Shailer Cottier's decades of artistic service to community theatre in Auckland will be acknowledged next month in a very special production at Onehunga's Dolphin Theatre. Sharu Delilkan explains.
It's the most wonderfully ironic thing they could possibly do," says Jennie Cottier of the company's decision to present Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. "Because that's what he was."
The "he" she's talking about is her late husband, Shailer, for whom the play is being staged as a tribute. "And because of his affiliation with Oscar Wilde. His great-grandfather, Dr George Baker, was both Wilde's dear friend and personal physician."
Wilde's play deals with blackmail and political corruption, and the status of public and private honour in the "today" of 1895.
Mrs Cottier, an actress who'd been asked to play Lady Markby, has chosen, instead, to work offstage on the wardrobe and the set because "it's his [Shailer's] memorial and his night."
While the Pakuranga resident won't be on stage, all her French and English antique furniture will be, complemented by her collection of paintings and silver she has lent the theatre.
All the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the last play Shailer acted in with the company, are appearing in An Ideal Husband in honour of the long-serving committee member, actor and director, who died unexpectedly late last year. "My husband and I were going to direct Enemy of the People by Ibsen but that never happened because he passed suddenly, at 68, last October."
Married for 46 years, Mrs Cottier says she "absolutely adored the ground he walked on". "We met over 3m of steel at a French fencing school and the moment we met I knew I was destined to marry him.
"It's absolutely wonderful what the theatre is doing. I know he'll be there in spirit."
The Shailer Cottier Memorial Season of An Ideal Husband, Dolphin Theatre, 12 Spring St, Onehunga, August 1-22. Tickets: ph 636 7322.
Fitting tribute to ideal husband
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