Behind the scenes with Gail Stewart Beach, costume designer for Two Rooms

Gail has lent her talents to productions on the Everyman stage before, including last year's hit I Am My Own Wife and 2006's School for Scandal, which earned her a Greater Baltimore Theater Award for Outstanding Costume Design.

The chair of the drama department at the Catholic University of America gave us some insight into the elements she chose to portray one character's suffering in Two Rooms, opening January 22nd.

On choosing a scheme that would compliment the lighting design:
"There is always a balance that needs to be found between the artistry of the lights and the visibility of the actors and their costumes. To create a feeling of Beirut Daniel [Ettinger] used very saturated amber lights to great effect. However it meant that colors got duller, shifting towards browns and greys. To give the sense that Michael had been a prisoner for a long time we needed to give him layers of dirt, along with bruises discussed in the dialogue between Ellen, Walker and Lainie."

On the color palette she chose:
"The plan was to use a special wheel of makeup that includes several shades of red to purple, plus green and yellow to create faded bruises. We especially concentrated on the wrist area, since Michael was in handcuffs the entire time he was held, so that should have had given him sores, bruising and faded bruises.

"We also had containers of powdered makeup called 'plains dirt,' which has a very orange hue, charcoal and ash. We wound up finding that only a very aggressive layering of charcoal really read for the audience, mixed in with some of the plains dirt."

On designing the costume of Michael, played by Clint Brandhagen:

"His clothing needed to be dirty... and look naturally aged. I spent time on his pants and shirt, distressing them... rubbing them with sandpaper until they wear away, focusing on places that would normally go first. I also dyed them in grey dye, to a medium charcoal color, and used fabric spray to create areas of dirt that would not wash out."

On the make-up application:

"Clint actually applies the makeup himself, and we utilize the powder to make the costume distressing look real. We got some cocoa butter to put on him first, which does two things: the powder sticks better, and his skin is protected to some degree. It also serves as a grease look on his clothing. To grease up his hair, we are using hair conditioner, which only helps his hair yet gives us the desired effect. Because he is off-stage throughout the production, he can replenish as needed.

"Our decision was that to some degree, this was Lainie's impression of what he would look like."