Movin’ on up. That’s what Robin Smasne, senior lecturer of theatre and head of the Harper Joy Theatre costume department has been doing. Three years ago Smasne and her department moved from the dark, cold basement of Harper Joy up to the second floor.

“I was thrilled,” said Smasne about the call she got informing her that her department would be relocated to the second floor of Harper Joy. “I never expected it. It was not part of the original renovation plan.”

That isn’t just hyperbole either. Smasne and her crew used to occupy a dungeon in the bottom of the theatre. The demanding, time-consuming work of creating the costumes for several plays a year in such a dreary space was the bane of Smasne’s first seven years at Whitman. It’s now been three years working with her department in a room on par with professional costume studios, where she has wonderful views of the campus.

This new second-floor space has made all the difference for the costume crew. Assembling the wardrobe for a theatre production takes months of painstaking labor. Workdays can go for hours, especially closer to the premiere. Even with so much time, work can still come down to the last minute, adding extra stress. For Smasne’s cohort, the new headquarters has made a long, painstaking process infinitely more enjoyable, and it shows.

The new costumes for “Tartuffe” were especially masterful. These lively, unique and functional getups were difficult for the costume department because “Tartuffe” is a comical, energetic play. Actors needed to look both historically accurate in 17th-century garb and still have a full range of bodily motion.

“Not many theater companies design and create their costumes from scratch,” said Costume Assistant and first-year Rebecca Gordon. “This program gives Whitman shows a truly professional aspect to the theater department.”

To create such intricate costumes, the workroom can often be filled with pressure and stress. Fun, however, is still of the utmost importance to the costume department. Junior Natalie Shaw, one of the crew’s most senior members, described the atmosphere.

“We listen to music and we can talk. Robin doesn’t mind if we chat as long as it doesn’t impact our productivity,” she said.

While Smasne and her assistants thoroughly enjoy the costume process, the real reward is seeing their hard work in motion. A play like “Tartuffe” is heavily dependent on its costumes and their aesthetics in order to make the proper mood for a play. Gordon was confident that her coworkers and Smasne accomplished their goal.

“The costumes were extremely detailed, elegant and elaborate,” she said. “They look stunning on stage and were a lot of fun to create.”