◄ (FAR LEFT) Alanna Jankov, CEO and Geordie Brown, artistic director open the doors of The Guild during a special PEI Pride Festival event in July. ◄ Stephane Hood performs in Tapestry: A Tribute to Carole King . A Guild Production. Photo by Patricia Bourque. ▼ Charlotte Moore, Geordie Brown & Brieonna Locche perform in Singalong Jubilee - A Musical Tribute . A Guild Production. Costume design by Michelle Bohn. Photo by Patricia Bourque. ▼ ( INSERT ) Ava & Lily with Vince the Messenger backstage at The Guild. Photo by Patricia Bourque
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
THE GUILD: A YEAR IN REVIEW
W “We were so fortunate this past summer to welcome the community back into this space after a very challenging year-and-a-half,” says Alanna Jankov, The Guild’s CEO. “When planning for this summer, we weren’t sure what to expect, as the pandemic has truly devastated the arts industry across the world. However, Prince Edward Island and Atlantic Canada showed us that they were ready to get back to live performances and to get back to supporting our arts community.” One of the most exciting parts of the 2021 summer festival was landing Geordie Brown as The Guild’s first ever artistic director who orchestrated three series of programming, including the Mainstage Series, which represents The Guild’s first-ever full season of w
professional theatre produced 100 per cent in-house.
More than a year after COVID-19 forced the
“It was an ambitious season, and I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone better,” says Brown. “We had an incredible response to all three of our main stage series productions.” The Mainstage Series productions included Pleasureville , a new Canadian comedy that explored friendship, love, activism, sexuality, and gender identity; Singalong Jubilee - A Musical Tribute , celebrating the television phenomenon that launched East Coast music in the 60s and 70s; and Tapestry: A Tribute to Carole King , celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legendary album. According to Brown, the entire run of Tapestry sold out before the opening performance, which caused them
performing arts in PEI to take an abrupt curtain call, the summer finally brought some good news to The Guild, Charlottetown’s theatre mainstay: the show was able to go on.
By Brianne Hogan Photos Patricia Bourque
108
www.pei-living.ca FALL 2021/WINTER 2022
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker