What is Concord Floral?
Concord Floral, a play written by Jordan Tannahill, is an everyday ghost story that acts as a cautionary tale, showing the failures of society- and how we can patch the cracks. It follows a group of 10 teens reliving a traumatic bullying experience and coming to terms with what happened.
The show itself takes place in the now and here- so for us, it meant Henrietta, New York.
I directly drew inspiration from my classmates and people I see walking around on campus during the fall for many of my costume designs.
Creative Team:
Director: Alexa Scott-Flaherty
Dramaturg: Alison Maselek **
Stage Manager: Wally Adam Jr. **
Technical Director: Robert Lewis
Scenic Design: Allen Wright Shannon
Lighting & Projection Design: Christopher Evans
Sound Designer: Tye Fitzgerald
Assistant Sound Designer: Della Conlin **
Intimacy Director: Jill Rittinger
Photographer: Scott Hamilton
Dramaturg: Alison Maselek **
Stage Manager: Wally Adam Jr. **
Technical Director: Robert Lewis
Scenic Design: Allen Wright Shannon
Lighting & Projection Design: Christopher Evans
Sound Designer: Tye Fitzgerald
Assistant Sound Designer: Della Conlin **
Intimacy Director: Jill Rittinger
Photographer: Scott Hamilton
**Student
My work was nominated to compete at the 57th Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). I won the regional award for second place in Costume Design on January 18th, 2025.
I was invited to be the costume designer in late July 2024. The show's opening night was October 24, 2024. I understood that it would be a crunch to get everything finished on time, so I set deadlines and worked with my mentor Amanda Doherty, who was overseeing my work and guiding me along the costume design path.
Some of the challenges with this show are as follows: multiple actors have characters that transform from human to animal or inanimate object on stage or very quickly, and every character must stay on stage the entire show. We made an exception for one character- Bobbie James. The transformative characters gave me a lot of room for creativity of design and building of costumes, which I had a lot of fun with.
I rendered designs before even arriving on RIT's campus for the fall, well before actors even auditioned. After actors were cast, I worked with them to ensure that my designs fit how they wanted to portray their character, and that they were comfortable in my designs. In the end, very few aspects of my original designs were altered.
Note: All show photography was done by Scott Hamilton, an RIT professional photographer.
Just Joey: a character who is looking to find himself, is queer and questioning, and he feels very connected to music. I worked with the actor to determine how he would show his affinity for music- and we chose earbuds, which were later worked into the sound during the show. His costume was purchased or borrowed from the actor.
Bobolink: a character who transforms on stage from human teen to bird and back again. This character wasn't given pronouns in the script, so when I designed them, I went for as much gender as possible. After casting, I had a conversation with this actor, and he expressed that was very comfortable with this costume, even though he had never worn a skirt before.
For rehearsal, I built some rehearsal wings (an elastic chest harness with long wooden dowels) and he wore a rehearsal skirt.
I built the wings (wooden dowel rods, black and white fabric, air brush paint), and patterned and sewed the vest (black cotton, interfacing, ribbon).
For rehearsal, I built some rehearsal wings (an elastic chest harness with long wooden dowels) and he wore a rehearsal skirt.
I built the wings (wooden dowel rods, black and white fabric, air brush paint), and patterned and sewed the vest (black cotton, interfacing, ribbon).
John Cabot: the birdwatcher and book-smart older brother. I bought the shirt and hat, and pulled and borrowed the rest of the costume. The shirt is a very common bird- a male House Sparrow. It lives in much of the North America, and tends to like cities and suburbs, something a birdwatcher would know and appreciate.
Forever Irene: little sibling of John Cabot, a young philosopher, has seizures. They stay human the entire show. I wanted to show their connection to their brother, so they also have an outdoors theme- more of a gardener. They have many scenes in which they are outside as an escape.
I sewed patches onto their overalls and embroidered exactly four flowers onto the pockets. The arm warmers were purchased from a Ukrainian small business owner.
Rosa Mundi: one of a pair, best friends with Nearly Wild. She stays human the entire show, but in one scene she and Nearly Wild are transported back in time to 9th grade, to denote that I had the characters each pull on a new aspect of their costume- she pulls on an ombre skirt. Rosa is a popular girl, rich and loves to party. Rosa is contacted and haunted by Bobbie James as a ghost, because of what Rosa and Nearly did to Bobbie.
I dyed the skirt, sewed the lace onto the jeans, and tailored the white lace wrap.
