Sisters working the streets reach out to find an escape
Watermark Theatre’s summer interns have started work, a mix of young theatre professionals from P.E.I., and some from farther afield.
This is the third year of the North Rustico theatre’s mentorship program, which welcomes current theatre students and recent graduates to train backstage all summer.
This year’s interns are Gillian Gallivan (stage management), Rachel Farmer (wardrobe), Sarah Jewell (scenic art and props), Rachel Leibovitz (carpentry and technical) and Madeleine Socha (arts administration).
Gallivan was raised on P.E.I. and has been an active member of the community theatre scene from a young age. She attended Holland College’s School of Performing Arts, graduating with a theatre performance diploma in 2017. She hopes to get some hands-on experience before moving in the fall to Vancouver, where she will be studying stagecraft and event technology at Douglas College in New Westminster.
Farmer, born and raised in Charlottetown, has loved the theatre, especially costumes, since she was little. Deciding to pursue that love, she is now going into her third year in the costume studies program at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Having been away for most of the year, Farmer is excited to be back on P.E.I. and thrilled to be working at the Watermark as the Wardrobe intern.
Jewell, from Teviotdale, Ont., graduated from the theatre arts production program at Laurentian University after completing two years at Cambrian College. She has worked on Thorneloe Productions over the past couple of years including “Memories of Water,” “The Dead Mess Project,” “Drag Queens on Trial,” “Blood Relations” and “Turmspitze.”
Leibovitz is from Ottawa and spent three years after high school working miscellaneous jobs before deciding on a theatre program at Acadia University. She is entering her final year and has worked on various crews, having had the opportunity to play a lead, work as dramaturg and as set crew head. Seeking more challenging experiences, Leibovitz is excited to be at Watermark and to experience the charm of the Island.
Socha, currently working on a certificate for arts administration from Humber College, is working at Watermark as part of a co-op to complete the program. She is from Toronto and hopes to continue working in theatres as an arts administrator.
I’m 19 and my sister is 16. We have been working as prostitutes here in our state and in several nearby ones. We know we need help, but we are afraid to ask for it. Hotlines and trafficking programs have called the police on friends of ours who reached out for help. How can we get help without being forced to testify against my boyfriend and our other friends? – TERI
DEAR TERI: I’m glad you wrote because there is help for you. Contact an organization called Children of the Night. It has helped thousands of young people like you and your sister. Its toll-free phone number is (800) 551-1300, ext. 0, and it is staffed 24/7.
Children of the Night is privately funded and does not call the police on sex-trafficking victims. Once away from “the life,” you and your sister will be able to study for your high school diploma online by emailing wow@childrenofthenight. org. If you would like more information, please visit www.childrenofthenight.org and see for yourself. I wish you luck and an easy escape from “the life.” You and your sister are in my thoughts and prayers.
I have a dilemma, and I need to know who’s right. My boyfriend of 2 1/2 years wants me to move into his apartment, but he says I can’t live there for free. He wants me to pay half the rent, cable, water and electric bills. I’m OK with the cable, water and electric. But I say the rent is the same whether I’m there or not, and I don’t think I should have to pay rent on HIS place. It would be different if we were married. What do you think? Who’s right? – MAYBE MOVING IN
DEAR MAYBE: You are an independent young woman living in the 21st century, and as such, you should carry your share. That the two of you are not married is