UC San Diego

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

“How a Rose, Rose From The Concrete”

Celebrating the forgotten ones, who want to be remembered

Venus, and La Bète

by

Dominique Hill

Master of Fine Arts in Theatre and Dance (Design)

University of California, San Diego, 2016

Professor Judith Dolan, Chair

Venus:

I knew due to this show being a freak show I had to be very careful with the coloring. Due to them being poor freaks their clothing had to resemble this as well. Venus’s clothing had to be little to nothing. There was mentioning in the script that she had little to nothing on. So I put her in a leather patchwork thong, and a beaded top. It was inspired from the European assumption of what a woman from Africa would wear. My main objective for this show was to make people as uncomfortable as Saartjie Baartman was.

La Bète:

I put the acting troupe women in corsets that resembled the shape of the 17th century, but then I put modern fabric over the bodices. Their skirts were made of tulle and they were positioned in different directions, making them asymmetrical.

Since Princess Conti had to be the most elaborate character. I made her the most modern. I gave her a two-piece, body conscious dress, and we added chains and jewels to the top of the shoulders, fabric to the bustle and similar fabric to the ends of her sleeves (to tie back into the 17th century aspect.)