Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SET DRESSING CURTAINS

Date Range From

2016

Date Range To

2020

Materials

COTTON, POLYESTER

No. Pieces

2

Length

240.0

Width

140.0

Description

A. RED CURTAIN WITH GOLD ORNATE DESIGN. SOLID RED OVER-DRAPERY AT TOP MIDDLE OF CURTAIN, WITH A SECOND LAYER OF RED CURTAIN WITH GOLD ORNATE DESIGN AT CORNERS WITH RED TASSELS ALONG EDGE. TAG ON BACK OF CURTAIN READS, “100% POLYESTER... RN#102223… CHINA.” CURTAIN IS WRINKLED THROUGHOUT, LOOSE THREAD ALONG SEAM, TASSELS ARE FRIZZY, SOME LOOSE TASSELS. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 240.0cm LTH x 140.0cm WTH B. RED CURTAIN WITH GOLD ORNATE DESIGN. SOLID RED OVER-DRAPERY AT TOP MIDDLE OF CURTAIN, WITH A SECOND LAYER OF RED CURTAIN WITH GOLD ORNATE DESIGN AT CORNERS WITH RED TASSELS ALONG EDGE. TAG ON BACK OF CURTAIN READS, “100% POLYESTER... RN#102223… CHINA.” CURTAIN IS WRINKLED THROUGHOUT, RED OVER-DRAPERY IS BUNCHED OFF-CENTERED, TASSELS ARE FRIZZY, SOME LOOSE TASSELS. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 240.0cm LTH x 140.0cm WTH

