Page 52 T cjnews.com THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS October 21, 2010 And now for something completely different: Stacey Farber on love, loss and what she wore

By LAURA STRICKER ilton and Leah Pinsent. fashion for a long time,” she Staff Reporter “It’s so fun!” she said of said. “My interest has changed being in the play. “I knew it over the years. I studied it Throughout her life she’s would be different from TV, for a long time. I used to buy been a high school goth, an which is mainly what I do and fashion magazines and study 18-year-old newlywed and a it is very different, but I love them. I loved fashion writing. young woman sharing memo- it. I find it really interest- I lived in New York for a few ries and the clothes that go ing to see how the audience years [where she graduated with them. changes every night and how from The New School univer- In reality, she is 23-year- they react differently to dif- sity in 2009] and I interned for old actor Stacey Farber. ferent things. several fashion magazines. Known for her role as Ellie “It’s pretty cool to feel the “Now it’s more just an ap- Nash in Degrassi: The Next energy from the audience and preciation for fashion as a Generation, Farber’s show 18 use their energy to fuel your form of expression or even to Life is entering its second own. It’s exciting – I definitely as art. season on CBC in January. get an adrenaline rush before “In Love, Loss, the whole Currently, she is making her I go on stage.” point of talking about your theatrical debut in Love, Loss The play features the five clothes is to talk about the and What I Wore, written by women all dressed in black, memories that go with them Nora and Delia Ephron and who spend the entire show or experiences you had while based on the book by Ilene sitting on tall chairs. The few wearing a certain piece of Beckerman. props in the intimate perfor- clothing.” Born and raised in Toronto, mance include life-size draw- Judaism is also something Farber got interested in acting ings of the outfits that appear that’s important to Farber, when she was accepted to in Beckerman’s novel. although she says she’s still Claude Watson School for the It is this intimacy in the Actor Stacey Farber trying to figure out where she Arts, which she attended from play that Farber loves. things that I haven’t nec- fits in the community. grades 4 to 8. She majored “All the women share one essarily experienced in my “I think that’s something in visual arts but acting dressing room, and we do our own life. So for Love, Loss, that people at my age ques- caught her attention because own hair and makeup pretty if there’s a monologue that’s tion and start to figure out on a number of her classmates much and get ready for the darker, I read the script over their own once they’re inde- were involved in it. show together. I think that’s and over again, really focus pendent and not living with “Suddenly it was a very really fun and it helps us bond, on the words. I imagine it their parents anymore. normal thing to have an agent sharing that space, it’s so in- happened to me and I’m con- “My family celebrates so and be on TV,” she said. timate. We have to be close fiding in the audience. I try to many Jewish holidays and we “I’d never been around that and working off each other on tell the story in a way that’s have Shabbat dinners. I had before – no one in my family stage, so I think it helps.” as natural and realistic as a bat mitzvah and went on is in the industry.” When asked how she tackles possible. Birthright. Lots of my friends After getting an agent when the darker aspects in some “I work on it every night in Toronto are Jewish, and I she was in Grade 8, Farber’s of the roles she plays – Ellie and I try different things. went to a Jewish sleepover first major role – on Degrassi on Degrassi had an alcoholic That to me is the fun part. It’s camp as a kid. Those things – came when she was 15. She mother – Farber says it comes sort of like piecing together a have all contributed to who I was on the show from 2002 to down to imagining what the puzzle.” am today,” she said. to 2008 and “had a great time characters have been through In Love, Loss, Farber’s “There’s definitely a Jewish on that set,” she said. has happened to her. character discusses in depth thread that runs through [the Two of her Degrassi co- “I don’t really have any her clothes and the memo- play],” Farber added. “So stars, Lauren Collins and darkness in my life. Growing ries – some good, some bad, many of the stories are about Paula Brancati, were in Love, up I had such a happy child- some embarrassing – that are the women and men who are Loss and What I Wore at dif- hood… For playing Ellie, I’m associated with them, includ- Jewish.” ferent times, playing the role not sure where I got all that ing buying her first bra, her Love, Loss and What I Wore that Farber now occupies. The darkness and sadness from, prom dress and her love for with Farber in it runs to Oct. cast, which changes every because I couldn’t draw from short skirts and tall boots. In 30 at the Panasonic Theatre. four weeks, includes, in addi- my own experiences. I guess real life, she is just as much Tickets can be purchased tion to Farber, Trey Anthony, it was my imagination. a fan of fashion. at www.mirvish.com or by Mary Lou Fallis, Patricia Ham- “I’m able to really feel “I’ve been interested in phoning 416-872-1212.

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