Borderlight Fringe Festival – Playwright/Director: Lucy Geiser
July 2025
My classmate Lucy Geiser partnered with the Borderlight Theatre Festival to produce a devised piece titled Mother Nature’s Tears. This one-act play explores themes of environmentalism, family trauma, and women’s mental health. It was performed in the Helen Theatre Rehearsal Hall in the CSU Theatre and Arts Building. I was given the opportunity to serve as her costume designer.
Mother Nature
I wanted to primarily dress Mother Nature in natural fibers like cotton and linen. Of course, that can be difficult to achieve when thrifting pieces. Another important consideration in her design was her dance – I could not dress her in anything that would interfere with her choreography. The brown top was taken in on the sides and along the straps to keep it from shifting while she moved.
Power
Power, the eldest son, was meant to represent industrialists and capitalists. He cares less about quality, and more about what is newest and “best”. I found a gorgeous suit at a thrift store and hemmed the pants 2″. He’s the most separated from his mother emotionally, so his color palette features burgundy instead of true earth tones.
Intelligence
Intelligence, like his older brother, cares about what his appearance communicates. The director wanted his look to be reminiscent of old money, British boarding schools, and college professors. We chose to tuck the sweater into the pants (untucked felt too much like Mr. Rogers, who I love, but it wasn’t quite what we were going for). Finally, darts were sewn into the shoulder seams of the sweater to tighten the neckline.
Kindness
Kindness is the youngest son, and closest to his mother. I wanted to reflect that in his color pallet, so I kept it the most similar to Mother Nature’s. His character was intended to be a “carefree college freshman backpacking over summer break.” To create his t-shirt, I tie-dyed a pre-tie-dyed shirt with turmeric powder (pictured air-drying on my porch).
Costume pieces were either thrifted, borrowed from friends or family (a special thank you to my father for Power’s watch), or provided by the actors. Design renderings were created using Clip Studio Paint.
