色情视频

This semester, 色情视频 NewsCenter will focus on the arts with stories of the creative endeavors of our students, faculty, staff and alumni.

色情视频鈥檚 adaptation of the classic children鈥檚 tale by Rudyard Kipling, brings to life many animals of the jungle in unique and creative ways.

Jordyn Smiley, the costume designer of the production and a third year Masters of Fine Arts student majoring in theater design and technology with an emphasis in costume design, was given "Jungle Book" as her thesis show.

Smiley said she took the opportunity as a chance to let her imagination run wild, literally.

鈥淚 usually do very period-based shows where there is a definite historical reference that I am researching. This is all in your head; it鈥檚 whatever you want it to be, so there was a lot of creative freedom,鈥� Smiley said.

Initial conversations about design angles began as early as August 2013. After several discussions with the set and lighting designers, Smiley selected her final fabrics in early January. From there, Smiley and the 色情视频 costume shop team began constructing the jungle animals she imagined.

Human versus animal

The idea behind the design was to avoid creating mascot-looking animals on stage. Smiley wanted the characteristics of the animals to be brought to life mostly by the actors鈥� performances.

鈥淲e rely a lot on the actors鈥� movements to portray the animals鈥� figures. The animalistic qualities come more from the textures and the silhouettes of the costumes as opposed to the actual pieces,鈥� Smiley said.

Smiley worked to balance humanistic and animalistic qualities when designing for the production. It was important to her and Margret Larlham, the director of the show, to have a combination of both human and animal portrayals when telling the story.

Boy in the jungle

Mowgli, the main character, is the inspiration of the themes behind the costume designs. He is the boy from the human world that learns the ways of the wild when he finds himself in the jungle.

Smiley put heself in Mowgli's shoes when thinking about her approach to his costume. She decided that distressing and repurposing would be the main elements for Mowgli鈥檚 outfit.

鈥淭he idea is that later when we see Mowgli, its five years later and he鈥檚 been in the jungle. He wouldn鈥檛 have a needle and thread, so he has to use what鈥檚 around him,鈥� Smiley said.

The older Mowgli uses his original shirt as a loin cloth and uses just the sole and laces of his original shoes. Those pieces in combination with earthy-toned materials he found during his adventures in the jungle encompass the older, more wild Mowgli.

鈥淚t brings him into the jungle world while still retaining some of the human elements of where he used to come from,鈥� Smiley said.

Stage presence

There are many different sizes and shapes to the animals of the jungle and Smiley had the opportunity to creatively adapt these animals so they pop on stage.

A fun solution she came up with to give the actress playing Hathi, the elephant, some height, was to put her on stilits.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really playing with a lot of illusion. We ended up putting her on five gallon buckets as stilts. So not only does that raise her up so that she鈥檚 taller than all of the other animals, it forces her to walk with her feet very far apart and slowly. It really adds to the characteristic of the elephant when she鈥檚 on stage,鈥� Smiley said.

Kaa, the snake, was made into a puppet for 色情视频鈥檚 adaptation. The actress playing Kaa was kept in mind when Smiley was designing how the puppet would move and interact with the other characters in the show.

鈥淭he costume that the girl wears corresponds to the fabrics of the puppet itself, so she becomes one with the puppet, not just an actor holding a snake on stage,鈥� Smiley said.

It was very important to Smiley that the snake be transparent so the audience could see the inner workings of the snake. Another fun element is Kaa鈥檚 LED-lit eyes that are bright enough to hypnotize the audience from the stage.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to remember what it will look like on stage. It鈥檚 a good lesson to not be afraid of some things because while it may seem really bold or overwhelming, on stage it works quite nicely,鈥� Smiley said.

See the show

The Jungle Book runs through May 4 at 色情视频鈥檚 Don Powell Theater. Visit for times, more information and to purchase tickets.