Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2018 - 38

Costume design for Beth Dean as the
Boy Initiate, William Constable, 1953.
Mitchell Library, State Library of New
South Wales, with permission of Deirdre
Constable.

more imaginative style, although close to
the verities of Aboriginal design" (Dean
1966, 14).
When discussing the history of playing cultural stereotypes onstage, Aoife
Monks explores how costume enabled
spectators to relate to the identity being presented onstage in a measured,
or safe, way. By depicting the Aboriginal
body markings as soft, textural decora-

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THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

SPRING 2018

tion, Dean has rendered Aboriginality
onstage as "inoffensive and safe" (MacLaurin and Monks 2015, 110), translating the "leaping, virile young men, their
dark glistening bodies ochre-daubed and
decorated in fantastic designs" (Carell
and Dean 1955, 2) into a language and
materiality more easily understood by
white audiences. The costume designs
by Constable clearly show the white

body markings as raised, textured,
three-dimensional lines rather than flat
markings on the bare skin of his painted
bodies. It is unclear, however, whose decision it was to interpret the body markings materially.
Dean grew up in the central United
States when tufted chenille bedspreads,
dressing gowns, and even jackets were
reaching the peak of their popularity
across the country, before taking off in
Europe and finally Australia. Tufted chenille originates from candlewick handcrafted bedspreads from late 1800s
rural Georgia. The hobby of white farmers' wives grew into a national craze; a
simple Internet search for vintage tufted
chenille bedspreads attests to its enduring popularity. Tufted chenille designs
feature thick lines of furry tufted cotton
in different colors, which create patterns
or images, predominantly birds and
flowers, on a smooth and solid fabric
backing. A comparison of these vintage
designs to Dean's costumed body shows
striking similarities in the quality of line
and texture. Whether intentional or not,
this likeness indicates that the costumes
utilized popular hand-craft techniques
in their realization, which would have
impacted how audiences related to the
bodies on stage. By translating the traditional Aboriginal markings into a familiar language, Dean made engaging with
the foreign "other" safe for white audiences.
An examination of Dean's costume
from Corroboree must also acknowledge the complex play of gender in her
dancing the role of an Aboriginal boy.
"In the same way that her brown bodystocking drew attention to her white
body, the fire ordeal drew attention to a
shockingly corporeal native masculinity"
(Haskins 2011, 25)-a masculinity that
was played out across, and by, a woman's
body. Constable's costume rendering of
Dean as the Boy Initiate clearly shows
her as naked except for the body markings, and with a flat chested, slender,
but muscular body. The slimness of her
waist, feminine facial features, and upswept hairstyle are perhaps the only
direct reference to Dean's own physicality (Constable 1953). Alongside the leotard and leggings of the two Boy Initiate
costumes were two "bras," which are in
reality simple tubes of cotton, ruched
at center bust, with a side opening and

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