A History of Freaks, a new play by Katie May, tells the story of the traveling Stromboli Brothers Circus struggling to make ends meet in a harsh modern world. The play is about diversity and acceptance. It explores the meaning of taking chances, facing tragedy and adapting to the unexpected. The circus has sadness about it, like a broken and abandoned toy. The make-up designed for the show will follow this metaphor. The make-up should evoke feelings of confused identity and faded glory. The make-up will manipulate the traditional bright colors of the circus, using darker, more sinister shades of red, purple, orange, and yellow. Shape will also be used to bring out the loss and confusion of the circus family. Exploring the use of different teardrop shapes with mask like qualities will emphasize the feelings of sadness, regret and isolation of the characters. Unlike the masked performers, the Freaks should be as natural as possible, creepily realistic, like characters out of a twisted dream. The presentation will include a talk on the conceptual framework the design was built around, as well as an overview of the techniques used to create the make-up and prosthetic pieces.

A History of Freaks: Make-up Research, Design, and Execution