Hijab Theatricalization: How Should My Hijab Look Like on Stage?

Abstract

FAIRY TALE is an annual event of English play performances held by English Literature program of State Islamic University of Raden Mas Said Surakarta. Staging a play in an Islamic institution compels the clubs to adjust to Islamic values and one of them is wearing hijab for actresses. This requirement triggers challenges for the costume designers and makeup artists since they have to negotiate between the narratives of the characters and the values of wearing hijab. Grasping this challenge, we did a participatory action research aimed at assisting the English drama clubs to maintain the dramatic aesthetics while at the same time preserving the ethics of hijab. Collaborating with Tentacle, a well-known English drama club in Greater Solo, that has eleven years of experiences in staging English plays wrapped in Islamic values, we accompanied the clubs for three months in designing the hijabs, held a focus group discussion, observed and evaluated their performances. Investigating the findings through the lens of narrative negotiation by Kraus (2006), image and text relationships by Marsh and Doumas White (2003), and kalaprosopia by Péladan (in Deak, 1991), we formulated three techniques of hijab theatricalization namely resemblance, dissemblance, and vraisemblance. These techniques trigger two dramatic impacts that we call hybridization and synthetization. Costume designers could employ the findings of this study as a practical consideration in incorporating hijab for theatrical purposes.