Cast:

Fefu: Alyssa Franks

Cindy: Jessica Thorne 

Christine: Tricia Castañeda-Gonzales 

Emma: Alana Cheshire

Julia: Allyson Brown

Paula: Hailey Henderson 

Sue: Anais Gralpois

Cecilia: Annie Willis

Production Team: 

Director: Valerie Curtis-Newton

Assistant Director: Kristie Post Wallace

Stage Manager: Brittany Thomas

Set Designer: Wenzheng Zhang

Costume Designer: Luna McMeen

Lighting Designer: Chun Yen Huang

I am so grateful to have been able to work with such talented artists and mentors as Valerie Curtis Newton (director) and Deb Trout (my costume design advisor) to costume design UW main stage play as my senior project at University of Washington, one of the few undergraduate afforded this opportunity. “Fefu and Her Friends” is a slice of life in these upper middle class New England women in the mid 1930s that dances between realist and abstract to reveal the complex underneath the social shell. Our production found the focus of the play within the relationships between the women and how they are influenced by the patriarchy and also class, race, and sexuality. For example, Paula (Hailey Henderson) is from a more humble background than the rest of the women and her first costume I designed was a working class women’s idea of what higher class women wear. It is patterned, with multiple details in the bodice, sleeve and skirt. Everywhere you look there is something going on; Paula has something to prove. Her ex/lover Cecilia is from a more established upper class family, and is in a simpler but elegantly tailored suit. She is used to having clothes of quality fabrics made for her, therefore she doesn’t need to perform outwardly as much about her clothes being custom. Paula’s changes after the water fight into a dress with a much simpler silhouette with an unpatterned navy silk chiffon that holds its ground against Cecilia’s flouncy top and pencil skirt as Paula has realized she no longer needs to overperform to impress the other women.

Color, especially blue which has had many different meanings historically. For example, when we first meet Julia (Allyson Brown) her sky blue dress matches her sunny energy perfectly. It is only over the course of the play that we realize her clothes are just one more shield she has placed to convince everyone she is fine.  With Fefu (Alyssa Franks) her character’s arc struggles with her sense of control; her light blue night gown in her final moment’s with Julia is a vulnerability trying to be hidden by her quilted robe and far cry from her solid and pressed sport pants we see her in the opening.

In surrealist or surrealist tinged works one can be expected to break certain rules of decorum for dramatic effect but the effectiveness of that is dependent on the designer/production team knowing which rules to break and why and the audience understanding when a social rule has been flouted for effect. Most audiences can be expected to understand the unspoken etiquette of a present day piece, but there is an added layer for period pieces such as “Fefu and Her Friends”. I am so grateful for the guidance and opportunity presented to work with some of the best theatre artists in Seattle. 

For more information please visit https://drama.washington.edu/events/2018-11-25/fefu-and-her-friends