The Creature dragged itself across the stage, lurching forward to pull its massive frame onto a wooden platform. Surgical scars across its face and scalp seemed swollen and ready to burst. It sounded more animal than human as it rose on its knees and pulled a blood-filled tube from its chest.<\/p>\n
The audience was transfixed.<\/p>\n
Aaron Boyd \u201920 was ecstatic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat \u2018birthing\u2019 is my absolute favorite moment of the play,\u201d says the Wabash junior who helped to design and apply the makeup that transformed former defensive lineman Tim Fields \u201919 into The Creature for the Wabash Theater Department\u2019s production of Nick Dear\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cTim\u2019s acting was incredible,\u201d says Paul Haesemeyer \u201921, who worked with Boyd under the supervision of Wabash costume designer Andrea Bear. \u00a0\u201cI sometimes forget how the costume and makeup affect the actor\u2019s dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe make-up really helped me feel like I was a thing, this creature,\u201d says Fields, whose powerful performance was the heart of the play. \u201cVictor Frankenstein refers to The Creature as a demon, and with the make-up, I can understand why people would see him that way. I looked truly hideous.\u201d<\/p>\n Boyd hails from Galveston, Indiana, where in high school he and two friends \u201cbuilt the sets, did the lights, did the sound, and acted in the plays.\u201d He didn\u2019t know Wabash had a costume shop until he auditioned for his first play as a freshman and was told to go there for his fitting.<\/p>\n \u201cI walked into the room and thought, This is really cool,\u201d Boyd remembers. \u201cI talked to Andrea and asked, \u2018Hey, is there any way I can learn how to do this?\u2019 She asked, \u2018Do you know how to sew?\u2019 I said, \u2018Absolutely not,\u2019 and she said, \u2018Okay, we\u2019ll teach you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Coming to Wabash from Billings, Montana, Haesemeyer followed a more intentional path. His mom taught him to cross-stitch when he was a boy. He sewed clothes for dolls and dresses for friends. For his senior prom, the valedictorian made an 18th-century costume for himself and an elegant red gown for his date. His grandfather graduated from Wabash in 1967, so Haesemeyer decided to visit. He was surprised when Theater Professor Jim Cherry led him down to the costume shop.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought, I have to work here!\u201d<\/p>\n Neither student had experience with makeup and prosthetics, so Bear taught them the techniques, allowing them to adapt her original design as an independent study.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was there when we needed her, but I was amazed she would trust us with this,\u201d says Haesemeyer.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I didn\u2019t know how to do, which was most of it, Andrea taught us,\u201d says Boyd. \u201cIn the process of trying to get this right, we messed up a lot, but she told us not to be afraid to make mistakes. \u2018If something goes wrong,\u2019 she says, \u2018we\u2019ll fix it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n By showtime, the students got it right.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wanted to make sure the audience could relate to him as a person,\u201d says Haesemeyer. \u201cA professor brought his kids in for the first half of the show, and when they saw the scars they were concerned for The Creature, asking if he was going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n The makeup helped Fields\u2019 to portray The Creature as both horrific and vulnerable, says Boyd. \u201cRight at the beginning, when we saw Tim in that birthing scene, I was thinking, Hell yeah\u2014we did it!\u201d<\/p>\n Photos and text by Steve Charles<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Creature dragged itself across the stage, lurching forward to pull its massive frame onto a wooden platform. Surgical scars across its face and scalp seemed swollen and ready to burst. 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