“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” William Shakespeare

We all play many roles and wear many costumes during our lifetime, even if we are not drawn to the theater stage. It is said that clothes make a statement and that costumes tell a story. (Mason Cooley) Either way, wardrobe choices define us and our characters. For stage actors, costumes are a critical part of developing their role and in creating the first impression for the audience.

Some actors are also visual artists and envision their own costumes, like Cathy Stoyko with her Wheel skirt and Star costume pictured below, and Jennifer Lee as Papa.

Cathy and her Wheel Skirt

Cathy as Star

Jennifer as Papa

But we are also fortunate on Denman Island to have a gifted, former professional costumer, Kerri Davis. Kerri collaborated with Jennifer Lee and then created our elaborate deer for the Solstice performance.
She also created this Melencolia Poetica costume, fashioned after the Albrecht Durer engraving. This costume enhanced Jen’s humorous role as Poet Laureate of the Denman General Store and provides the feature image for this blog.

Jen Lee as Poetica

Kerri Davis also offers more subtle wardrobe assistance to bring characters to life. For those who saw the Tarot Journey performance, Esther Purves-Smith’s acting brilliance as the Fool was enhanced by her orange touque, youthful urban attire, and her large carpet handbag, selections made by Kerri.

Esther as the Fool

Similarly, Kieran Meagher was a memorable devil in a Kerri Davis-made, simple black cape.

Kieran as the Devil

Kerri helps many of us with costume and wardrobe selection, but she only chatted with Helen Mason about her wearable art. This amazing island costume is something that Helen Mason very much created and sewed herself. Helen’s Light ‘Er Up costume is an environmental statement. She created it after spending 25 years collecting some 400 plus cigarette lighters which were discarded and polluting the beautiful Denman beaches.

Her light ‘er up dress

Helen Mason

Hopefully, we can look forward to more professional costume assistance from Kerri and, as well, to more creative costume development from other island artists.

some photos are courtesy Mike VanSanvoort and Dennis Forsythe

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