What is your role on this production? I’m the stage manager, which means I help the director by wrangling actors, helping with lines, and lots of other things to numerous to mention. During the run of the show, I’m in the booth, making sure the lights and sound are seen and heard!
What is your background in theatre? With Walterdale? I’m a graduate of Keyano College with a diploma in Visual & Performing Arts. I acted onstage in quite a few shows, such as Narnia, The Odd Couple (the female version), Damn Yankees, Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and Les Belles Soeurs before moving to Edmonton in 2012.
I started with Walterdale in 2012 when I was asked to assistant stage manage The Weir. I’ve since started stage managing and have been the SM for Starless, Jeffrey, Magpies, Jesus Master Builder, and W;t all here at Walterdale. I’ve since stage managed Gossamer Feast and Fag Hag Fandango by Gerald Osborn for 2016’s Stage Struck! I also been lucky to SM Death Comes to Auntie Norma at the 2015 Fringe and Jesus Master Builder at the 2016 Fringe. You’ll be seeing me in the booth again later in the year for Othello.
What brought you out for this show? Bethany and I have wanted to do something together ever since we met during the production of W;t and I was honoured when she called and asked me to stage manage for Red. I jumped at the chance and it was an extra added bonus to be alongside Sarah Van Tassel again.
This play is extremely in-depth, not just about the lives of two painters who are opposites, but how art affects our lives in different ways. It was fascinating moving through the different art periods and what really caused the demise of some and the rise of others.
What is the most challenging thing about working on this show? The most fun/enjoyable thing? The most challenging thing for me has been how sick I’ve been! I’ve had to miss quite a few rehearsals due to bronchitis, but I’m on the mend and ready to get back on my feet.
The most enjoyable for me was walking in one day and seeing the set. It’s just…amazing doesn’t seem the right word. It made me breathless (not because of the bronchitis) because it seemed so…intimate. I forgot it was a set and it looked like an artist’s space where paintings and art came to life.
Art plays a big role in this show. Who is your favorite artist and why? Favorite painting/sculpture? Do you have a picture? I really adore Georges Suerat, who painted A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The painting is made entirely of dots that blend together to form figures and shapes; the colours blend together optically to show you the scene and that just knocks my socks right off.
I’m also big into Banksy, the English-based graffiti artist who’s extremely cheeky. I enjoy how he uses dark humour to make political and social statements. He’s all over London and England and no one knows who he is. It’s amazing.
