PRESS RELEASE: Announcing War of the Worlds
22nd May 2025
We’re delighted to welcome Delicia Sorhaindo on board the All Blood Runs Red tour as Costume Designer. We invited her to write a short piece about collaborating with the company on the show, following a stint on our 2024 tour Frankenstein, and the process of designing a costume that is pivotal to the fabric of an extraordinary story.
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This is my second time working with imitating the dog, the first being on the production Frankenstein in 2023 as part of my Jerwood residency at Leeds Playhouse. However, this time I am back as Costume Designer! I have always been fascinated in the way imitating the dog work, and All Blood Runs Red is no exception. For this production I have been a part of the process right from the R&D stage and I have gotten to see how the ideas have moved and developed right from those beginning stages.
Sometimes costume can seem quite isolating as you’re out of the space sourcing, buying and fitting, but with the way imitating the dog work, everyone is involved, which is a really enjoyable change. The style of work really enriches the whole production in my opinion, as we all get to share and work collaboratively.
When starting this process, I found it really important for the costume to work with all of the stories that are being told onstage, as the show moves between the different stages of the past and the present. The story itself has an element of metamorphosis for Eugene and Morgan, and I wanted the costume to do the same, to grow and change as the story moves along.
I always find it best to start with research; I like to dig and learn and develop a deep understanding of characters and their surroundings. I created multiple mood boards, shared and discussed with the team, and then went back and developed further.
To start my research I started researching Bullard himself which is the first mood board, from that I am able to research the fashions from when he was alive, this allows me to create a style for him. I also analyse the script and if there are any moments I feel the costume needs to be a certain thing or needs to change I incorporate that into my mood boards, which is what you can see with the questions and style change in the second mood board.
After all this comes my favourite part, the shopping! I had some great advice from Hayley Grindle, who advised on set design for the show, which was to buy lots of different styles of costume for the fitting to keep the flow and not get stuck if anything I have chosen doesn’t work. This turned out great, as not only did we have lots of options, but I could mix and match. Importantly, this allowed for Morgan to have his input on the style himself.
The tech rehearsals have been a really collaborative effort, and I get to have my input in the making of the show which is so interesting. I really enjoy how we are all in the space creating this amazing piece of work.
Imitating the dog have really expanded what theatre-making can be for me. It has been such a pleasure to work with them and I hope I get to do it again!
Delicia Sorhaindo
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