Lingua (play) - Costumes

Costumes

The 1607 quarto of Lingua is very unusual in that it provides highly detailed and specific descriptions of the costumes worn by the actors:

• Auditus wears "a garland of bays intermingled with red and white roses upon a false hair, a cloth of silver mantle upon a pair of stain bases, wrought sleeves, buskins, gloves, &c."
• Visus, like the other Senses, is also furnished with a garland of bays and red and white roses; he wears "a light coloured taffeta mantle striped with silver, and fringed upon green silk bases, buskins, &c." he also carries a fan of peacock feathers. His companion Colour is "clad in changeable silk, with a rainbow out of a cloud on her head...."

And the rest of the play's figures are similarly, gaudily accoutered.

Such detailed descriptions are often found in the published texts of masques from the Stuart era, but not in play texts. The costumes of Lingua may give a rare indication of the range of costumes used in the plays of the era (though generalizing from one academic play to the popular drama of the London theatres requires caution).