A Life in the Theatre

1
A Life in the Theatre

• Dawn Bassett
• LIBR 500
• mrnmrsno_at_telus.net

2

• Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very
  high-class way to earn a living.
• After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age
  of four.

- Katharine Hepburn -
3
Act 1 Scene 1 Well, if Shirley can do it, so can
I!
The curtain rises

• The lights come up on a living room centre
  stage. A child stands on a small coffee table
  and belts out an adorable version of The Good
  Ship Lollypop. Her captive parents ooh and ahh at
  appropriate
• intervals.

4

• All the world's a stage,And all the men and
  women merely players.They have their exits and
  their entrances,And one man in his time plays
  many parts,His acts being seven ages.

- William Shakespeare, As You Like It -
5
Act 1 Scene 2 Blame it on the Bard
Me
The Curtain Rises

• Lights come up centre stage. A girl dressed in a
  cape is on one on one knee.
• Girl - Yet for the love I bear my sweet Bianca

I was introduced to Shakespeare by my Grade 5
teacher. I was Gremio, suitor to Bianca in The
Taming on the Shrew.
6

• No matter how well you perform there's always
  somebody of intelligent opinion who thinks it's
  lousy.

- Lawrence Olivier -
7
Act 1 Scene 3Acting Schmacting

• The Curtain Rises

Several pools of light come up on different areas
of the stage. Into each one steps a young woman
Angel Square, a musical based on Brian Doyles
book of the same name was my first part in a
community theatre show and boy did I think I had
hit the big time. Yes thats a 16 year old me
on the left as a blonde and up above in the
middle. My characters name? Fleurette
Featherstone Fitchell.
Angel Square Chilliwack Players Guild
8
Act 1 Scene 3 ContActing Schmacting
Noises Off Chilliwack Players Guild
Ironically, my next part was as Poppy Norton
Taylor in Michael Frayns Noises Off. In fact, I
enjoyed this part so much, I decided to become a
stage manager for real. I applied for and was
accepted to Studio 58s production program. In
January of 1980 I was off to the big city.
Lights Out
9
Intermission

• Most memorable theatre moments
• Any time I have been able to direct
• Last play directed Stop Kiss 2002 (Assistant
  director)
• Having my husband propose to me in front of the
  cast, crew and 150 audience members at Tony n
  Tinas Wedding
• Chardonnays Restaurant
• Getting married in the same place we were engaged
• Also Chardonnays Restaurant
• Acting again after fifteen years working
  backstage
• Tabula Rasa (2001)

10

• There are two kinds of directors in the theater.
  Those who think they are God and those who are
  certain of it.

- Rhetta Hughes -
11
Act 2 Scene 1Of Gods and Costumes
The curtain rises

• Lights come up centre stage. A young woman sits
  at the sewing machine.
• Suddenly the machine grinds to a halt
• Girl Damn It!

After graduating from Studio 58 in 1990 with a
Diploma in Stage Management, I decided to get a
BA in English literature and an extended minor in
theatre at SFU. Through the theatre program I
designed, stage managed, worked the box office
and directed. Between graduating in 1997 and
joining SLAIS most of my theatre work has been
costume design. Some of this work is highlighted
in the movie above.
12

• We need a type of theatre which not only releases
  the feelings, insights and impulses possible
  within the particular historical field of human
  relations in which the action takes place, but
  employs and encourages those thoughts and
  feelings which help transform the field itself

- Bertolt Brecht -
13
Act 2 Scene 3And then?
The lights come up on a woman sitting at a desk
surrounded by a desk lamp,books, a computer, and
lots of paper
I have learned much from my life in the theatre
and I know that no matter where I am, my
enthusiasm for the stage will always be a big
part of my life.
Lights Out
14
End
The
My Life in the Stacks