House of Desires Production Notes

Costume facts

The costumes for House of Desires are partly “built” and partly “pulled.” “Built,” means we created them just for this play. “Pulled” refers to costumes we had in storage that we are using in this play. Pulling a costume is cheaper and takes less work than building one. It is a good money-saving measure in a show like House of Desires, which has a large cast. The costume designer drove a total of 580 miles to collect and fabric and trim for this show. Costano’s disguise costume contains 18 yards of fabric and 54 yards of trim.

Costume Design for House of Desires

On several fronts, the costumes help the audience to buy into a theatrical plausibility that does not have a strong footing in reality. For instance, the servants, Cecilia and Costaño, are much more astute about life and the happenings in the household than their noble masters, who constantly make poor choices and therefore constantly complicate their lives. To support the wise servant idea, those two characters have a color intensity in their clothing that reinforces their strong characterization. Another divergence from reality includes the actor who plays Costaño fi tting into Dona Leonor’s clothing to disguise himself. The audience is asked to accept this disconnect and play along with the fun. In addition, Dona Ana wears her character’s intentions as a design in the form of a spider on the front of her costume, which has no basis in costume history and is pure design fantasy.
—June Gaeke, costume designer

Directing House of Desires

As director of House of Desires, I have looked into this wonderful comedy by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and found a rich bed of human foibles. She has written about the deceptions we practice on others and ourselves. Throughout this play, Sor Juana delves into the light and dark of our lives, the truth and hidden meanings, what we fear and what those few of us dare to discover. The tangled webs of lies woven by some for their own gain dissolve in the glow of the heart that beats true. This performance creates a world where we who watch know that what we see is just a play. However, the vitality of the performance engulfs us in the merriment. We watch as observers and as participants at the same time. This is Sor Juana’s genius. —Keith Langsdale, director