Ian Gould '94

Speaker: Ian Gould '94

Ian Gould '94: I think it's safe to say that uh Barb Homes and the and the performing arts at W. T. Were absolutely fundamental in my development as a as a human and uh as a productive member of society. Um It gave me, you know, that she created a space that was so welcoming and and so focused on the creative possibilities of each student. And um you know, she made the theater and exciting and endlessly fascinating place to be. And and it it sort of gave me the groundwork that I've taken into the rest of my you know, acting and directing career. Um So you know, there is really nothing about who I am as an artist today that I can't trace back to Barb Homes and W. T.

Ian Gould '94: well, I remember uh remember, wow, I always, I think I will always remember uh mrs Holmes, incredible, incredible energy, like I remember like, you know when we were working on shows at Winchester, there was always kind of this whirlwind of things going on at the same time and uh and mrs Holmes would be up in the, up in the loft, you know, we'd be helping her pull flats out of storage and then she'd go teach a class and then, you know, come back and be painting the flats and nailing things together and and and drilling the floor down and then going to do something else and there were always like four different projects going on at the same time, and it was, you could always just go into the auditorium on your free period and there would be, oh any number of things to do uh in terms of like building the set and getting the stuff together and getting the costumes together and all this, you know? And there were just, you know, I don't know, and then and then of course she was doing all the rehearsals after school and then directing the shows, I don't know when she slept, I don't know if she slept. Um I remember there were a lot of um there were many, there were many strategically placed cups of coffee around the auditorium and uh um and uh it was just, it was such an amazing energizing and and fun place to be

Ian Gould '94: so many lessons that are just good good life lessons, you know in addition to learning about you know theater and performing arts, you know learning acting skills and directing skills and you know learning how to be a performer. Um There are just so many, you know the the lessons there were about um just how to collaborate, um how to um you know how to pace yourself, you know how to have the stamina to put in really long days and then uh you know and then run through the show in the evening um how to face down, you know, how to cope with your own nerve zero anxieties, how to how to face down your own insecurities and fears um of of which I had many um and you know how to um just how to be in a you know be in a community of people with a common goal and how to contribute to that. Um It's just uh there are just so many things that I think um that I think mrs Holmes you know um was able to facilitate, you know so many lessons that that she was able to to facilitate that are um just good, just good for life, you know um in addition to learning to learning the theater stuff um you know whether or not you actually take it and become an actor, you know whether you do any of that any of this stuff professionally is not really important, I mean there is so much about um that kind of we're working on that kind of theater project that will behoove you as a person as you move through life.