Nearly Wild: the other half of Rosa Mundi, the first to hear Bobbie James's voice from phone calls. In 9th grade, the red sweater that Nearly pulls on is a major plot point- Bobbie James gets bullied for wearing the same sweater. The sweater had to be detailed and unique, but also had to be able to be styled in wildly differently ways. Nearly's style is gothic, punk and dark, yet polished, where as Bobbie's style is more home grown and a patchwork of many bright colors.
I created the red necklace, painted the tank top, pulled and tailored the mini skirt, and painted the purse.
Couch: a character who transforms between a silly teen and an all-seeing oracle moldy couch. This design went through the biggest change due to conversations with the actor and watching rehearsals. My original thought process on how the Couch transforms is to sit with legs flush next to each other, feet dangling off the table, but the actor preferred to sit cross-legged, it fit the character more. So I needed to find a new way to create a "cushion". I settled on a skirt and jacket combo (took out the idea for a blanket wrap so the actor doesn't overheat). This actor moves her arms a lot, so I added fringe, because it would add an extra layer of motion.
I created the epaulets from cardboard, foam clay, fake moss, and hot glue. They were attached to the jacket by Velcro so they can come on and off to wash the jacket. The jacket I used a free pattern from Mood, heavily adjusted it to better fit my needs (and my actor), and added a massive hood. The skirt is my own pattern.
Fox: the watcher. They had to transform from human teen to fox. I did this by including fox ears on set so they could grab them and put them on as needed. Because their character is known as "The Watcher," I wanted to include a camera that the actor could use to take pictures and then print the pictures immediately afterwards. Some are included below.
Greenhouse: the narrator of the story, the place: Concord Floral. This is the personification of the abandoned greenhouse that they all are acting out the play in.
I sewed the jacket based off of a free pattern from Mood, using tule and organza fabric. I wanted to mimic the windows on the greenhouse, how patchwork yet architectural they are. I sewed on greenery upon finishing the jacket. I built the crown- laser cut acrylic pieces and hot glued everything to a headband, then wrapped it in fabric and added greenery. I sewed a comb into it so the crown doesn't fall off. I bought a net and then sewed on greenery and roses. I bought yellow wellies and then graffitied and dirtied them up.
Bobbie James: the victim and the mystery of the story. In the prologue she is in a nude biketard, alone and vulnerable, and runs off, scared.
Then she appears as a teen who is just now experiencing public school after being homeschooled for a long time. The homeschooled costume has the red sweater, two necklaces (one with many colors, one that is one half of a friendship heart that says "friend", symbolizing her search for friendship), large patched jeans held in place by a woven belt, and easy-off vans.
When she appears as a ghost, she is shrouded in darkness created by many levels of dark translucent fabric, black and green, with floral lace. Like the shadows of a greenhouse.
Her last appearance is in a nude bra and underwear, after Rosa and Nearly strip her of her clothing in front of the audience.
The homeschool costume: I sewed on patches and created the multi-colored beaded necklace. Both necklaces were attached together by a magnet in the back to assist with quick-changes and stripping on stage.
The ghost costume: I draped on the actor and sewed entirely.
The nude bra and underwear: the actor and I worked together to shop online and find a nude bra and underwear that she would be comfortable in.
Then she appears as a teen who is just now experiencing public school after being homeschooled for a long time. The homeschooled costume has the red sweater, two necklaces (one with many colors, one that is one half of a friendship heart that says "friend", symbolizing her search for friendship), large patched jeans held in place by a woven belt, and easy-off vans.
When she appears as a ghost, she is shrouded in darkness created by many levels of dark translucent fabric, black and green, with floral lace. Like the shadows of a greenhouse.
Her last appearance is in a nude bra and underwear, after Rosa and Nearly strip her of her clothing in front of the audience.
The homeschool costume: I sewed on patches and created the multi-colored beaded necklace. Both necklaces were attached together by a magnet in the back to assist with quick-changes and stripping on stage.
The ghost costume: I draped on the actor and sewed entirely.
The nude bra and underwear: the actor and I worked together to shop online and find a nude bra and underwear that she would be comfortable in.
She had multiple quick changes- one which the actor had a hot mic and had to have makeup put on so she could look like the ghost, and another where she had to take all of that makeup off, and change into the normal teen outfit, within a minute and a half. Our wardrobe crew was amazing with choreographing that change.
Swing: a character not-in-the-script, but an actor who would be on stage the entire time. Their costume was the most up to my discretion because they aren’t in the script. I dubbed them the Anarchist, and gave them a piece of each of the characters- the pins. The non-human characters are up top, the human ones are lower. Their costume is inspired by protesters and punk culture.