February 21, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Hill costume designer a perfect fit for the theater
by R. B. STRAUSS

Chestnut Hill native Susan Smythe is costume designer for The Master and Margarita, the current play produced by Mum Puppet Theatre.

Fellow theater lovers, do your eyes glaze over after perusing a play’s program and you’ve absorbed the info on the cast, playwright and director? If so, you don’t know what you’re missing because even the community theater down the street has a crew of devoted folks working to make what you see seamless when the lights go up.

Such as the costume designer. This person doesn’t entertain a hobby or avocation, but is immersed in a discipline. Beyond the technical know-how of creating a wardrobe from scratch, the costume designer has to come up with a vision that is integral to the play. And of course, there is a touch of altruism here, too, in that a catwalk rather than a stage yields the big bucks.

Take Susan Smythe. She is costume designer for The Master and Margarita, the current play produced by Mum Puppet Theatre that has been adapted for the stage from a sprawling novel by Soviet era writer Mikhail Bulgakov. Now, as the company’s name suggests, puppets are the anchor of their offerings, and there are many onstage. However, human beings also trod the boards, though this time out there are just two, Robert Smythe and Robert DaPonte, with both in multiple roles. And yes, as one can surmise by their identical last name, Robert and Susan are happily married. In fact, this September will be their Silver Anniversary.

Now, most couples don’t share a profession, but Ms. Smythe said, “The marriage has been sustained as much as anything by working and creating together. Sometimes it’s exhausting, and  you’d like to get away from it, but at the same time, it’s brought us very close together.”

This closeness reaches out in a most interesting fashion, in that beyond the actors’ outfits, she also designed costumes for the puppet multitude and helped in their own creation as well. “I worked very closely with Martina Plag, our puppet designer,” Ms. Smythe said, “both in crafting the puppets and in coming up with a coherent design.

“I worked quite closely with the actors also, as I always do to make sure that their clothes did not impede any of the physicality they bring to their roles, and that hopefully the clothes enhance their experience.” The look here harks back to the 1930s, when the novel was set, with both Smythe and DaPonte dressed much of the time in identical white shirts, black and red vests, plus alternating between top hats and derbies.

So what prepared Ms. Smythe for her life as a costume designer? Well, it began in her childhood. “I grew up in Chestnut Hill, on Norwood Avenue, right behind Chestnut Hill Hospital. It was a wonderful place — still in the city, but feeling much more like a small town. I went everywhere on my bike, and pretty much by myself. As the youngest of three girls, it was nice to feel that you could go places on your own. I went to Germantown Friends School — was not quite a ‘lifer’ since we were in California for my kindergarten year, but otherwise went all 12 years, taking the 23 trolley down Germantown Avenue every day.”

While attending Wesleyan University, Susan majored in Medieval History but would probably have majored in theater if it hadn’t been for the acting requirement. She did work in the college theater with a number of New York costume designers, whom they hired to design university productions.

“It was a wonderful way to learn an awful lot,” said Susan. “I ran the student theater there. We had our own building, and produced at least one show a week during the semester. After graduation I worked for one of the designers I had met there, and then ended up running the costume shop at People’s Light and Theater (in Malvern) for two years.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

And so, what about the current play whose costumes she designed? Well, it is a dizzying madcap romp with a serious theme that courses through its three interweaving plots. A rare treat is Robert Smythe’s performance, since he directs far more than he acts. He also just happens to be both founder and artistic director of Mum Puppet Theatre, which he launched back in 1985, and he plays his part as an outsized wonder, while Mr. DaPonte assays his role a bit closer to the vest (no pun intended).

The Master and Margarita is, well, masterful, from the acting to the costumes and everything in between.

Mum Puppet Theatre is located at 115 Arch St. in Old City. The Master and Margarita is playing until this Saturday evening, Feb. 23. For more information, call 215-925-7686 or visit www.mumpuppet.org.