HomeMy WebLinkAboutSetting The Stage, 1998-06-24, Page 36Sharon Bakker: Award-winning
actress returns to Blyth.
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PAGE 12. SETTING THE STAGE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1998.
Sharon Bakker plays women beyond her years
By Allison Lawlor
Sharon Bakker is still ecstatic
about the Elizabeth Sterling
Haynes award (equivalent to
the Dora Award in Toronto) she
won last year for her performance
of Hagar Shipley in. The Stone
Angel. Not only does she like the
character of Hagar, but Margaret
Laurence is one of her favorite
writers.
"It was great to play a 90-year-
old woman looking back on her
life, all the way to the time she was
skipping rope."
Last year Sharon appeared as
Hannah in Quiet in the Land and as
Nellie in There's Nothing in the
Paper.
This year she will be appearing
in Yesteryear and Thirteen Hands.
In Yesteryear she plays the full-
bodied, older woman, Emma Day.
Grace Correia: Finding the
bucks a year-round job.
Grace Correia works throughout
the year raising money for the
"Recently I've been playing
women older than myself. It's not
Surprising, I played grandmothers
in high school."
Sharon has been acting since she
can remember. Growing up on a
farm outside of Saskatoon
she said she was a bit of an
oddball.
"When I was growing up I
was always acting. I took
part in all the high school
theatre productions."
She left her parents' farm
when she was 18 and went to
study theatre at the
University of Saskatchewan.
She quit school early to
found the 25th Street Theatre
Company. In 1979, she
ended up in Blyth when the
company went on a national
tour with their production of
Blyth Festival.
Two years ago she left Montreal
and a job in fundraising at McGill
University to come to Blyth. While
moving from a big city to a small
town was a big adjustment, she said
she doesn't regret it.
"I like the fact that I am the only
one doing my job here. It gives me
a lot of variety so I don't get
bored."
Grace plays an important role in
the running of the Blyth Festival.
Because the actual ticket sales
cover only a fraction of the theatre
costs, it is Grace's responsibility to
find different ways to come up with
the rest of the money needed.
She has until October to raise
$160,000 and another $38,000 from
the special events campaign. These
numbers don't seem to worry
Paper Wheat.
Although Sharon has travelled
extensively over the years she says
the prairies are home to her. She
hopes to travel overseas next to see
what is going on in theatre in the
Grace. She is confident in the
festival and its supporters.
"A lot of people believe in the
theatre. In 1993, when the festival
was in a difficult financial state
people came to the rescue."
The festival seems to be out of
financial trouble now, said Grace.
She found her way into public
relations and fundraising because
she likes working with people.
At one time, Grace thought she
would be a translator. Born in
Portugal her family later moved to
Hamilton, Ont. where she studied
French at McMaster University.
After graduating from McMaster
in 1990, she moved to Montreal in
order to practice speaking French.
She worked for a while as a
translator but found the work
lonely.
rest of the world.
Sharon is committed to fighting
the changing, global economy that
threatens to wipe out Canadian
culture. She believes one way
actors can do that is to stand up
and start expressing themselves
boldly through new works that
challenge convention.
It becomes obvious when talking
to Sharon that she has spent a lot
of time thinking about the
changing face of Canadian theatre.
"I've seen a big improvement in
Canadian theatre in a little over 50
years. It's theatre that has been
built on people's visions, dreams
and obstinacy and it all happens in
places like Blyth where actors and
artisans are nurtured."
Sharon continues to perform not
only in live theatre but in film,
television and CBC radio
productions.
"I was just made to do theatre
and discovered that early on. It's a
gift and I'm always aware that I
have to give something back."
Grace Correia helps pay the bills
jamod NMI
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