial ties was needed and the “sisters” shared common elements in hair and costuming fabric to make the dual-world connections.

Our show was performed in the round in the intimate black theatre. As the garment would be seen both up-close and from multiple angles, attention to fabric selection, construction and notions would be required.

With actors needing extra rehearsal time for fight scenes, the garment would be created with limited access to the actor.

Use of thicker leather material would be reserved for auxiliary pieces that could be sewn offsite with larger machines. These included cuffs, skirt and collar that would compliment the  battle corset produced on site.

The show was also performed  while under mask requirements, so each character’s mask would factor in their look.