▲ Emma Cousins, Team Lead
▲ Jennafer Beck, Head of Props
at Holland College, Beck says, “I learned how to do everything onstage before I learned about everything backstage.” She started at the Centre in the 2022 season and has since become something of an amateur historian, following in the footsteps of her predecessors who kept about 400 posters and other “tidbits of history” from previous productions. Beck keeps posters from current shows and hopes to mount an exhibition of the entire collection one day. She also holds onto other items of historic value, like a
hat signed by Stompin’ Tom Connors.
costumes but also works during the show, helping performers get ready for the stage, assisting with quick changes and doing emergency repairs. Born and raised in Bonshaw, she started sewing at the age of five. She would later study at Seneca College and UPEI but notes that her real training came on the job. “I had such great mentors,” she says, “especially Werner Russold who taught me to tailor and cut, and Doreen MacInnis, who showed me how to work in the black of backstage.”
As she marks 54 years with the Centre, she has no plans to retire. “When I can no longer climb the stairs on the set of Anne, I will take my scissors and go home.”
“Keeping track of the health of a prop during a run can be a challenge,” she notes. “But making that theatre magic happen is the biggest reward.” Karyn MacPhee was just 17 when she walked into the Centre’s wardrobe department for the first time. “At that moment, I fell deeply and passionately in love,” she notes. As a wardrobe technician, she uses her expertise as a cutter and tailor to make
CONFEDERATION CENTRE OF THE ARTS 145 Richmond Street, Charlottetown 902.566.1267 info@confederationcentre.com www.confederationcentre.com
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