I was with my son and his friend today at Columbia Costume Shop in Kingston, NY.
The boys, age 12, were shopping for a role playing game event and I was shopping for "No Pit So Deep."
I want more costume pieces for Sean's many roles. Thanks to the love offering at Friend's Church in Clintondale, a stipend from the Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church, and generous donations from Winning Pictures Corporation (Patricia Boiko) and Melinda Cosentino, I have this lovely website and can start thinking about more elaborate sets and costumes. One thing I was particularly looking for was a Nazi armband with a swastika. I felt it was the missing link to authenticity in the previous productions. I thought about asking my friend Kay from church to make one for me. She sews all the costumes for our Christmas plays and does a great job. But a Nazi armband just didn't seem like the kind of thing I could burden anyone with. I looked online, but wasn't sure I wanted to order from the sites that carried them.
So I searched the enchanted labyrinth that is Columbia for it, then realized that perhaps the Nazi items were not displayed. I asked the young man in the wig aisle and he immediately got a manager. It was clear that they took these kinds of requests more seriously than, perhaps, a request for angel wings. The manager peeked out from behind the rack suspiciously, took one look at my greyish blonde hair and khaki capris and gave a little out breath. "I'm doing a play about a lady who hides Jewish people during the Holocaust," I blurted a little sheepishly.
He took me into the back and pulled down a fabric armband in plastic wrapping. He pulled it out and showed it to me so I could examine it. I didn't want to examine it. I didn't even want to look at it. I just wanted to close my eyes, hold my breath, pay for it and put it away until I could give it to Sean. Sean will know what to do with it, I thought. He can handle it. After all, not more than a month or two after my husband and I met him, we called him to catch a bat in our house. He was an MP in the army, he worked for the Red Cross, he was an actor. He could handle tough stuff. I laughed when I saw that it's circumference was about the size of a thigh. A man's thigh. I pictured it slipping right off of Seans arm. I pictured Sean wearing it on his leg. The manager suggested I pin it to get it to fit. I pictured Sean getting stuck. I suggested velcro. The manager agreed.
"I just need to price it before I give it to you," he said as he used the handheld pricer-thing to adhere a tiny rectangular, yellow sticker with $20.00 printed on it. It seemed like such a frivolous act for such a powerful item. The manager and I discussed for about the fourth time why they don't put the Nazi uniforms and stuff out on the shelves. "I really have to see who wants it before I'll sell it. I sell these things to people doing 'The Producers' and 'The Sound of Music,' but we don't want to get known for selling this stuff." I continued to reassure him that I understood and that my show was really about a Dutch lady.
When I left the back room, the boys were still costume shopping and planning how they were going to get the money for all the costumes and masks for their game. I really wanted to get out of there. I gave them a five minute warning, and, after three and a half minutes, their five minutes was up and we walked to the counter.
When I paid, they asked if I wanted a bag. I said no, put it in my purse next to the loofah sponge for $2.50 and set off.
When I got home, I asked John if he wanted to see it. He said no, it wasn't the kind of thing a person should want to see. That's when I realized what that uncomfortable feeling was in the pit of my stomach. Also, he said that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to use a Nazi armband in the show. I said he might be right, that the armband should maybe be "implied." I really don't want to handle the thing or have it in my house. I didn't think I'd feel this way. After all, it's just a costume piece. I thought it was just the right piece for the show. Just the thing. But Sean will know what to do with it. Right?
What do you think? How closely to accurate should a Nazi be dressed in a show about hope and forgiveness when all else has fallen and it looks like evil will win? Do we depict the evil symbols? Or should they be implied?
Labels: Corrie ten Boom
