Arts.

Have an idea for a story or review? Contact the editor at arts@theotherpress.ca

 

Douglas Profile: Courtney Schroeder (Costume)

By Elliot Chan, Staff Writer

eing a costume head for a

theatre production might
sound like a girl’s dream job:
a full-time gig shopping and
dressing beautiful actors. But
Courtney Schroeder knows that
a day out looking for shoes,
cardigans, and tops could be
absolutely strenuous.

“T felt like it was all on me
to find these items,” she said. “If
I don’t find it I feel horrible, as if
I’m letting the designer down.”
Having an opportunity to work
with professional production
designer, Charlotte Burke, was
a great privilege and the idea
of disappointing her almost
brought Schroeder to tears. “I
found one of the three,” she
brightened up, “shoes. I was so
happy.”

“It sounded easy,” she
smiled, admitting what she
first thought of stagecraft in
Grade 10. “At least that was
what I heard.” Ever since
assisting stage-management
in a high school performance
of Grease, she grew attached to
the work behind the scenes. In
Blue Window, Schroeder was
in charge of the cast’s modern
attire. But she aims to challenge
herself in the future: “J really
like Once Upon a Time,” her face
lights up. “It goes from modern

to fairytale. To work on a show
with such different costumes
and sets... itll be so much fun.”

Schroeder is driven by
enjoyment, but there are
moments where costume design
is not as easy as her grade 10 self
would have hoped. “Everything
has to be ready,” she states as if
some holy testament. “You make
sure everything is ready.” God
forbid anything rips. “Hopefully
that won't happen.” The key
to producing quality work in
the department is being time
efficient, and Schroeder knows
that if she doesn’t meet her
deadlines, the actors might not
be naked, but the show will lose
a lot of substance.

When show time
approaches and everything
is prepared, she will go into
damage control. Sometimes the
job can be as simple as doing
laundry. Other times it can be
replacing buttons and stitching
up seams. The preparation
requires her to arrive hours
before the show starts, especially
if a piece of clothing requires
hang drying.

Before being enrolled in the
stagecraft and event program
at Douglas, she had little idea
of all the live performances
taking place in the city. Now,
she makes attending shows a
routine, always being aware of
the costume choices on stage.

Pearls of wisdom

Pearls 32’ is now
available at Douglas
College bookstore

By Livia Turnbull,
Humour Editor

pring is here and that means

another edition of Pearls,
the Douglas College student
anthology, is due to hit the
shelves. To celebrate their 32nd
anthology, Douglas College
hosted a Pearls book launch
on Friday, March 22. We spoke
with Calvin Wharton, organizer
behind the book launch, to find
out what to expect from this
anthology.

“Pearls 32 is our largest-

ever issue of the anthology,”
said Wharton in an interview

6

 

with The Other Press. “Tt's
packed with great Douglas
College student writing, as
usual. I always love the range
and variety of work we get to
publish.”

The annual Pearls book

Schroeder understands that
it takes a certain amount of
discipline to create and find
costumes. She offers some

launch helps showcase some
Douglas’ best and brightest
creative writers. Students from
nearly every creative writing
course were selected to read
their work. Anna Heffelfinger
read her children’s story, “Watch
Out for the Crocodiles,” while
Matthew Visser read his poem
called “Rain.” As dozens of
guests were packed inside the
Studio Theatre, the small room
swelled with emotion.

“The annual Pearls launch
is always an energetic, exciting
event. And rightly so. The
students have worked hard and
now get to showcase some of
the results of that hard work
with the book and the student
readings,” said Wharton.

Former radio personality
Janice Ungaro helped capture
some that energy and excitement
with her own personal recount
of her experiences as a morning

s
Ed :
te
i
:y

WT

 

Courtney Schroeder | Photo couretsy of Elliot Chan

advice from her own personal
experience, “Don’t freak out.”
Following instructions and

keeping calm are not the only

radio host sleeping in Vancouver
Eaton’s store for charity in
“Dog and Pony Show.”
However, the most exciting part
of that evening was finding out
the winner and runner-up of
the Maurice Hodgson Creative
Writing Award of Distinction.
Maurice Hodgson is
considered to be one of the
godfathers of creative writing
at Douglas College. Without
Hodgson, the creative writing
program would not exist.
Hodgson also helped found the
literary magazine Event and
the student anthology, Pearls.
When Hodgson died after
serving the college for 20 years,
the Maurice Hodgson Creative
Writing Award of Distinction
was created in honour of his
achievements. This year’s
runner-up was Tiffany John,
who received a certificate and a
cheque for $500. The winner of

things that help you make
beautiful costumes, but it'll help
you look good while doing it.

the award itself was Stephanie
Toth, who received a certificate
and a cheque for $1,000.

For many people who are
published in Pearls, their writing
career is just beginning. “Many
of the writers published in
Pearls will go on either continue
studying creative writing or to
work on their writing outside
of writing program. We believe
that studying writing from
the perspective of a writer
can enrich anyone’s life and
academic career,” said Wharton.

For those students who
wish to appear in Pearls 33,
Wharton offers a piece of advice:
“Students who would like to see
their work published in Pearls
or anywhere else need to read
widely and carefully. And, of
course, to write a lot. Writing
is a process that takes time and
skill.”