The Citizen-Blyth Festival, 1999-06-23, Page 28PAGE 8. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23. 1999
Shawn Kerwin has the recipe for good designs
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen stuff
When Shawn Kerwin designs for
Blyth Festival it's a lot like baking
bread.
"You have all the ideas before
you. mix them together, let them
rise then put them itiThe Garage to
cook. And hopefully your instincts
were right.”
The challenge of creating the
visual magic for the silver
anniversary season opener That
Summer, a coming of age story
written by David French, is the
freshness of the production. "It's a
new play, so it's in the process of
being revised,” says Kerwin, who
is in her seventh season at Blyth.
She explains that with the
characters being in the
development process the designer
must retain a degree of flexibility
to accommodate change.
“Personalities, everything are still
tentative, but you have to produce.
Ideally you have to see what the
important things are, what will
change as opposed to what may
change.”
Kerwin is no stranger to the
demands. She designed her first
show at Blyth in 1977, a time
when resources limited the scope
of the productions. With its
increasing sophistication, the
expectations for the Festival are
now higher which presents a
different challenge than in the days
when she had to brave mosquito
bites to paint her own sets on the
theatre lawn, Kerwin said. “We are
capable of doing more. For
instance the set we’re building for
this play (which Kerwin describes
as unrealistic) couldn’t have been
done in 1977.”
With the story switching from
the 1990s to the 1950s costuming
has been a little difficult. “The
retro stores all have ’70s clothes
now, so it’s a bit of a challenge,
but then it always is.”
Shawn Kerwin, who
has designed the set
for That Summer, has
been creating magic on
stage at Blyth since
1977, This year she
was named honorary
always fun. “The big thing is
whether you got it right, which you
never really know until the
performance. It’s always a
challenge because everything you
do is so speculative.”
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That Summer
By David French
A good script and good director
can make the job easier, however.
French, the renowned Canadian
author of the classics Jitters and
Saltwater Moon has penned an
engaging tale of summer love
revisited, which in this time when
people seem to be looking at
simpler eras promises to be a sure
hit.
“I have never worked with David
so that’s exciting,” says Kerwin.
“While I love working with
familiar people, it’s always
wonderful to meet new people.”
Conversely, Kerwin has worked
many times with director Bill
Glassco, who has called the shots
on all of French’s plays. “The
ideas are always given to the
director and with someone new
sometimes you just have to throw
everything out to them and see
what they think. With Bill, he’s
familiar with my work and I think
he liked what I put before him.”
That what she tends to put forth
is appreciated was demonstrated
this year, when she was named the
Festival’s honorary artist along
with Jerry Franken. “I guess they
figure anyone who remembers
what the theatre was like 22 years
ago should have some kind of
title,” she says humbly. “I’m really
not used to it yet, but it was very
flattering.”
Despite the appointment, the
busy Kerwin will not be dawdling
in Blyth once her work is
complete. After Summer's opening
it will be on to Toronto where she
will design for a Shakespearean
play being produced in Oakville.
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the magic of creating something
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