BLOOD, ART AND A SUMMER TRADITION
Behind the Curtain of the Houston Shakespeare Festival
Chocolatey chemicals with a hint of cleanliness. This unfamiliar combination of scents emanates from the costume shop at the University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance.
The concoction being created here has the shop looking and smelling more like a chemistry lab, as costume crafts supervisor and UH alumna Jodie Daniels Tannahill mixes stage blood for the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of “Julius Caesar.”
For 45 years, the Houston Shakespeare Festival has made going to the theater refreshing during the sweltering summers. The curtain opened on this annual tradition August 13, 1975, and this year marks the first time in recent history that HSF will feature fake blood. Innovative staging of timeless works is something HSF has done since its beginning. Audiences get the opportunity to see actors tackling multiple roles and are promised unique thrills and subtle injections of local flair with each new season. New in 2019: the latest recipes of fake blood, as well as riffs on fine art, both classical and contemporary.
Jodie Daniels Tannahill, costume crafts supervisor, mixes theatrical blood that is washable.
Jodie Daniels Tannahill, costume crafts supervisor, mixes theatrical blood that is washable.
A BLOODY MESS
The internet is a reliable source for various stage blood recipes. However, the unique formula that Tannahill is blending is designed to be washable and stain resistant. Ingredients include sugar-free chocolate syrup; orange and blue dish soap; washable, non-toxic red, black and blue paint; and sesame tahini, which replaces peanut butter for members of the HSF company who have peanut allergies. Two gallons – more than an entire body’s worth of blood – will be used by the end of the play’s five-performance run at Miller Outdoor Theatre.
“In years past, we avoided using liquid blood simply because it tracks everywhere. You get some on the stage and someone steps on it. This actor walks backstage and next thing you know, it’s all over the dressing room.”
In previous seasons, HSF productions used stained fabric or strips of red ribbon to represent blood. But this year, when the actors who play the conspirators “bathe their hands” in the assassinated Julius Caesar’s blood, they’ll have plastic packs of liquid blood to break open, smearing the newly-developed "blood-brew" on their hands and each other. When they leave the stage, they’ll find a special station and crew members waiting like a NASCAR pit crew to help clean them. This leaves the “drama” onstage and the backstage clean.
Unlike skin, clothing can be tricky to scrub clean. Dean Coutris, who plays the title character, will wear a white suit made from polyester fabrics when his character is stabbed to death.
According to Leah Smith, who is designing the costumes for “Julius Caesar,” polyester is the most washable fabric and does not absorb this blood mixture.
“To ensure the costume doesn’t turn pink, everything from the lining to the shoulder pads will be washed out after every show,” explained Smith, a 2017 graduate of the UH Masters in Costume Design program. “We spent a lot of time sourcing fabrics and testing swatches to make sure the costume is completely blood proof.”
UH undergraduate theatre production students work on the set for “Julius Caesar” in the Wortham Theatre scenery shop.
UH undergraduate theatre production students work on the set for “Julius Caesar” in the Wortham Theatre scenery shop.
SETS INSPIRED BY HOUSTON’S ART SCENE
Next door in the Wortham Theatre scenery shop, the HSF technical crew is building the sets for “Julius Caesar” and this season’s comedy “As You Like It.” Creating sets for two simultaneously running shows is challenging for designers.
A tree that’s 16-feet-tall with a four-foot diameter is the centerpiece of the magical Forest of Arden in “As You Like It,” which will be set in 18th-century Ireland. “Julius Caesar” has a modern, sleek and minimalist feel with much of the set and lighting inspired by some of the great art in Houston.
Assassination scene of Julius Caesar using theatrical blood
Assassination scene of Julius Caesar using theatrical blood
“There will be riffs within the scenery and lighting that might remind the audience of installations at The Menil Collection and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,” hinted HSF artistic director Jack Young, without giving too much away. “I hope these ‘Easter eggs’ will resonate with audience members who are also fans of the world-class art we have here in the city.”
Young did divulge that the costumes worn by the citizens of Rome in “Julius Caesar” are inspired by Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control, which couldn’t be more fitting with the recent 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
“The rom-com ‘As You Like It’ is perfect for a summer night, and ‘Julius Caesar’ has been within the high school reading list forever. We owe our fellow Houstonians a season that offers this kind of fare,” Young explained.
A SUMMER TRADITION
The festival is the legacy of Sidney Berger, who was then the director of what is now the UH School of Theatre & Dance. In 1974, Berger met with UH administrators and the Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board to enlist support for a two-show season of Shakespeare’s works to be played in repertory the following summer. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Taming of the Shrew” were the first presentations.
HSF production of “Taming of the Shrew” courtesy of UH Libraries Special Collections
HSF production of “Taming of the Shrew” courtesy of UH Libraries Special Collections
Berger and UH theatre professor Cecil Pickett went on to direct a pair of contrasting Shakespeare plays each year with free performances at Hermann Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre. To date, over a million Houstonians and visitors have attended HSF shows.
“In a city that sometimes doesn't pay a lot of attention to its history, HSF is a very important Houston tradition,” said Rob Shimko, HSF executive director. “Every year, we talk to patrons wearing decades-old HSF t-shirts and hear from adults who tell us amazing stories about coming to HSF as kids. The big, diverse HSF audience that we get to interact with every summer is what makes what we do so rewarding.”
HSF 1987 production of “Julius Caesar” photo by Jim Caldwell and UH Libraries Special Collections
HSF 1987 production of “Julius Caesar” photo by Jim Caldwell and UH Libraries Special Collections
Houston Shakespeare Festival Schedule
The 45th season of the Houston Shakespeare Festival runs Friday, Aug. 2- Sunday, Aug. 11. Performances at Hermann Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre (6000 Hermann Park Dr.) are free and open to the public. The 2019 schedule is as follows:
"JULIUS CAESAR" directed by Jack Young – Aug. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 at 8:15 p.m.
“AS YOU LIKE IT” directed by Stephanie Shine – Aug. 3, 7, 9, 11 at 8:15 p.m.
A communication by the University of Houston Division of University Marketing, Communication and Media Relations.
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