Mila Sanders, Set and Costume Designer for Jabala and the Jinn, leads a costume design workshop for you to create your own Jinn costume! We also get a sneak peak into the process of designing the set.
What is a Jinn?
Jinns appear in Islamic and Arabian mythology. They are spirits, invisible beings which exist in our world but we can’t see them. The most popular representation is the genie in Aladdin. In this play Asif, the writer, wanted to make a new version of a Jinn. Our Jinn is called Sarah and is a young girl who wants to play and have fun. She is cheeky, mischievous and comes from another world.
Costume Design
Costume tells us lots of information about who a character is and how they fit into the world. It might tell us that they are fun, or evil, or very neat, that they have lots of money, or very little money. It could tell us what their job is (like a uniform), or what time period they belong to. Every single thing worn onstage gives the audience a little message about the character.
Think about your favourite characters in films and books and what they wear and what that tells you about them.
Some things to think about:
If a Jinn magically appeared in your house what would it look like? How can you make your Jinn unusual, magical, odd, a little bit out of place? If a character from a different world arrived and was trying to fit in, what would they wear? Have they got it right? Is it a bit wrong?
When you are drawing:
Think about every item of clothing from head to toe. Are they wearing a top? What kind of top is it? Does it have sleeves? What kind of fabric is it made of? Is it textured? Does it move in a particular way? What colour is it? Is it patterned or plain?
So: top, bottoms, shoes, socks, hair, jewellery, accessories like watches, do they have a hat or anything else on their head? Do their clothes match? Do the colours and patterns match? If you don’t like drawing you can also create an outfit using clothes you have in the house. Think about using things that maybe don’t go together, or use unusual objects.
And when you are finished with your design don’t forget to give your Jinn a name!
Costume Design Workshop
An Introduction to Set Design
Download and print out a costume design outline here: Jabala and Jinn costume outline
Whether you decide to draw your costume or dress up, we would love to see what you create! Tag us on social media #MyJinn