A Show about Home Made Me Curious About the Balkans War -- and a Costume Designer Named Boris

 

I think of him whenever I share this picture, though we never met; he created this sketch based solely on what two other cast members told him. His name was Boris (as you can see if you look closely at the picture). I had always wanted to know someone named Boris — so it was fun to find out he was designing a costume for me.

I had just been asked to join the cast of an ensemble workshop at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis. Called Bridge of Stones, it explored the concept of “home” for eight artists. What I liked most was how funny it turned out to be, with the kind of laughs that emerge from improvisation and imaginings.

At every rehearsal, a new story was formed from a personal recollection brought forth by one of the cast. We improvised stories and lines around the idea until a scene was created, and only then did we start to write it down. The more we worked together, the more we got to know each other — which helped a lot when I couldn’t attend the costume design interviews.

What I remember about Boris is that he was an intern at the theater, though I have no idea how he got there. The company’s artistic director and the co-creator who conceptualized the piece talked with Boris to help him sketch each of our characters. The co-creator told me they mentioned “long, red hair” and “storyteller” (or something like that), when they talked about me.

The result is the artwork you see.

Boris was from the country formerly known as Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro). He was in the U. S. during what is known as the Balkans war. For many years, Yugoslavia had been held together by its leader Tito (who was actually said to have been a “benevolent” and “popular” dictator, if there is such a thing). Once he died, the country fell apart.

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