Designer Stephanus Hamy has designs on the theater<\/p>\n
By Agni Amorita<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Brutus is one of the characters that grabbed the
\naudience's attention when Teater Lembaga, a theatrical group
\nunder the auspices of the Jakarta Institute of the Arts, staged a
\ngrand version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar two years ago. Drama
\ncritics heaped praise upon both the acting demonstrated by the
\nactor playing Brutus and the Brutus' costume, which they said
\nstood out from the rest of the costumes in the play. Noted
\ndesigner Stephanus Hamy created Brutus' leather costume, which
\nwas adapted from the uniform of a Roman soldier.<\/p>\n
While two years ago, Hamy was asked to design only one
\ncostume, now he has been asked to design all of the costumes for
\nA Streetcar Named Desire, written by famous American playwright
\nTennessee Williams. Teater Lembaga is scheduled to perform the
\nplay at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (the Jakarta Playhouse) from July
\n9 to July 13.<\/p>\n
\"It took me about two months to design the 54 costumes for
\nthis performance,\" Hamy said.<\/p>\n
Before he began designing the costumes, he watched the 1951
\nfilm version of the play starring Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh.<\/p>\n
\"Before beginning my work on the costumes, I also tried to
\nfind out the style of the time when Williams wrote, whose heyday
\nwas between 1940 and 1960,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Having collected this information, he decided the costumes for
\nthis play should reflect the fashion of the 1950s. Besides his
\ndesire to reflect the style of the time in which the play was
\nset, he also wanted to make sure the costumes evinced the
\nsensual nuances of the play. To do this he made use of sheer
\nfabrics and slits, to make his costumes somewhat revealing.<\/p>\n
For Blanche Dubois, a vulnerable former actress who is the
\nmain character in the play, Hamy designed an eye-catching costume
\ncomplete with accessories, such as a long scarf decorated with
\nfur fringes, embroidered gloves, double pearl necklace and high-
\nheel shoes -- all in harmonious and similar colors. Blanche, the
\nplay's most flamboyant character, changes costume more frequently
\nthan the play's 13 other characters.<\/p>\n
\"One of my difficulties is that I had to design a special
\ndress which the actress could change into on stage because there
\nare several scenes in which Blanche has to change her dress right
\non stage,\" said Hamy, who also found it challenging to design a
\ncostume for the scene in which Blanche is raped.<\/p>\n
To depict Blanche's bankruptcy, Hamy makes use of torn lace
\nfor her costumes, particularly the scarf. Although intended to
\ndepict shabbiness, as demanded by the story line, the costumes
\ndesigned by Hamy remain elegant in appearance, particularly
\nthanks to the fine pleats, which are characteristic of Hamy's
\ndesigns. Pleats in expensive materials such as silk dominate
\nHamy's designs for the play, along with plain colors, which Hamy
\nintentionally opted for to maintain the story line. \"I have
\nchosen particular colors for each character to prevent the
\naudience from becoming confused.\"<\/p>\n
For Blanche, Hamy used off-white because, in his opinion, this
\ncolor represents her character: deceitful, naive and
\nhypocritical.<\/p>\n
Bright colors are reserved for the cheerful Stella Dubois. For
\nStanley Kowalski, the play's antagonist, Hamy created a costume
\nfeaturing boorish clashes of patterns, while, at the same time,
\nreflecting an arrogance which defies the established state of
\naffairs.<\/p>\n
Model Donna Harun plays the role of Eunice, a woman who is
\nabused by her husband. The character of Eunice is fat and ugly,
\nwhile Donna is slim and beautiful. So, for this character Hamy
\ncreated an outfit with wide pleats and puffy sleeves to give the
\nimpression of fatness and ugliness.<\/p>\n
\"Costumes are one of the most important pillars supporting a
\ntheatrical performance, in addition to the script and the cast,\"
\nsaid Joseph Ginting, the director of the upcoming performance as
\nwell as the dean of the School of Drama at the Jakarta Institute
\nof the Arts.<\/p>\n
Ginting is satisfied with his close cooperation with Hamy, who
\nspent a number of sleepless nights watching rehearsals for the
\nplay before designing the costumes.<\/p>\n
After the performance, the costumes, for which Hamy personally
\nspent over Rp 50 million, will be kept as a \"file\" in his
\nboutique, located in West Jakarta. Hamy believes it is likely
\nthat some day he will feature this collection, made up of about
\n1,000 costumes, in an exhibition.<\/p>\n
Born May 7, 1960, Stephanus Hamy is no novice to Indonesia's
\nfashion circles. An architecture graduate who studied fashion at
\nthe American Academy in Paris, Hamy has been a designer for
\nalmost two decades. His career as a designer began in 1980 as a
\nconsultant for Fifi Young Boutique. In 1984 he launched a label
\nbearing his own name and now he has four lines: Stephanus Hamy
\n(exclusive designs), Hamy Touch (second line), Hamy Homme
\n(gentleman's dress) and Hamy Culture (Indonesian ethnic designs).
\nWith a minimum monthly production capacity of 1,000 pieces, Hamy
\nnow has four outlets: at Sogo Plaza Indonesia, Mal Kelapa Gading,
\nPlaza Senayan and Pasaraya in South Jakarta. His latest outlet in
\nPasaraya, Cantik Sekali (Beautiful), opened on Tuesday.<\/p>",
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