Aaron and Tesia Benson spent an entire weekend at their kitchen table gluing shreds of green fabric, raffia and other materials onto green paper parasols for a set of Dobama Theatre’s Peter and the Starcatcher. For the humorous Tony Award-winning prequel to Peter Pan, the couple crafted shrubs that double as camouflaging shields carried by the Mollusks, natives on the magical island where late-19th-century orphan Peter becomes the eternal youth who can fly.
“There’s still glue somewhere on my floor,” Tesia grouses good-naturedly.
It’s a small price to pay for the chance to work together, even as the Cleveland Heights institution prepares to reprise last year’s production Dec. 2-31.
Tesia also serves as Dobama’s resident costume designer, teaches stage makeup at Baldwin Wallace University and works as a draper in the school’s costume shop. Scenic designer Aaron serves as the full-time technical director at the Beck Center in Lakewood. The duo behind Berea-based Benson Theatrical relishes the time when their creative paths align.
“We’re always working together from Day 1, so that we can create a really cohesive world that can reflect the world of the play effectively,” Tesia explains.
For the Starcatcher stage and sets, Aaron started with 30 to 40 sketches based on research on late-19th-century vaudeville theaters and ships, the latter of which is where Peter’s saga begins. Conversations with Tesia yielded plugs of island grasses, a cleaner alternative to their original idea of spreading sand.
“The brainstorming about the sets usually sets me down the path [to make] the right costume choices,” she says. In this case, the vaudeville theaters inspired the turbans, bras and fabric-and-fan tails for the island mermaids.
Their feedback helps sharpen each other. She listened when he reassured her the grass skirts for the Mollusks weren’t too stereotypical. He complied when she pushed him to add curved lines to the ship deck set with trap doors and pockets that conceal yards of flowing blue silk to mimic ocean waves.
“Tesia is always really great at going, ‘It can always be more visually interesting,’ ” he says.
Ironically, the couple doesn’t share a taste in plays. Aaron likes shows that accommodate realistic sets with an artistic flair, while Tesia prefers pieces that allow her to turn the stage into a runway. But it doesn’t cause clashes when they collaborate — the script determines sets and costumes.
Tesia remembers advising Aaron on a space he was designing for Cleveland Public Theatre’s 2013 Pandemonium fundraiser. She opined that it wasn’t flashy enough for the Shine-themed event and recommended adorning the painted cardboard walls with sparkly fabric. Aaron agreed.
“If a show needs to be exciting and glitzy and glamour-y,” he says, “then you pull out the glitter and you go for it!”
