There’s something poetic about directing a story like The Giver with themes of memory inside a building that holds so much of its own.
At Gaslight-Baker Theatre (a historic 1920 venue in the heart of Lockhart, TX) every production feels like a conversation between past and present for me. The theatre itself began as a movie house in 1920 before evolving into the live community theatre stage it is today. That layered history makes it the perfect home for The Giver, (Lois Lowry, April 29, 1993) a story obsessed with what we choose to remember and what we choose to erase.
And for me, directing this show became something deeply personal: a collision of my love of theatre, fashion, and dystopian storytelling, marrying my current WIP (works in progress) novels.
Dystopia Through a Vintage Lens
Most productions of The Giver lean into sterile minimalism—clean lines, blank spaces, emotionless costuming, jumpsuits, or soft granola-like clothing. I didn’t want that. Instead, I asked: What if this “perfect” society borrowed its aesthetic from a past that already valued conformity? That question led me straight to the 1950s.
There’s something haunting about mid-century Americana, the crisp silhouettes, the polite smiles, the rigid expectations. It’s beautiful…but controlled. Ordered. Restrained. In other words: eerily compatible with the world of The Giver.
So I infused the production with what I call “1950s Fallout vibes.”
- Shades of gray instead of solid gray
- Structured dresses and tidy uniforms
- A world that looks nostalgic, but feels quietly oppressive
- Geometric design that at first feels structured, but then you notice how everything is slanted and slightly off-kilter.
The goal was to create a visual language where the audience recognizes comfort… and then slowly realizes the cost of it.
Fashion as Storytelling
Fashion has always been part of how I understand character and I cannot write a book or direct a play with paying special attention to fashion, infusing vintage wherever I can.
Not just what people wear—but why they wear it, and what that says about power, identity, and control.
In this production of The Giver play, costume became a storytelling device. My costumer Jill Kammerdiener looked at my inspo boards and understood the assignment:
- Sameness was tailored, not blank
- Costumes hinted at careers and character
- Small variations became acts of rebellion
- Some skirts, necklines and button rows were asymmetric
- Pant hems slanted
- Piping added harsh lines and definition
Why Dystopia + History Is My Creative Home
I’ve always lived at the intersection of two genres:
- Dystopian literature, where systems control identity
- Historical fiction, where society defines it
At first glance, they seem opposite—but they’re not. Both ask the same question: Who gets to decide who you are? That question doesn’t just live in The Giver, it’s the heartbeat of the stories I’m writing now. Projects that blend vintage aesthetics with speculative worlds.
In The Luminous Glow series and Engendered (working titles), you’ll see that love of retro style and storytelling collide. And through Gaslight Baker Theatre, I got to bring those ideas to life in a completely different medium: live, immediate, and shared with a community visually through fashion, set design, sound design (Dave Francis the Drum Doctor) and projections (Tim Peterson).
Directing as Translation
Directing The Giver wasn’t just about staging a play. It was about translating:
- A novel into movement
- A concept into imagery
- A warning into something you can feel
And for me, the key was aesthetic. Because audiences don’t just hear a story. They see it. Wear it. Recognize it. When someone in the audience looks at a costume and thinks, “That’s beautiful… but something’s off,” that’s when the story is working.
Memory, Identity, and the Stories We Choose
In the end, The Giver asks us to confront a terrifying idea:
What if a perfect world requires you to give up the very things that make you human? And maybe that’s why I couldn’t resist layering it with vintage beauty, because history has already shown us how easily elegance and control can coexist and how many people in American right now are trying to control the population with the idea of past perfection.
This production became my way of holding both truths at once:
- The past is beautiful
- The past is dangerous
- And sometimes… the future borrows from both
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Have you read The Giver or the companion book: Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son? Seen the movie (which is VERY far away from the book and stage play). What are some of your fave dystopian reads? Do you have thoughts about my vintage-fying The Giver? What do you think of vintage vibes in dystopian?
Tam Francis is a writer, blogger, swing dance teacher, avid vintage collector, and seamstress. She shares her love of this genre through her novels, blog, and short stories. She enjoys hearing from you, sharing ideas, forging friendships, and exchanging guest blogs. For all the Girl in the Jitterbug Dress news, give-aways, events, and excitement, make sure to join her list and like her FB page! Join my list ~ Facebook page
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