It’s just after 12 noon when Giselle CLARKE-Trenaman’93 joins our Zoom call from her office at Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver. She is a professional stage manager, a job she compares to being an air traffic controller. “Nothing lands or takes off without us knowing about it. We stage managers are the hub for information, whether it’s technical, a design element or an emotional piece from an actor.”
As if on cue, Giselle turns away momentarily to give final instructions to a contractor working in the theatre. Barely skipping a beat, she resumes our conversation, which is punctuated with her laughter and pithy aphorisms.
One of only a handful of Black professional stage managers in Canada, Giselle is a role model for a generation of racialized people in theatre who are completing their studies or entering the professional field. Defining a crucial and often misunderstood function, she says: “For me, a stage manager is an artist. We need to have a true understanding of the artistic vision of the director and the designers. We carry the artistic intention of the show forward after opening night.”
In 2014, Giselle and her husband, Brad, a lighting designer, relocated from Toronto to British Columbia, where they live with their daughter. A 25-year veteran of Canada’s professional theatre scene with an honours BFA from York University, Giselle has worked with some of the top performing arts companies, including Canadian Stage, the National Arts Centre, Soulpepper, Volcano Theatre, Young People’s Theatre, Goh Ballet and Opera Atelier.
“A good stage manager is open. They’re tactful. They’re firm,” she says. “They are able to head problems off at the pass and hold a safe space for the artists. On the technical side, they are able to call a lighting cue a breath before it actually has to happen, so that their words can reach the lighting technician’s ear in time so it all flows seamlessly.”
“Each time I do a presentation there are one or two Black children in the classroom, and I want those kids to know that they come from greatness. The recognition is in their faces when they see me: you look like my mom, or, you look like my aunt.”
A childhood play at Charmandean School, about an hour away from London, U.K., where she was born and raised, ignited Giselle’s passion for theatre. Though she performed the titular role in the children’s classic Toad of Toad Hall, the 11-year-old was less interested in acting than in what was unfolding around her, mesmerized as she was by the shimmering lights, whimsical costumes and dramatic makeup.
After moving to Toronto with her family at age 16, Giselle found her niche at Branksome Hall in the drama class taught by the legendary Judith Friend’75. “She was the best teacher ever,” says Giselle. “I had a super thick English accent and asked somebody for a rubber—that was an eraser in my world—and everybody burst out laughing. Miss Friend stopped them and said, ‘No, we don’t laugh. Giselle is from England, where a rubber means an eraser. We don’t laugh at new people, we help them.’ And I immediately felt at home. My drama classes were the place where I was accepted for being me. And Branksome was the place where I was able to make true friends, which I still have to this day.”
Despite being a newcomer to Canada, Giselle made an immediate impression on her peers and teachers, as well as on the Parents’ Association, which awarded her one of two prizes for Outstanding New Girl in the Senior School. As Branksome’s first-ever Arts Prefect, she spearheaded the designation of the Allison Roach Theatre for Performing Arts in honour of the esteemed principal who retired in 1993. The planned new Innovation Centre and Studio Theatre will carry on the Roach tradition while adding sophisticated theatre-production teaching space.
Recognizing the crucial difference a supportive school environment can make, Giselle wanted the same for her daughter, Brianna. A single question Giselle posed to Brianna’s kindergarten teacher—“What are you doing for Black History Month?”—was the spark that prompted Giselle to create Black History Matters (BHM) in 2018. Curated to complement the B.C. school curriculum, BHM is a thorough and grade-appropriate K–7 program highlighting the history, lives and contributions of Black Canadians like Jean Augustine, the first Black female member of Parliament.
What began as Giselle’s solo labour of love is now administered year-round by Presentation House Theatre in order to meet growing demand. Last February alone, Giselle and a colleague delivered 75 BHM presentations to schools across Vancouver.
“It’s the most amazing thing to see,” says Giselle. “Each time I do a presentation there are one or two Black children in the classroom, and I want those kids to know that they come from greatness. The recognition is in their faces when they see me: you look like my mom, or, you look like my aunt. The responsibility that that entails I do not take lightly. Because my words can often represent a whole race. And it takes the pressure off them for being the entire representation of their race.”
Giselle’s commitment to being a powerful role model for her daughter has come full circle as Brianna navigates adolescence. “I set out to make her proud of the skin that she’s in and I would say I’ve accomplished that. She’s heading into Grade 7 knowing that she’s a strong Black woman. I can’t even begin to say how awesome that feels. There is an innate strength, pride and joy in being a Black woman that no one can ever take away. It comes from the fact that no matter how many times people have tried, they cannot hold us down.”
Giselle’s advice to Branksome students considering a career in theatre? “Listen with your ears, eyes and heart. Keep yourself open to any opportunity that comes by. Learn when to say no, but don’t forget to push yourself. Because you never know where you’ll reach.”
And for Giselle, that is already far, with further yet to go.
