For the Love of the Theater; or, How Many Shades of Black

The actress shown above, the famous Sarah Bernhardt, appears to be wearing velvet, and this velvet might be black (it's a black and white photo, so who knows!). How regal, right? Fitting for such a drama queen! Yet this is one of the most natural images I have seen of Bernhardt. Typically, she is known for her dramatic flair. She slept in a coffin sometimes.

She played Hamlet.

You get the picture(s), right?! This nineteenth- through twentieth-century actress never would have worn a simple pair of black pants with a black shirt to play a role. No, her costumes were grand!

Actors in contemporary theater, however, do this all of the time. The first time I saw the Actors from the London Stage perform (when I was an undergrad), they were wearing simple black cotton shirts and black pants. This was the first time I had seen professional actors, and it was the first time I had seen such actors not attempting to replicate a particular time period. These men and women were performing William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and they were wearing all black attire and no shoes! At that point I learned that wearing black in the theater (rather than to the theater) is definitely a thing.

Why wear black on stage? Many people ask this question. Just do a Google search, and you'll find a few different ways of asking the question. The funny thing is that you will not find a single definitive answer, either. Here's a good one though: having all actors dress in black provides a "blank slate" or "blank canvas." Another decent answer: no one's looking at your clothes, or costume. People are looking at your face and listening to your words. In black box theater, which oftentimes uses lighting strategically throughout a production to move audiences' attention around the stage, black allows the actors to almost remain unseen until it is their time to shine. (See what I did there?!)

Let me show you a couple of pictures of what I'm talking about here:

The actors are all wearing black, but it is not a black uniform. People are free to wear different styles of clothing and shoes, as long as they are black.

This image comes from a production of Luigi Pirandello's famous play, Six Characters in Search of an Author. I read this play as an undergrad, and I remember seeing an image (actually not the one shown above) in the book that showed six actors wearing black. This costume choice seems to be consistent across most stagings because the playwright intended for the characters to represent types, and these types are best conveyed in all black.

This week I am a part of a staged reading of American Dreams: Immigration Stories, written by Linda Britt, and the actors and I are wearing black attire. We are performing monologues in a black box theater setting. We may wear whatever clothes we want, as long as they are black. Here's what I have worn:

On rehearsal night I wore a scarf. I took that off for the first performance because it was causing static electricity! The first performance night I wore a v-neck cotton t-shirt under a grandfather sweater. I chose this sweater mostly because it has front pockets in which I was keeping tissue and cough drops cuz I have been sick.

In the picture above you see my bottom half: I wore some Lucky jeggings, which do not have front pockets (hence the need for the sweater with pockets) and my black Bean boots. Tonight I will probably wear the same thing for utility's sake.

I didn't take a picture of my face, but I wore my hair pulled back so that my face would be more visible as the light shone upon it. I also wore bright pink lipstick cuz, you know, I wanted to wear it and because it would help my lips stand out as I was speaking.

In looking at all of the black clothing items, and especially in looking at them worn together, I cannot help but notice that there are so many shades of black. When you wear a black shirt, a black sweater, black jeans, a black scarf, and black shoes, you will find that NONE of them are the same shade of black. Nope. Nada.

Let this be a life lesson, my friends. Do not attempt to wear black on black unless you are acting in a play, dancing in group ensemble, or working at a store (i.e., a salon or restaurant) that requires you to wear black on black. Just don't do it. When I showed up to class on rehearsal day with my black ensemble on, one of my students was shocked to see me wearing mostly black. I cheated and wore a peach shirt and colorful broach, which I hid for rehearsal. I cannot wear all black in my "real" life. You shouldn't either, unless you are in mourning and it's the nineteenth century--which it isn't! So, stop wearing black on black unless you are in the theater playing a part. The more you know...!