Subjects

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT DEVICE

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

ON MARCH 11, 2024, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED DEONIE HUDSON REGARDING THEATRE OUTRÉ’S DONATION OF A PINK WIG, CURTAINS, FAUX HUMAN SKULL ON STAND, ASSORTED FAUX HUMAN BONES, AND A FLORAL HEADPIECE. DEONIE HUDSON, AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW, WAS WORKING WITH THEATRE OUTRÉ FOR EIGHT YEARS; STARTING AS AN INTERN, RESIDENT DESIGNER, INTERIM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, AND FINALLY INTO THE PERFORMANCE COORDINATOR ROLE. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW. ON WHERE THE CURTAINS WERE USED, HUDSON EXPLAINED: “…THOSE [CURTAINS] WERE ORIGINALLY USED IN A PRODUCTION, MY VERY FIRST PRODUCTION THAT I DESIGNED FOR [THEATRE OUTRÉ], CALLED ‘LATE COMPANY’… RATHER THAN PERFORMING AT THE ACTUAL THEATRE, [‘LATE COMPANY’] WAS PERFORMED ABOVE THE CATWALK [HAIR SALON], ON THE SECOND LEVEL [OF THE SALON BUILDING], WHICH IS AN APARTMENT THAT WASN’T IN USE CURRENTLY… THESE CURTAINS WERE PART OF THE SET DRESSING THERE…” HUDSON COMMENTED: “…[‘LATE COMPANY’] WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT I USED THOSE [CURTAINS], AND THEY HAVE BEEN USED IN AT LEAST TWENTY DIFFERENT THINGS SINCE THEN. RE-USED IN VARIOUS THINGS… BECAUSE THEATRE OUTRÉ HAS ALWAYS RUN ON A VERY SHOESTRING BUDGET, AND A LOT OF TIMES I DIDN’T HAVE A BUDGET. A LOT OF TIMES IT WAS RE-PURPOSING ITEMS TO GIVE THEM NEW LIFE IN NEW WAYS…” ON HOW THE CURTAINS WERE USED AFTER ‘LATE COMPANY,’ HUDSON EXPLAINED: “…FOR A LOT OF YEARS, THEY [COVERED] THE WINDOWS IN DIDI’S PLAYHAUS… [OR] DURING COVID WHEN WE DID A PIECE CALLED ‘CONFESSIONAL’ WHICH WAS DONE, AT THE HEIGHT OF COVID, WHEN SOCIAL DISTANCING WAS THE THING, AND [THEATRE OUTRÉ] REALLY, REALLY, JUST NEEDED TO BE CREATIVE, AND DO SOMETHING. SO, [THEATRE OUTRÉ] DESIGNED AND WROTE A SHOW THAT WAS PERFORMED FOR ONE TO TWO AUDIENCE MEMBERS AT A TIME, AND IN ORDER TO KEEP EVERYBODY SAFE, THE ACTORS WERE CONTAINED INSIDE OF ENCLOSURES THAT THE AUDIENCE WOULD WATCH IT THROUGH… THE AUDIENCE WALKED THROUGH, AND THE ACTORS STAYED IN PLACE SO THAT EVERYBODY WAS DISTANCED AND KEPT SAFE. SO, THIS [CURTAIN] WAS USED AS PART OF THE DIVIDERS FOR THE ONE SECTION OF THE SHOW…” ON WHERE SHE GOT THE CURTAINS, HUDSON STATED: “BIANCA AMOUR’S… I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF THEY’RE STILL OPEN, BUT IT’S A SHOP THAT WAS IN TOWN THAT DOES, WHOLESALE KIND OF STUFF AND I THINK I SPENT, LIKE, $15.00 ON THE CURTAINS, IN TOTAL, AND THEN HAVE USED [THE CURTAINS] TO THE POINT THAT [BIANCA AMOUR’S] PROBABLY OWE ME MONEY!” WHEN ASKED HOW SHE FEELS LOOKING AT THE CURTAINS, HUDSON REFLECTED: “FOR ME, THEY’VE ALWAYS KIND OF REPRESENTED A BIT OF MY JOURNEY WITH THE COMPANY, BECAUSE [THE CURTAINS] WERE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT I USED AND CONTRIBUTED… FROM A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE, [I WAS] LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT WOULD REPRESENT THAT HEAVY FEELING THAT THE AUDIENCE WAS [FEELING], AND COLOR IS A BIG PART OF DOING THAT. SO, THIS DARK BURGUNDY RED COLOR REALLY REPRESENTING THAT HEAVY FEELING THAT A LOT OF THE ACTORS WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, TAKING [THE AUDIENCE] ON THE JOURNEY [OF FEELING]. BUT THEN THE GOLD BEING THAT LITTLE GLIMMER OF HOPE. SO, FROM A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE, THAT’S WHERE THAT [IDEA] STARTED, AND THEN RE-USING [THE CURTAINS], THOSE SAME EMOTIONS HAVE ALWAYS KIND OF STAYED ATTACHED TO IT. SO IT’S ALWAYS BEEN, EVEN IN THE COVID [ERA], LIKE EVERYTHING WAS SO HARD, AND SO HEAVY, AND [THEATRE OUTRÉ MEMBERS] WERE FIGHTING SO HARD TO JUST KEEP THE SPACE, AND KEEP GOING, AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO KEEP DOING THAT WHILE WE WERE WATCHING QUEER COMPANIES ACROSS CANADA JUST CRUMBLE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF COVID…” HUDSON REITERATED: “…THE HEAVINESS, AND THE GLIMMER OF HOPE, THEY JUST KIND OF HAVE ALWAYS STAYED IN THOSE PIECES FOR ME. AND THAT’S HOW THEY’VE ALWAYS FELT TO ME AND REPRESENTED TO ME; BECAUSE THAT WAS THE ORIGINAL DESIGN, THE COLOUR, AND THE PURPOSE OF [THE CURTAINS]. AND EVEN THOUGH IT WAS, JUST SOMETHING THAT I BOUGHT, I BOUGHT [THE CURTAINS] SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR THOSE COLORS, AND JUST HAPPENED TO FIND SOMETHING THAT MEANT I DIDN’T HAVE TO SEW THEM FROM SCRATCH!