What is your role in The Women? I am a member of the ensemble. I have four roles. I play Euphie, the maid at the Spa, a shop assistant and fitter at the dressmaker’s store and the dowager whose granddaughter has gotten drunk. My biggest role is that of Maggie, Mary’s relatively new maid. She is a plain cook, chosen because Mary is worried about her husband’s diet. Maggie is in a precarious position as a result of the possible break-up of the marriage of her employers. She will be let go and will need to find another place of employment. Despite her anxiety, she is down-to-earth and pragmatic. She is well aware of her position in life and takes a working-class view of the people she works for. She will be okay, I’m sure.
What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? I have a B.Ed. in English and Drama from The University of Alberta and worked as a Junior High Drama teacher for some years for Edmonton Public Schools. After retiring, I went back to theatre school and was fortunate to be chosen to perform in A Christmas Carol at the Citadel Theatre for 12 seasons. I played Auntie Norma in Death Comes to Auntie Norma at the Walterdale and at the Edmonton Fringe. I was privileged to play Emily in The Sunset Syndrome again at the Walterdale and the Edmonton Fringe.
What brought you out for The Women? Catherine Wenschlag had directed me twice and I was interested in trying out for The Women when she told me she was directing it.
What do you think audiences will take away from the show? I hope that the audience is entertained, first of all. The set and costumes are phenomenal so it is visually appealing. The story is set in the 1930s but the themes are timeless: Women as friends, women as underhanded enemies, privileged women with no consideration for the lives of their servants, and women dependent on men for their well-being and security.
What is the most challenging obstacle that you think women have overcome in the last century? How much space do I have? Seriously….. Last century, gaining the vote was the most significant step forward towards independence. The two major wars taught the world that women were no longer always to be slotted into domestic and subservient positions and could function as well as, or sometimes better than, men. We still have a long way to go. When I read the hateful comments aimed at women on social media, I sometimes despair. The most important issue in my mind today is the education of our children—especially our boys—about respect. All over the world, our daughters need to know that they have control over their bodies and minds. All over the world, our boys need to know that they do not have control over the minds and bodies of girls. Until there is true equality, there is no peace.