• DRAMATURGY IN SINGAPORE •
RESOURCE LIST
• Production Dramaturgy • During Rehearsal and Performance •
• Help the Designer (Costume, Stage, Lighting and Sound) do the Research •
COSTUME
Resources on historical and cultural costumes are useful for a company that, for instance, intends to produce a period drama. These resources can be sourced through the Singapore National Library Board (NLB) catalogue, using simple keywords such as ‘Costumes’, ’Asian AND Costumes’ or ’Historical AND Costumes’. The following resources have been provided for the convenience of the dramaturg and can offer the dramaturg with a vast range of images for creative inspiration.
In the case of sourcing for material that would provide insight into the clothing worn by people in Singapore in the past, the dramaturg might wish to conduct a search using the National Archive of Singapore’s (NAS) one-stop search portal A2O, which allows the researcher to access the collection of information across the National Archive of Singapore’s independent databases. The dramaturg can also conduct a search using the NAS’s independent databases (PICAS, MISAS, STARS, CARDS, PRISM, GRID, POSTERS, CORD) for specific types of material. For example, to obtain insight into what housewives in 60’s Singapore used to wear, go to the PICAS database and type in ‘Housewives’ under Caption and ‘1960’ to ‘1969’ under Record date.
Ayer, J. (1974). Oriental Costume. London: Studio Vista. [English 391.0095 AYE -[CUS]]
Bradfield, N. M. (1970). Historical Costumes of England: From the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century. London: Harrap. [English 391.00942 BRA -[CUS]]
Bradley, C. G. (1954). Western World Costume, An Outline History. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. [English 391.09 BRA -[CUS]]
Braun and Schneider. (1975). Historic Costume in Pictures. New York: Dover Publications
Brij Bhushan, J. (1958). The Costumes and Textiles of India. Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala. [English 391.0954 BHU -[CUS]]
Buruma, A. (1999). Fashions of the Past: A Historical Guide to World Costumes. London: Collins & Brown. [English q391.009 BUR]
Chavalit, K. M & Phromsuthirak, M. (eds.) (2000). Costumes in ASEAN. Bangkok: The National ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information of Thailand. [English 391.00959 COS -[CUS]]
Crill, R. (2002). Dress in Detail from Around the World. London: V&A Publications.
Cunnington, P. E. (1970). Costumes of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century. Boston: Plays inc. [English 391.009032 CUN -[CUS]]
Dar, S. N. (1969). Costumes of India and Pakistan; A Historical and Cultural Study. Bombay: D. B. Taraporevala Sons. [English 391.0954 DAR -[CUS]]
Di Franco, T. (1981). Chinese Clothing & Theatrical Costumes: in the San Joaquin Country Historical Museum. California: San Joaquin Historical Museum.
Fairservis, W. A. (1971). Costumes of the East. Riverside: Chatham Press. [English 391.0095 FAI -[CUS]]
Garrett, V. M. (1987). Traditional Chinese clothing in Hong Kong and South China. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. [English 391.009512 GAR -[CUS]]
Hageney, W. (1990). The 19th Century Theatre Wardrobe. Rome: Belvedere. [English q792.026 NIN]
Hansen, H. H. (1960). Some Costumes of Highland Burma at the Ethnographical Museum of Gothenburg. Goteborg: Ethnografiska Museet. [English 391.009591 HAN -[CUS]]
Harrold, R. (1999). Folk Costumes of the World. London: Cassell. [English q391 HAR -[CUS]]
Hart, A. (1998). Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries. London.: V&A Publications.
Hope, T. (1962). Costumes of the Greeks and Romans. New York: Dover Publications. [English 391 HOP -[CUS]]
Payne, Blanche. (1965). History of Costume, From the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century. New York: Harper & Row. [English 391.009 PAY -[CUS]]
Peacock, J. (1994). Costume, 1066-1990s. London: Thames & Hudson. [English q391.00942 PEA -[CUS]]
Racinet, A. (1988). The Historical Encyclopedia of Costumes. London: Studio Editions. [English 391.009 RAC -[CUS]]
Sim, K. (1963). Costumes of Malaya. Singapore: Published for Eastern Universities Press by D. Moore. [English 391.009595 SIM -[CUS]]
Tilke, M. (1978). National Costumes From East Europe, Africa and Asia. New York: Hastings House.
Yarwood, D. (1978). Encyclopedia of World Costume. New York: Scribner. [English 391.003 YAR -[CUS]]
Zhou, X. (1987). 5000 Years of Chinese Costumes. San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals. [English 391.00951 ZHO -[CUS]]
The contact information of selected costume shops may be accessed here.
SOUND, LIGHTING and STAGE DESIGN
Resources on sound, lighting and stage design are useful for a company in terms of the ‘technical-know-how’s, the types of available equipment and the different effects that can be created on stage. To obtain books on sound, lighting and stage design, the dramaturg may access the Singapore National Library Board (NLB) catalogue and enter keywords such as ‘stage-design’ or ‘stage lighting’ or ‘stage sound’ for a more precise search. Resources on the net can simply be located through search engines such as Google using the same keywords. Listed below are some of the useful books and websites on lights / sound and stage-design.
Books on sound, lighting and stage design
Bellman, W. F. (1983). Scene Design, Stage Lighting, Sound, Costume and Makeup: A Scenographic Approach. New York: Harper and Row.
Beudert, P. (1998). Scenic Art for the Theatre. Boston: Focal Press. [English 751.75 CRA -[ART]]
Corey, I. (1968). The Mask of Reality: An Approach Design for Theatre. New Orleans, Louisiana : Anchorage Press.
Davis, T. (2001). Stage Design. Switzerland: Rotovision. [English q792.025 DAV -[ART]]
Denslager, D. (1975). Stage Design: Four Centuries of Scenic Invention. London: Thames and Hudson.
Fraser, N. (1988). Lighting and Sound. Oxford: Phaidon Press Ltd. [English 792.024 FRA -[ART]]
Green, M. (1958). Stage Noises and Effects. London: Herbert Jenkins.
Henderson, M. C. (2001). Mielziner: Master of Modern Stage Design. New York: Backstage Books. [English 792.025092 [HEN]
Ionazzi, D. A. (1996). The Stage-Craft Handbook. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books. [English 792.025 ION -[ART]]
Kaye, D. & LeBrecht, J. (1999). Sound and Music for the Theatre. Boston: Focal Press (ed). [English 792.024 [LEB]
Keller, M. (2000). Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting. Munich, Germany: Prestel.
Leonard, J. A. (2001) Theatre Sound. London: Routledge.
Pilbrow, R. (1997). Stage Lighting Design: The Art, the Craft, the Life. London: Nick Hern Books. [English 792.025 PIL -[ART]
Reid, F. (1995). Lighting the Stage. Royston, Hertfordshire: Entertainment Technology [English 792.025 REI -[ART]
Rowell, K. (1968). Stage Design. London: Studio Vista Ltd. [English 792.025 ROW -[ART]]
Sellman, H. D. (1972). Essentials on Stage Ligting. New York: Meredith Corporation.
Thomas, T. (1999). Create Your Own Stage Sets. New York: Watson-Guptill. [English 792.025 THO -[ART]]
White, C. A. (2001). Technical Theatre: A Practical Introduction. London; New York: Arnold. [English 792.02 WHI -[ART]]
Websites on sound, lighting and stage design
http://www.theatrecrafts.com/index.shtml (technical theatre in general)
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ejimlux/artlight.htm (lighting design and effects)
http://www.d.umn.edu/%7Emharvey/th1501a-z.html (lighting design and effects)
http://www.mts.net/~william5/ (lighting resources)
http://homepages.enterprise.net/micpool/SoundDesignIndex.html (sound design and effects)