…” HUDSON COMMENTED ON WHAT DREW HER TO THEATRE OUTRÉ AND STAY ON AFTER INTERNING: “…ONCE I GOT INVOLVED IN [THEATRE OUTRÉ], IT WAS THE COMMUNITY, AND IT WAS REALIZING HOW MUCH THE QUEER COMMUNITY IN LETHBRIDGE NEEDED A SUPPORT SYSTEM, AND BEING ABLE TO BE A PART OF THAT WAS REALLY WHAT DROVE ME TO CONTINUE ON, AND TO FIGHT THROUGH COVID, AND MONEY, AND, LIKE, ANYTHING THAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO JUST KEEP THAT COMPANY GOING, AND TO KEEP BEING A PART OF IT, AND FEELING THAT LOVE, AND THAT JOY, THAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDED, AND GIVING PEOPLE THAT SPACE TO BE THEMSELVES, AND TELL THEIR STORIES.” ON HOW LETHBRIDGE DIFFERS FROM BIGGER CITY CENTERS, HUDSON STATED: “…WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN LETHBRIDGE IS SO ANOMALOUS IN THE QUEER COMMUNITY THAT IT COULD ONLY EXIST HERE… THERE’S SOMETHING SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS CITY, AND BEING IN A PLACE THAT, IN ALL THEORY, SHOULD NOT BE A PLACE THAT QUEER COMMUNITIES SHOULD THRIVE… BUT THE COMMUNITY IS SO STRONG, AND SO WONDERFUL, AND THE COMMUNITY THAT SURROUNDS IT IN THE ALLIES IS SO WARM, AND LOVELY, AND ACCEPTING, THAT IT HAS ALLOWED QUEER PEOPLE IN LETHBRIDGE TO REALLY THRIVE, AND REALLY BECOME SOMETHING THAT DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE. IT’S LESS UNDERGROUND…” HUDSON CONTINUED: “…YOU HAVE POCKETS OF QUEER THINGS THAT HAPPEN. YOU KNOW, YOU’VE GOT YOUR CLUBS, OR YOUR THEATRES, OR YOUR THIS, OR YOUR THAT, AND [THEATRE OUTRÉ] WERE ALL OF THOSE THINGS ROLLED INTO ONE, BECAUSE THAT’S JUST THE WAY THAT IT WORKED HERE.” ON MARCH 20, 2024, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED JAY WHITEHEAD REGARDING THEATRE OUTRÉ’S DONATION, SPECIFICALLY THE PINK WIG AND FAUX HUMAN SKULL ON STAND. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW. ON CREATING SPACE FOR THEATRE OUTRÉ IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, WHITEHEAD EXPLAINED: “…PART OF THE IMPETUS TO CREATE ‘BORDELLO’, WHICH BECAME ‘CLUB DIDI’, WHICH BECAME ‘DIDI’S PLAYHAUS’, WAS TO BE MORE VISIBLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AND TO CREATE A SPACE THAT WAS NOT JUST FOR THEATRE BUT FOR, YOU KNOW, SOCIAL INTERACTION WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, AND PERFORMANCE…” WHITEHEAD CONTINUED ON THE BORDELLO VENUE: “…I THINK IT WAS LIKE 2012-2013, WHEN WE FIRST GOT THE ‘BORDELLO’ SPACE ABOVE ‘THE OWL’, AND WE WANTED TO DO QUEER THEATRE, AND I HAD WRITTEN A PLAY WITH MY FRIEND, DANIEL JUDES, FROM GRAD SCHOOL, CALLED ‘UNSEXED’, AND WE NEEDED A VENUE. AND THAT WAS KIND OF THE REASON WHY WE TOOK THE VENUE, BUT ALSO, WE THOUGHT WE COULD CONTINUE TO FUND THE VENUE BY DOING OTHER EVENTS LIKE DRAG CABARETS. AND THAT WAS WHEN ‘DIDI’ WAS BORN, OUT OF THAT DESIRE TO MAINTAIN A VENUE, AND A SPACE FOR THE COMMUNITY, THAT WAS IN THE HEART OF THE CITY!” THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THEATRE OUTRÉ’S WEBSITE “ABOUT US” PAGE: “…THEATRE OUTRÉ IS A PROFESSIONAL THEATRE COMPANY BASED IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, FOUNDED IN 2013 BY FORMER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JAY WHITEHEAD. THEATRE OUTRÉ IS A LEADING OUTLET FOR ALTERNATIVE AND QUEER THEATRE IN ALBERTA AND THE PRODUCER OF THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL QUAINT, QUIRKY & QUEER CABARET & FESTIVAL (FORMERLY PRETTY, WITTY & GAY). THEATRE OUTRÉ ALSO PRODUCES A SERIES OF IMPROV SHOWS THROUGH IMPROMPTOU AND PROGRAMS DRAG SHOWS AND OTHER QUEER-FOCUSED EVENTS AT THE OWL AND THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY…” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CURTAINS, DONOR SUPPLIED IMAGES, THEATRE OUTRÉ’S FACEBOOK AND WEBSITE, OR TO SEE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATIONS PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20240003002

Acquisition Date

2024-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail