Recorded live on September 5, 2025
Blackfriars Playhouse – Staunton, VA
As part of our fall Lights ON Blackfriars series, audiences joined Director of Education Aubrey Whitlock onstage for a live interview with costume designer Elizabeth Wislar. Wislar’s work shapes the ASC’s Romeo & Juliet (early 2000s setting) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Baroque-inspired world). Across an hour in shared light, Wislar traced her path from student stitcher to Costume Design Professor, unpacking how clothes carry story in a theatre where every seam, shoe, and silhouette is part of the plot.
Watch the full conversation
“We engineer with fabric.”
Wislar’s origin story began with a work-study placement and a mentor who spotted a maker’s eye.
“When I discovered the pleasure of bringing something to life from the page, that two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional wearable sculpture, I’ve yet to find anything else that brings me as much joy.”
Her career spans Chicago’s bustling theatre scene, a private build shop she founded and later sold to her employees, Baroque opera residencies in Germany, and now the Shenandoah Valley, where she leads with listening.
“I thought I needed something to talk about. But it turns out what I really needed to do was mature into the place where I could listen. I think the students need us to listen more than we talk.”
Costume Designing for the Blackfriars Playhouse
At the Blackfriars Playhouse—the first-ever recreation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre—costumes do the heavy lifting. Time, place, status, and world-building happen at first glance.
“They do rely on us to say where we are, who we are, when we are, and how we are in that space.”
Performing in shared light on a thrust stage, actors are surrounded by audience on three sides. There’s nowhere to hide—every seam, sleeve, and silhouette is visible. Wislar designs for a 360° view, ensuring that costumes tell the story from every angle.
“You know, I decorate the sides and the backs, too, because there’s always somebody looking at that angle. You’re going to have a performer with their back to you, so I like to give them a little something to look at.”
Sustainable Costume Design in Theatre
Theatre costumes don’t just tell a story, they also leave a footprint. Wislar explained how the textile industry contributes heavily to waste and water pollution, and why she builds sustainability into every project. Her approach prioritizes people and skills over fast fashion and disposable materials.
“How can we shift money away from the stuff and give it to the people, you know, and cultivate those skills…”
She sources from stock, thrift stores, and found fabrics instead of purchasing new textiles, and budgets for labor and livable wages rather than cheap, mass-produced items. The result: durable, eco-friendly costumes that come in under budget and live again onstage.
Romeo & Juliet: Y2K silhouettes & Playhouse tapestries
Set in Director K.P. Powell’s senior-year era, R&J channels the early 2000s with ASC-specific flair.
“And so the Juliet tracksuit, instead of saying Juicy, it says Juliet on it.”
“Romeo has this tapestry jacket and the director discovered that if he put his hood up and stood against one of those tapestries, he would completely disappear.”
Two Gentlemen of Verona: Baroque Swagger, Built for Play
Director Aidan O’Reilly wanted Two Gents to embrace a swashbuckling style with frock coats and gleaming buttons—tempered for repertory athleticism.
“We’re doing kind of a Three Musketeers vibe with frock coats and ascot and lots of buttons. But everything’s built so that they can move, quick-change, and really play in repertory.”
Wislar supplements ASC stock with select pieces from a Baroque opera trove she helped build in the late ’90s.
“I’m bringing in some pieces from this Baroque opera trove that I helped build in the late ’90s, but we’ve lightened them up where we need to so the actors can move in them.”
The result is historically inspired design adapted to breathe, quick-change, and play—look for witty visual echoes between Two Gents and Romeo & Juliet if you’re seeing both.
The necessary intimacy: collaboration with actors
Every fitting starts with the human before the role.
“Do you like to wear pants or skirts, tight, loose, long, short? How are you the best supported and comfortable? And then the character comes. You will spend more time with this character than I ever will.”
Renderings act as preliminary concepts rather than final agreements. The ultimate look is developed together by actors, wardrobe, and designers, highlighting trust through costume quick changes, skin sensitivities, hair options, and cultural factors.
“Slowing down is really important. Because if I don’t do that then I’m undoing all of the trust. It’s all kind of… slow down to hurry up.”
How Costumes Shape Performance on Stage
Wislar emphasized that costumes are more than decoration—they change how actors carry themselves, move, and even inhabit their characters.
“You do you feel different in a frock coat than you do in a sweatshirt. You feel different in a pair of breaches than you do in sweatpants. You feel different in boots than you do in sneakers.”
She noted that these physical shifts help performers step fully into another world, making clothing an active part of the storytelling.
“My goal is that it looks like everybody walked in wearing what they already had in their closet. So much a part of the story that it feels so natural that you don’t actually go away thinking about the costumes at all.”
About Lights On Blackfriars
Lights On Blackfriars is the ASC’s live pre-show conversation series, opening the creative process with the artists and scholars behind each production. Held at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, VA, these ticketed events invite you into the work—in shared light.
Fall 2025 Lights On Blackfriars Events Schedule
Select Fridays | 5:00–6:00 PM | Blackfriars Playhouse
- October 3 – Pirates and Bandits and Drug Dealers: O, Dear! with Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen on Romeo & Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- October 10 – Gentlemen-like Dogs: Directing Two Gentlemen of Verona with Aidan O’Reilly. A history of the story that inspired Two Gents, its staging across centuries, and how it became one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays.
- October 24 – A conversation with Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper Professor of Shakespeare Studies, King’s College London, and Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Special thanks to Mary Baldwin University for making this Lights ON Blackfriars possible.
- November 7 – A “Pirate Panel” featuring Peter Simon Hilton, Sara Linares, and Chris Seiler – Come hear all about the writing, Spanish translation, and music for this world premiere musical featuring the artists who made it happen!
Whether you’re looking for a thought-provoking night out, a pre-show deep dive, or an engaging cultural event in Staunton, Lights ON Blackfriars brings you behind the scenes and into the story.
Check Out Past Lights On Blackfriars
Catch up on past conversations to explore more about the ASC productions and the creative voices behind them:
- The Winter’s Tale with Raphael Emmanuel & Dr. Peter Kirwan
- Bringing Jane Austen to Life at the Blackfriars Playhouse with Director Jemma Levy
- Madness and Meaning in King Lear with Dr. Susan Anderson
- King Lear & Little Women featuring Director Constance Swain, Playwright Erin Riley, & Director Paul Barnes
- The Comedy of Errors featuring Director Chris Johnston
Want to be part of the next conversation?
Join us at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia where the lights stay on and the audience is part of the story.
Learn More about Lights On Blackfriars Events in staunton,va