Set among the biker wars in Quebec in the 1990s, Robert Lepage鈥檚 reimagining of Shakespeare鈥檚 “Macbeth” for the Stratford Festival is swathed in leather.
Costume designer Michael Gianfrancesco went deep into the symbolism of the black leather motorcycle jacket.
Michael Gianfranceso, costume designer for this year鈥檚 “Macbeth,” is also designing for the sunny “Annie,” a completely opposite visual mood.
David Hou鈥淟eather gives the costumes a foundation,鈥 he says. Biker jackets are purpose-built, to safeguard their owners from road rash: 鈥淭he jackets are meant to provide protection, with padded and quilted leather it is heavy and robust.鈥 With all the blood in “Macbeth,” those characters need some protection, too.
Biker jackets denote both belonging to a hierarchical group and a sense of the outsider. They give off outlaw rebellion and a ready-for-battle relationship with conflict. And authenticity is key.
After extensive period research, Gianfrancesco went out in search of the real thing. He hit Kensington Market, of course, but later struck deadstock gold at a hide house about an hour northwest of Stratford, the Old Mill in Blyth. 鈥淚t is 60 years old,鈥 he said. 鈥淲ith an enormous selection of biker clothing and chaps from the 鈥80s and 鈥90s. It was very gratifying to find the correct style for that time right here in the area.鈥
After sanding and deglazing, the dying and break-down department of the Stratford Festival painted in highlights and lowlights so the leather jackets gleam onstage.
David HouIn the end, the costume department settled on a mix of new and old pieces, all of which underwent custom distressing for that lived-in, world-weary, tough-guy look. Stratford has a team of artists in the dying and breakdown department who went to work. 鈥淭hey employed various techniques,鈥 said Gianfrancesco, 鈥渁 lot of sanding and deglazing to take the shine off of the leather, and then painting into it to give it highlights and lowlights.鈥
A close-up of period- and play-appropriate custom patches, mixed in with the plaids the costume team used to bring a little Scottish mood into the era of 鈥90s grunge.
David HouNext came the symbolic patches. 鈥淲e devised a way to create hierarchy within this biker gang that relates to ancient heraldry as well as to contemporary biker gangs.鈥 A lot of the main characters are landowners, he explained: for example, Macduff is the Thane of Fife and among Macbeth鈥檚 titles is Thane of Cawdor. That translates in the play to the main Cawdor patch: a sunset-hued, winged skull shot through with a sword. 鈥淭he patch shows status quickly and easily,鈥澛燝ianfrancesco said.
Thane of Cawdor is one of Macbeth’s titles. The patch was designed in house, an ominous skull impaled upon a sword with sunrise angel wings in classic retro biker style.
David Hou鈥淭he Cawdor logo was created in a font very connected to the look of biker culture,” he added. “We designed it ourselves, then sent the patches out to an embroidery specialty company.鈥 Applying them is a tricky business, involving taking the insides of the jackets out to get them into special machines, so that part was all done back in-house.
The pins and patches had to be specially applied onto the vintage and pre-aged new biker jackets by the Stratford team.
David HouOther patches are used to聽delineate intergang ranks and riches as well as personal preferences (such as a marijuana badge or a collar stuck with horseshoe pins); to tell the story of the characters and their place within the play鈥檚 world.
鈥淭hese are elements of iconography that individualize the characters,鈥 Gianfrancesco said.
“The effect is a gang overall, but each costume has distinctive elements that tell the story of the character鈥檚 place within that world.鈥 The customization also offers clarity for the audience.
Snakes and skulls and studs, oh my! The authenticity is in the details for the “Macbeth” cast costumes.
David HouThe bijoux department rustled up some bold jewelry, heavy on the 鈥90s stainless steel, said Gianfrancesco, so think skull rings, snake belts, studded boots and lots of chains. Plaid shirting, that grunge-era staple, was a big element of that era鈥檚 biker look and Gianfrancesco used that to subtly tie back into the Scottish roots of the play.
Wigs were another big part of character development, especially for actors who play multiple characters; wigs are an important tool to change up their look. In keeping with the 鈥90s Quebec look, the hair is long, and there are also lots of beards and goatees.
Easy rider boots are a mix of vintage and new (made to look old) footwear with on-theme biker stud adornments.
David HouLady Macbeth has a subtle but meaningful transformation via costume. 鈥淪he starts off in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket and leather boots,鈥 said Gianfrancesco. 鈥淲hen she becomes queen, her style elevates a little bit鈥; she becomes more elegant and wears all black, trading her heavy boots for a more stylish pair with chiselled metal details: sophisticated and expensive. 鈥淪he is not drawing too much attention to herself as her character schemes in the story so she remains a little bit discrete. Her hair comes down when she becomes the queen.”
Thane is the designation of a nobleman who is given ownership of a chunk of land in exchange for service to the king. This thane jacket shows off other interests of the character in the ‘90s biker wars, notably cannabis.
David HouFull biker leathers are heavy 鈥 meant to protect from road rash 鈥 so the team had to find ways to lighten the materials for functionality, for the actors to move easily onstage.
Then of course, there is the matter of blood. 鈥淭here is a lot of blood in this show,鈥 Gianfrancesco said. 鈥淲e needed to work out what kind, what it is going to get on and how it is going to wash off.鈥
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