CHARACTER RESEARCH- the 90s influence

Setting our play in the 90s means I have to have an understanding of 90s culture and the influence it has on the setting, characters and story of the play.

Fashion
Beatrice's costume is very similar to the attached picture: a tied and cropped white top, long ripped denim shorts, fishnet tights, black doctor martins and a leather jacket. Her hair is half up half down and backcombed and her make-up is made up of red lipstick and black eyeliner. This outfit falls into the 90s category of grunge. 

Grunge coincided with the Seattle grunge music movement. It was all about rebelling against the 80s aesthetic of the previous decade. It was anti-conformity, going against the American norm of consumerism, buying from thrift stores, investing in durable clothing rather than flimsy, flash outfits. It's parallel with music is said to be rooted with Nirvana's front man Kurt Cobain with music journalist Charles R. Cross saying he was 'too lazy to shampoo.' The moral of grunge was that the less you spent on clothing, the more cool you were. 

Beatrice's outfit is a blatant comment on her character. In a strict Muslim society, recently westernised by the arrival of American and British troops, Beatrice expresses her feisty, rebellious self in the way she dresses. With Hero adopting the fashion from the 1995 film 'Clueless' Beatrice's costume sets her apart from her cousin showing the blatant difference in their values and spirits. This costume allows Beatrice to have a voice and presence in a room without opening her mouth. 

Music
Complimenting the style of Beatrice in the play, throughout the whole piece, grunge music from bands like Nirvana provide the accompanying soundtrack. When you type into google 1990s music, out of all the suggestions of tracks, Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is the first to come up. Like the clothing, this style of music represented a rebellion from the previous decade. Even in the video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' you can see a weird clash of preppy American high school cheerleaders and grunge teenagers moshing around them. It was a decade in which the pattern of most decades before them appeared- the clear parallel between music and fashion.   

Setting the play to soundtracks such as the one above gives the mix of culture- a beautiful traditional house being taken by loud music and young people throwing themselves around holding red beer cups. It fits perfectly with the crazy structure of the play and really gives the character a new territory to play within.