CORNER BROOK — One of Corner Brook’s best known volunteers and media personalities, Mike Payne, could have ended up just about anywhere if it was not for Grenfell’s theatre program.
The Baie Verte native came to Corner Brook in the fall of 1987 to enroll in what was then Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. Like many students at the time, he expected to do one year of school before heading off to a mainland university to complete his education.
Due to his love of acting, he became involved with Grenfell Players, and the following year was a member of the first class of the theatre program.
Three years later, he spent six weeks at the Memorial campus in Harlow, England — also the first of what is now 20 years of graduates from the England program.
“It allowed me to study my craft in the province and to remain relatively close to home,” Payne said of the theatre program. “We were a little spoiled, I guess the guinea pigs, in a sense.”
Along with the first class of visual arts students, the Steel Communications radio personality and actor said it was a close-knit group that developed life-long friendships.
He credits the head of the program, Ken Livingstone, and also Michael Coyne, for its past, current and future success. Some of their former students, like Todd Hennessey — also a graduate of the first class and current chair — work with the program to ensure that success continues, Payne said.
The program has churned out teachers and other professionals of various backgrounds, but Payne said it has generated plenty of successful actors, producers and stagecraft professionals who have found success all over the world.
Payne himself has worked as a volunteer and professionally in theatre, including work with Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador, the Stephenville Theatre Festival, and co-creating the Stage West Theatre Festival. He’s currently acting in a show with the Off-Broadway Players.
He is also a popular host and emcee.
“It gave me the confidence to be able to get up in public, talk in public, and gave me a lot of life skills that have really served me well over the years,” he said.
Payne said the Grenfell program has grown over the past two decades. He watches many of the performances put on by the students, and is impressed by the quality and calibre of their work. He said it is also nice to see the increased role music plays in the performances.
Twenty years after its start, he said the program is in good hands and has a strong future.
