Collaboration in Action

Interview about design process, race and culture in the industry and growing up immigrant.
-Porsche McGovern, Stage Directions

 

A Conversation with Valérie Thérèse Bart, costume designer of “Poor Yella Rednecks”

Insight on costume designs for the upcoming world premiere and the designer’s long history with South Coast Repertory Theatre.
-Beth Fhaner

 

What You Will, or Twelfth Night

“There’s no costume change: Looking like late–Joan Crawford with a savage slash of scarlet lipstick, Sir Toby retains the ’50s-style lace dress provided by Valérie T. Bart. Everyone’s dolled up in garden-party white…”
-Timeout NY

 

The Servant of Two Masters

“Mr. Bayes, who is, along with Mr. Epp and several other members of the cast, an alumnus of the Tony-winning, disbanded Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, has choreographed delicately mincing walks, silly little jumps and extravagant fits of hysteria that keep the actors — and, often, the pastel ribbons, bright feathers and billowing black capes of Valérie Thérèse Bart’s motley costumes — in constant comic motion.”
-New York Times

 

The Servant of Two Masters

“Costume Designer Valérie Thérèse Bart sets the show’s whimsical magical tone with her lavish and outlandish costume choices… Bart creates a vibrant patchwork rainbow for Truffaldino, making him appear like a child’s ragdoll. Clarice’s frilly dress looks like an explosion of Barbie pink and a Disney nightmare; making her all the more comical every time she has a tantrum. Bart’s creative genius gives this already hilarious farce an extra ‘kick in the pants.’ ”
-DC Metro Arts Theater

 

The Servant of Two Masters

“Valérie Thérèse Bart’s costumes perfectly capture the pedigree of the characters.”
-Theatermania

 

The Servant of Two Masters

“Some in the well-tooled ensemble have appeared in other versions of this production (originated by Yale Repertory Theatre), and all contribute to the merriment. So do designer Katherine Akiko Day’s vintage proscenium and backdrop, the twinkling stars of Chuan-Chi Chan’s lighting scheme, Valérie Thérèse Bart’s period costumes.”
-Seattle Times

 

The Servant of Two Masters

“The costumes by Valérie Thérèse Bart are works of art, particularly the fluffy gown worn by Clarice.”
-Twin Cities Daily Planet

 

Macbeth

“[Director Devin] Brain’s staging is dark and menacing, a tone that his creative team follows scrupulously…. Costume [designer] Valérie Thérèse Bart provides several variations on cloaks that creepily obscure faces.”
-Theatermania

 

Macbeth

“Valérie Thérèse Bart’s costumes defy relegation to any specific time period and allow this ‘Macbeth’ to reverberate with authenticity in any age.”
-Onstage

 

She, After

“Set and costume designer Valérie Thérèse Bart uses the space to great effect – metal poles create the illusion of a cage, and a single white door represents “what happens after.” Bart’s costumes are delightfully inventive – Alice enters wearing her memorable, but now very ‘lived-in’ dress, stockings disheveled and hands grasping the Mad Hatter’s hat.”
-DC Theatre Scene

 

She, After

“Set and costume designer Valérie Thérèse Bart has given the production just enough to work with, and not an item more. The chandelier, for example, plays double duty as a sign of Nora’s discarded domesticity and – lifted into the air and illuminated – as the Cheshire Cat’s floating grin. The staging may be sparse, but everything fits perfectly together. Lighting, movement, and music are perfectly choreographed, and the small scale and close quarters give you plenty of opportunity to appreciate those details.”
-DC Metro Theater Arts

 

Women of Will

“The production, staged with bare-bones ingenuity by Eric Tucker… mix[es] casually delivered scholarly analysis with intensely rendered scenes that support [Tina] Packer’s theses; [she] and Mr. Gore trace the evolution of women in Shakespeare through the language they speak.”
-New York Times

 

Women of Will

“An oriental carpet surrounded by taupe cushions, scaffolding strewn with paint cans, and draped construction lights are the meager trappings that create the set for Tina Packer’s Women of Will,now playing in The Gym at Judson’s intimate theatre space. While Valérie Thérèse Bart’s décor is not prepossessing, it is the perfect metaphor for a play that is all about the structure and construction of Shakespeare’s female characters.”
-Theatre is Easy

 

Goodbye New York, Goodbye Heart

“Scenic designer Valérie Thérèse Bart’s latticelike [set] is also quite striking.”
-Backstage.com

 

POP!

“The stylish production, directed by Mark Brokaw, features a tinfoil-wrapped set by Valérie Thérèse Bart (including a facsimile of the much-photographed curved velvet Factory couch) and perky period costumes by Ying Song.”
-New York Times

 

POP!

“Giving the show its high production values are Valérie Thérèse Bart’s versatile set, which brings function and fun to the Factory, while Ying Song’s bright, witty costumes and Tal Yarden’s projections also pop.”
-Variety

 

POP!

“[The] factory [is] recreated in all its dreariness by set designer Valérie Thérèse Bart as metal-trussed walkways that house the excellent band (stage left and right) where all the beautiful people of 1960’s Bohemian New York society hung out.”
-Curtain Up