HomeMy WebLinkAboutSetting The Stage, 1998-06-24, Page 47SETTING THE STAGE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1998. PAGE 23.
As well as stages, Shawn does windows
By Allison Lawlor
W hen Shawn Kerwin first
came to the Blyth
Festival back in 1977,
the facilities were primitive
compared to what they are today.
"The facility was miniscule. The
room we used for the wardrobe
hadn't been used since the 1940s.
There were no dressing rooms and
people were living in old
abandoned farmhouses."
All that has changed. The
theatre has expanded and so have
the facilities. "People like to come
to work here partly because of the
facilities," Shawn said.
Shawn is glad to be back at the
Blyth Festival for her sixth season.
This summer she will be designing
the set and costumes for Thirteen
Hands by Carol Shields.
The play covers a 40-year span.
Throughout the play characters
experience flashbacks and grow
old. To cope with these changes,
Shawn said a lot of things in the
play will be suggested rather than
literal. For instance, she will try to
create the past and present
simultaneously through a
combination of lighting, clothing
and how the audience sees the
actors.
One technique designers use to
Threatre and others.
Her most recent job was in
Stratford this spring where she
worked as a rehearsal assistant
stage manager. One of the shows
she worked on was Julius Caesar
which had a cast of 32.
give the audience a sense of
distance from the actor, is to have
the actor behind a screen.
Thirteen Hands takes place
around a card table. While it is a
simple set, Shawn said this is
sometimes harder to create.
Shawn believes the two most
important things in designing for
the theatre, are having an
interesting play to work with and a
good relationship with the director.
The first thing Shawn does when
she begins a job is to read the
script thoroughly. When she is
reading she tries to hear the
writer's voice and the qualities that
the writer brings to the play. These
qualities she said, give her a clue
to the emotional texture of the
play.
Next she looks at the characters
to get a sense of who they are. She
tries to figure out, where they live,
what they do, how old they are,
what their income is, what
psychological state they are in.
Finally she looks at the action in
the play. Do the actors make a lot
of entrances and exits? Is there a
lot of energy on stage like
slamming doors and objects? If
there is then the props will have to
be structurally sound. If the set
doesn't have doors then Shawn has
to decide how the actors will make
their entrances and exits. All these
questions must be answered before
Shawn can begin sketching her
designs.
Shawn started out in theatre
because she doesn't like to sew:As
a teenager she made and sold
clothes. She decided that
designing would suit her better
than sewing.
After finishing high school in
Burlington, Ont. she ran off to
England to study theatre. She
apprenticed with the English
National Opera and then decided to
go to New York City. In New
York she apprenticed with the
Metropolitan Opera Company.
"My own training was not
conventional," she said. "I found
really smart people to teach me."
Since then she has worked in
Canadian theatres, including three
seasons at Stratford and has taught
in universities across the country.
"Sometimes I find it ironic that I
am teaching, because I don't have
a formal education," she said.
In addition to teaching and
designing for the theatre Shawn
designed shop windows for
Tiffany and Co. in Toronto for
seven years.
"It was like creating little plays
in windows. It wasn't about
advertising and merchandise but
about making interesting
installations."
Shawn lives in Toronto where
she also works for smaller theatres
like Factory Theatre.
Shawn Kerwin: She's seen the
Festival grow and change.
Stage manager the link
between the production and
artistic sides of theatre
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Maria Costa: Lots of variety in
stage management.
Growing up in London, Blyth
was never too far from
home for Maria Costa.
Maria is back at the Blyth
Festival for her fourth season. This
year she is the stage manager for
Wilbur County Blues by Andrew
Moodie and Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! by
Keith Roulston.
Maria came to the Blyth Festival
in 1991, as an apprentice and then
worked as an assistant stage
manager. Last year she stage
managed Booze Days in a Dry
County and The Melville Boys.
"The neat thing about this place is
that there is a lot of change and
variety," she said.
Maria is asked to do a lot of
different tasks in her job. Most of
her experience has been with small
theatre where the budgets are
smaller and the workload is
generally heavier.
"One of my main jobs is to
support the actors. Whether that be
by making sure they have their
props or by giving them emotional
support so they can go out on stage
and do their job."
Maria graduated from a technical
training program at Sheridan
College in 1990. At school she
studied how to do lighting, sound
and build props. Maria is glad she
understands the production process
but said she prefers stage
management.
"I like being the link between the
practical elements and the director
and actors."
When talking about her job as
stage manager she stressed her role
of carrying out the director's vision.
When the show opens the director
leaves, the stage manager is
"trusted to maintain what the
director wants."
Since graduating from college,
Maria has been working as a
freelance stage manager for Young
People's Theatre, The Canadian
Stage, Theatre New Brunswick,
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