Costuming the Fall Repertory
At the American Shakespeare Center, costumes do more than dress a character, they complete the world. For Fall 2025, Shakespeare’s world was shaped in no small part by costume designer Elizabeth Wislar, whose artistry brought two distinct stories to life: the opulent, Baroque-infused realm of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and the textured, early-2000s landscape of Romeo & Juliet.
Each design choice Elizabeth made, from a hand-trimmed vest to a tapestry-inspired hoodie, helped guide audiences through place, status, and identity under the shared light of the Blackfriars Playhouse. As we arrive at closing weekend, we’re taking a moment to step behind the seams with Elizabeth and explore the craft, creativity, and collaboration behind her Fall repertory work.
Meet the Designer: Elizabeth Wislar
Elizabeth Wislar’s path to costume design began in a college costume shop, where a work-study job opened the door to silhouettes, textures, and the joy of telling stories through clothing. Early in her training she assisted on Baroque opera productions in Göttingen, Germany, an influence that later appeared in the jewel-toned, swashbuckling world she created for The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Wislar is now a multi-award-winning costume professional with more than 30 years of experience and serves as Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager at Washington and Lee University. She teaches courses in costume history, design, sustainability, digital fabrication, and the art of repurposing textiles. One belief anchors her work: “Everything we need already exists.” She brings that philosophy into the shop every day, transforming existing materials into pieces that hold character, emotion, and meaning.
For a deeper look into her process, revisit her Lights On Blackfriars conversation with Director of Education Aubrey Whitlock. In Costumes in Shared Light, recorded live on September 5 at the Blackfriars Playhouse, Wislar traces her journey from student stitcher to professor and reflects on how clothes come alive under shared light.
Watch the Costumes Come to Life
At ASC, where the set remains constant and the actors move through stories at lightning pace, Elizabeth’s designs give shape to entire worlds. This fall, she crafted two: one lush and period-inflected, the other modern, textured, and cleverly rebranded to fit within the tapestry-lined Blackfriars.
Costuming The Two Gentlemen of Verona 2025
Elizabeth’s approach to TheTwo Gentlemen of Verona draws from her early work in Baroque opera — frock coats, embroidered trims, tall boots, and silhouettes rich with movement and theatrical flair. In this behind-the-scenes video, she reveals how these grand details translate into a production that demands agility, clarity, and quick shifts.
She shares how color becomes storytelling: burgundy to signal wealth, peach and powder-blue to connect characters, and carefully placed purples to show one character “shapeshifting” to match another. Even the outlaws have a visual identity all their own — playful, handmade patches inspired by animal archetypes the actors chose during rehearsals.
The result is a world where elegance meets edge, and where every garment helps the story say not only who these characters are, but why they change.
Costuming Romeo & Juliet 2025
For Romeo & Juliet, Elizabeth shifts gears entirely, creating a world framed by early-2000s silhouettes and reimagined tapestry textures that echo the Playhouse itself. Hoodies and jackets built from damask-like fabrics help Romeo hide against the stage’s tapestries — a clever design collaboration between Elizabeth and the director. Each family has its own vocabulary:
- Capulets: preppy blues and teals, varsity jackets, clean lines
- Montagues: warm tones, textured tapestry garments, shredded upholstery-inspired details
Elizabeth also sourced from contemporary thrift and resale sites to create a world grounded in the era without leaning on recognizable modern branding. Instead, she replaced those logos with story-driven text including a memorable “JULIET” emblazoned across the back of a track jacket that gets a delighted reaction each time she turns around.
Between humor, texture, and thoughtful Easter eggs (including a nod to the actor’s second role as Crab the dog in Two Gents), this contemporary world feels playful, sharp, and deeply connected to the performers.
The Hands Behind the Hems: The ASC Costume Team
Working in repertory is its own kind of marathon. While the actors rehearse two or three shows at once, the Costume Shop builds for all of them at once. One week they are shaping Baroque sleeves. The next they are distressing early-2000s denim. Then they’re repairing Elizabethan silhouettes for a student matinee before opening night arrives again. Their work spans eras, fabrics, timelines, and stories, and they answer every shift with creativity and care.
From left to right:
• Trina Yager – Wardrobe Supervisor and Stitcher
• Marie Lupia – Costume Shop Manager
• Amy Monsalve – Wardrobe Shop Manager and Stitcher
• Rebecca Bailey – Wardrobe Assistant (not pictured)
This team builds, alters, sources, stitches, repairs, and reimagines dozens of garments across each season. Tapestry hoodies, frock coats, doublets, streetwear; If it appears under the lights at the Blackfriars, it has passed through their hands.
Elizabeth Wislar captured their impact perfectly:
“I appreciate having recognition of the costumes and time spent talking about them and all of the work and labor that goes into it and the incredible talent and energy that it takes to create garments of this quality by some really talented people who work here.”
Their care lives in every button, patch, and hem. Their work makes the worlds of our repertory possible.
Experience Live Theatre in Staunton, Virginia
As the Fall Season closes, we’re grateful for the artistry, care, and storytelling that shaped these productions. Elizabeth’s designs, along with the craftsmanship of the ASC Costume Shop, brought two vivid worlds to life on the Blackfriars stage.
Thank you for sharing this season with us, and for being part of the story under shared light.