The OHS theater department produces many good plays throughout the school year. These shows showcase students amazing talents and gifts. Anora Vang and Ms. Betsy Cole are the people that are working behind the scenes to make all the plays come to life through the costumes. They have been working together since this winter’s musical, The Addams Family. Ms. Cole has been helping with theater and costume design since the fall of 2012 during the play Romeo and Juliet. The Farnsworth Invention is Vang’s second show. Ms. Cole saw Vang’s passion for costume design and wanted to see her true potential come to life. 

Costume design can be a very exciting thing to be involved in, but many unexpected stresses come with this responsibility. Costume designers have to change the actors halfway through the show and quickly have to come up with a costume that can change their character in only a couple minutes. One of their main goals is to make sure everyone is comfortable in their costumes and that it fits them well. These costumes are very special because they reuse the old costumes and change them to make them match the new theme that they need for the play. Costume design really helps bring out creativity with reusing and problem solving while being on a budget. 

Costumes set the mood and they really bring that time period to life and impact the vision of the play. Director Erik Eitrheim said, “Anora has done a great job without fitting actors on stage with costumes appropriate for the time period and changing them in less than a couple of  seconds with a whole new character and outfit.”

Vang is talented and brings her passion for fashion to inspire many. The spring musical The Addams Family was her costume debute. She is still debating what she wants to major or minor in but she knows for sure that fashion is in her future. Her future goal is to still work and continue her passion with costumes and designs, and her main goal is to someday work with famous fashion designer Vera Wang. Vang said, “Yes, I definitely want to do it [work in fashion] still and maybe work with Vera Wang.” Not only is it super fun to design the costumes but pretty soon it starts to feel like a family.  Ms. Cole said, “It feels like a creative outlet and it is my happy place and I love to watch kids grow and get out of their comfort zone with trying new things.” 

The production enviroment is fun and the actors make it enjoyable. The OHS Theater Department is putting on a play called The Farnsworth Invention and many will come to see the amazing work both Vang and Cole do. The play will be on April 21, 22, 23 at 7 p.m. and on April 24 at 1:30 p.m.