Transforming Through Time:Intro to Theatre Students Explore Stage Makeup Through the Decades

Students in Intro to Theatre are currently exploring a Technical Theatre Unit they began last semester, where they covered content ranging from labeling performing and designing spaces, working professions, and job titles in theatre, as well as co-taught lighting design with the Technical Director, Mr. Rob Riker. Intro to Theatre students are now in the "Stage Makeup" section of the Technical Theatre course.

Their first assignment was to individually research a decade ranging from the 1920s-2020s, create a vision board focusing on make-up trends and hair, and then design a full makeup look from the inspiration on a makeup plot. I then selected three decades to focus on and invited active performing arts students, Harvey Morrow '27 (1920s), Nadia Ali '25 (1980s), and Chieu Tran '28 (2020s), to create and model those looks live!

I wanted students to gain insight and have a front-row seat into the many steps of the makeup process for the stage. We walked through the use of techniques and the types and brands of make-up products and discussed the transformative nature of makeup within theatre and film.

Mr. Brennan's English 10 class also joined us as they anticipated their filmmaking unit, so we discussed interdisciplinarity on how make-up can vary between the two mediums, film/television and the stage, in terms of style, lighting, effects, and storytelling.

The students' favorite part was seeing the looks come to life and seeing the use of "blues and pinks" translated on three distinct canvases, but suited for the decade the student artists created. I know the models/artists' favorite part was seeing their counterparts' looks after they were completed!