UMW Theater Graduate Has Designed Costumes for Hulu, HBO
Alicia Austin is back in Fredericksburg as the special guest costume designer for UMW Theater production of "John Proctor is the Villain."
By Ky Huynh
INTERN
The University of Mary Washington theater department will present the play John Proctor is the Villian this month—and it features the work of special guest costume designer Alicia Austin. Austin graduated from UMW with a bachelor’s degree in theatre in 2016, and she discussed how UMW impacted her career.
“I feel like when I discovered theater here, which was the first time in my life that I had encountered theater, it was a very life-changing moment,” she said. “I just experienced such wonderful mentorship and guidance and investment from the faculty in the theater department.”
She continued, “They were just with me and by my side, supporting me and all the decisions that I made in the earlier parts of my experience in theater as a career.”
According to UMW Voice, Austin earned her master’s degree in fine arts from Yale University and her recent work includes costume design for remakes of HBO’s Sex and the City, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and three seasons of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
Austin spoke about her costume design inspiration for John Proctor is the Villian, which came from real high school students who live in Georgia.
“I used a lot of yearbooks from small-town Georgia high schools from 2018 to get a feel for the trends that were happening in those areas at that time,” she said. “The characters are also so well defined and developed within the script that it was a really easy jumping off point for me to go and find the necessary real-world research that I needed to inspire what you will see on the production.”
Gregg Stull, director of John Proctor is the Villian and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, said the play is about a group of high school students reading The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s classic play about the infamous Salem witch trials.
“In reading The Crucible, they begin to question how the text is being taught to them, while some things are happening in their lives that they connect to the text,” he said. “It’s a high school English literature class studying The Crucible and wondering if indeed what they’re being taught is true.”
Austin recalls her experience as a theater student—how intimidating it can be working with the director and the tendency for everything to be precious.
“You’re still learning,” she said. “And as a student, I think that it is normal to always be thinking about right versus wrong in anything that you're doing.”
As the director, Stull spends his time working with the actors and the designers to bring the story to life. Stull describes how Austin worked very closely with primary sources and looked at images of students in this particular region of Georgia.
“She also talked with the actors at length about the clothes she was choosing and what their feelings were about their characters,’ said Stull. “There's been a high level of detail from her, from, you know, everything from the clothes to nails to hair to makeup.”
Although it still seems intimidating for Austin, she now has many more years of experience in this industry working professionally. She has worked with an array of directors with various styles and on shows that cover different time periods.
“I have gone through a lot of technical [artistic] training to go in my craft,” she said. “So, I go now into these situations with more confidence, just because I have some experience under my belt.”
Stull shares that for the production, most of the clothes were purchased through clothing and thrift stores and online sources, and some were made for the show.
“She's a terrific designer, and I knew that she would be able to find the right clothes for these characters and work with our actors to realize their roles,” said Stull.
Austin expresses her excitement for people to see this production.
“If anyone knows any of these students personally, I am so excited for you to see their transformation.” she said. “In some cases, for some of these actors, it was extreme, and it has been so fun to really focus on the details and the nuances of these characters and bring that out or develop that in the cast.”
The showing will run from February 6-16 in Klein Theatre. Tickets are available here.
“A big thank you to Mary Washington theater, particularly Gregg for having me back here,” said Austin. “Mary Washington will always hold a special place in my heart.”
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