Orange County has a unique tie to The Bard with Madame Modjeska. You will find elements of her story in UC Irvine’s Spring 2018 exhibit that makes the connection from Stratford to the OC. Professor Marcy Froehlich, UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts – Drama, made an incredible presentation last evening about her professional career in fashioning actors in period pieces on stage and the film set.

“Costuming the Leading Ladies of Shakespeare reflects the evolution of stage costuming for women of Shakespearian plays, from the late 16th century to early 21st century, and examines costuming choices for their roles through rare finds and materials found in UCI’s Special Collections & Archives and Drama Department…

Costuming the Leading Ladies of Shakespeare is curated by UCI Libraries’ Joshua Hutchinson, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian and Scott Stone, Research Librarian for Performing Arts; and is designed by Jen Betonio, Allan Helmick and Sylvia Irving.” You will see costumes, illustrations, slides and much more on display. Visit the exhibit page, https://www.lib.uci.edu/spring-2018-exhibit-costuming-leading-ladies-shakespeare-stratford-orange-county, for additional details.

You can immerse yourself with the local narrative by visiting the Arden Helena Modjeska Historic House and Gardens in Modjeska Canyon. You can contact Heritage Hill Historical Park at (949) 923-2230 or heritagehill@ocparks.com to schedule a docent-led tour. Discover other sites where history happened!

This article was reposted on the UCI Claire Trevor School of Arts website.