The politics of dress: Cultural and social spatiality of costume in Zimbabwean theatre

How I dress matters. My clothes are not just something I throw on, they are unspeakably significant. Costume serves a function in daily inter-actions that goes beyond aesthetics. There is a close connection between the clothes we wear and our ideologies; what a person wears can stand for political affiliation, social status etc. and in this regard can seal their fate. So what is costume really? Costume according to Merriam Webster is an outfit worn to create the appearance characteristic of a particular period, person, place or thing and the prevailing fashion in coiffure, jewellery and apparel of a period, country or class.

Costuming in theatre is not just a case of throwing clothes together and hope for the right effect. It is one of the crucial elements that holds a production together. In fact it is just as important as the performance by the thespians themselves. For a performance to be believable and reflect the director's vision, the wardrobe has to be just right. Careful thought has to be put into the manipulation of the available fabric to suit the cultural and political agenda. Power can be constituted and represented through dress.

The dress code introduced by the colonial powers is still prevalent in post-colonial Zimbabwe. The formal dress considered by the British as appropriate for corporate governance but severely

unsuited to our climate and does negate all forms of individuality and personal identity is the norm in places of business and worship. Those who defy conformity are found in the military uniform wearing Sniper Storms, Jah Pray-zahs and the ones who prefer Rastafarian culture colours thereby showing their allegiance to either Haille Selassie or Mao Ze Dong.

Clothing has been used as an expression of freedom from the turbulent times of the political and social landscapes of revolutionary France (the sans culottes) to the head covering by Muslim and Apostolic Faith Church women in Zimbabwe. What is put on the body everyday shapes the histories, politics, identities and expressions of a distinctive Zimbabwean modernity. In Zimbabwe clothing has been indicative of the struggles over identity. It has played a major role in defining and displaying new identities. The leggings- jeggings- vibrant colors wearing generation has claimed a new niche in Zimbabwean cultural and social politics; the empowered generation. Even the ones exhibiting no conspicuous peculiarities frequently indicate by something in the pattern or makeup of clothes that they pay small regard to what their tailors tell them about the prevailing taste but to their personalities and ideologies.

Whilst political discontent and the disregard of custom exists everywhere; the performance and cultural constructions in Zimbabwean theatre costume reflect the potential political implications of the way we dress – violence , prejudice and marginalisation as exemplified by HIFA Direct play Just Papers , Rooftop Productions' Threads and Global Arts Trust’s Miss Julie. The physiognomy may reflect democratic opinions and peculiarities of costume as indicated by Harvest of Thorns' cast of the 2013 HIFA production; from Benjamin's denim and khaki ensemble which reflect his strife and hardship to Cleopas' ill – fitting suit and tie which signify his desire to be assimilated into the western culture and eventual failure. Here costume becomes a vehicle for pathos and bathos.

An eclectic blend can have a different effect altogether. Take for instance the flamboyant feathered dress and wired hairstyle of Jocasta – a strong visual statement – juxtaposed with Oedipus' fall from grace robe of stark white or the Spartan dressing of the blind prophet, in the Developing Artists UK and NKM Theatre production of Oedipus at HIFA 2009. The extravagance and richness of the incest gets carried in the costume here. Or the bible thumping Anglican uniform wearing character in Rooftop productions’Heal the Wounds reflecting the religious fervor that has gripped our nation of late. The black costume in existentialist enactments of plays like Reps Theatre’s production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead has served the purpose of turning the audience's attention to the physical performance without the distraction of costume. Because costume constitutes power, the removal of these symbolic distinctions of power from view means one's ability to possess power dissipates.

Hair another big part of costume is countenanced by various non – conformities in dress shown by assemblage. In Zimbabwean theatre though for reasons not known to this writer, not much attention is paid to hair though if one were honest, this plays just an important part as the dress. It is presumptuous of the directors of plays to think that the audience cannot see that a certain hairstyle, as dress is not in keeping with the supposed station of the actor. There are instances though when this part of stagecraft is taken too far with the varieties of headgear displayed, the

number of caps, the flamboyant hairstyles etc proving that were the world like minded; everyone would go bare and bald – headed.