Costumes and Settings for Historical Plays: The Classical Period, Ancient through Early Middle Ages

This is the first volume in a series of books about costumes and settings for historical plays. The concept is to offer a full spectrum of design ideas for a particular period-costumes, props and sets. The series is intended for all of those who are involved in theatre, drama and the history of a particular period. It is an excellent reference for historic costume designers, scenic designers, property masters, weapons masters, producers, directors and actors, or for those who have an interest or enthusiasm for period drama or period design history. Jack Cassin-Scott presents the Classical Period, which covers the Ancient World Egyptian, Biblical, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Romanesque - as well as the contemporary barbarian tribes: Teutons, Celts, Jutes, Franks, Normans and Vikings. Mr. Scott, with brief descriptions and clear drawings, depicts the features of typical costumes, sets and properties. Depending on the period to be represented, the costumer-cum-designer should follow the three basic primitive principles: social rank, occupation and sex appeal. In an easy-to-follow format, the types of costumes for men, women and children are simply categorized, including their hairstyles, footwear and appropriate colour schemes.

The Stage Properties, clearly drawn and captioned, include: certain specific costumes, armour and weapons of nobles and soldiers, as well as musical instruments, details of jewelry, furniture and utensils used for the people of those times.

The Stage Settings concentrate on the characteristic features which are clearly represented in the architecture of the period, and when incorporated into the design, with carefully selected lighting effects and appropriate costume and prop designs, can reproduce the correct atmosphere for the chosen period.

A selection of plays, suitable for the various theatre groups and/or drama class productions is also given, which adds to the usefulness of this indispensable reference book.