Fránquenstein: Playing with Fire

Miraflores, ICPNA Auditorium

I had the incredible opportunity to work with Fernando Luque and a great team to design and create the costumes of “Fránquenstein: Playing with Fire“, an adaptation of Barbara Field.

The play takes place in an ancient Peruvian ruin when Victor Fránquenstein corners the Creature he created in his youth. After several years of persecution, a “father-son” conversation, is had on his deathbed, in which they philosophize, dialogue with irony, reproach different things and remember, through flashbacks, specific moments of their lives.

It invites us to think about different topics such as responsibility, guilt and the consequences of our decisions. The costumes try to express in a tangible way all these abstract themes, as well as the essence of each character and seeks to combine them with the history of our country.

Creature

The monstrosity of this character is expressed mainly through the suit, which creates an analogy between the monster and Perú.

To create this costume we worked together with several artisans. Inmates of the Lurigancho prison worked on an embroidery on jute that was used as one of the bases. On the other hand, a group of artisans from Ayacucho made the embroidered figures and another one of the bases that we used. Finally, we assembled all these pieces in our studio.

Old Victor Fránquenstein

Victor wears this costume through all the years he went after the creature. Through ruffles, we seek to express fatigue and regret over the years. To show the wear of the garment, we tore it, painted it and burned it.

Isabel

Isabel’s dress is an adaptation of a wedding dress. In the play, Isabel appears in the form of memories and is shown as someone who has suffered and been harmed. We expressed this with different drapes and ruffles in gauze.

Making the Fránquenstein costumes was a new experience and a great challenge that required a lot of dedication and teamwork, which had results that were completely worthwhile.

Do you have a personal project? Send me an email to [email protected] to work together!