Vivat! Vivat Regina!

University Final Year Project - Costume and Design Elements

The project is based off of  a play by Robert Bolt, in 1970, which tells the story of the two rival monarchs who never met, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. These women were not only powerful and fierce women monarchs that were well ahead of their times in a male dominated society, but they were women with an insane amount of pressure placed upon them and they both played a part in creating an iconic legacy. The play covers pivotal moments in these monarchs’ lives and the other characters within the play are all the central players in both Mary’s and Elizabeth’s circle, these including: William Cecil (Chief advisor to Elizabeth I), Robert Dudley (a potential suiter for Elizabeth I), David Rizzio (Queen Mary’s private secretary), Lord Bothwell (Scottish nobleman, Mary’s 3rd Husband), Sir Francis Walsingham (secretary to Elizabeth, known for being her ‘spymaster) and Lord Morton (Lord regent of Scotland after Mary’s death). Additionally the play includes a lot of background characters, such as the servants who are vital in moving the staging of the play and other side characters, such as the religious figures and ladies of the court.
For my final year project, I knew that I wanted to explore a project around Elizabeth I as I wanted to explore a modern historical spin with couture fashion, but still reference the period of history by adding element from famous portraits of the famous figures. I thought Elizabeth and Mary would be enjoyable to design for and I choose the play Vivat! Vivat Regina specifically because it covers most of the key events of both Mary and Elizabeth reign. Additionally, the play hasn’t been performed since 1995 and I thought it would be interesting to add a modern twist, as through my research many of the other costume designers and directors took the path of being more historical accurate by referencing to the fashion of the time the play was set. I think that this would make it more engaging for modern audience and bring in a younger audience that would be interested in both the fashion and the historical elements.
My aim for the project, is to successfully create visually exciting costumes being inspired by modern couture fashion, designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Viktor and Rolf and Dolce and Gabbana, as well as exploring elements of the historical dress at the time. Another key inspirations through initial research was seeing how symbolism has been used in work to modernize performances, a brilliant example of this is Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet from 1996. Symbolism can be effectively used in the designing to add modern details and ideas and additionally add a deeper meaning to the performance and to give modern references for the audience to understand my intention of the play. Ideas of symbolism that I looked to explore was gaming, because the battle for the crown is really a game of chance between these two monarch it’s like a game of cards or chess, and their battle could reflect a more contact and violent sport such as boxing.