"As you Like it" Shakespearean dress?

Question

Hi!
I am playing the part of Phebe in the monologue where she is fawning over Ganymede... all I have is this massive lacy dress. Phebe is supposed to be a shepherdess. Competiton is this thursday, should I wear the dress or go modern, any ideas

competition is massive there are about 5000 kids going and I just don't want to look sill!:) your answer is hysterical!

it isnt really an audition it is a competion just for fun! thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

It would be helpful to know what the competition is and what they usually want.

Shakespeare in recent years has been interpreted in every way imaginable--some of them really stupid, others brilliant. So if you want to do it dressed as a clown, as a waitress at Steak & Shake, as an orthopedic surgeon, as Xena Warrior Princess--all good if you can make the lines and delivery fit the image.

Historically, the actors in Shakespeare's company dressed in upper-class contemporary garb, with occasional special costume pieces like crowns or capes to indicate the character. They did not dream of character-specific or historically accurate costuming--Will's "Julius Caesar" was played by Richard Burbage in the garb of a late 16th century Englishman.

So your dress full of lace and stays is historically what the pre-teen boys of Shakespeare's Lord Chamberlain's Men would have worn while playing that role. (Shakespeare's age did not include women in theatre companies, so the female parts were played by boys--probably why Shakespeare was so fond of making his female characters disguise themselves as boys, seemed more believable.)

Answer 2

I'd dress neutral, Who is having this audition with so many applicants?