Lara Southerland Berich
About Lara
Pleased to be the Assistant Professor of Costume Technology and Costume Director for Niagara University Theatre, just across the border from Canada!
Prior to teaching I spent five years working as a draper/tailor with the talented and remarkable costume shop of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the year and with the equally wonderful shop of the Santa Fe Opera in the summer - a job I've enjoyed every summer since 2006. Since 2013 I have also provided technical supervision of costume apprentices at Santa Fe as they design and build scenes.
As an active professional I enjoy freelance work with regional theatres and costume shops as well as delightful projects with designers Susan Tsu, Miodrag Gubernic, Dede Ayite, and others - I look forward to more of the same as the pandemic ceases to be so prohibitive.
I'm very interested, invested, and active in decolonizing my work both as an educator and a theatre artist.
I work hard to be a safe and informed presence for folks of marginalized communities, providing a fitting room free of judgement in which myself, the designer, and the performer are able to come to the best possible fitting outcome, and closing the pay gap that plagues theatre costuming as a gendered workspace.
As a colleague and professor I am dedicated to the pursuit of accuracy, a friendly, functioning team environment, and to the idea that there is no "wrong way," just ways that work better than others depending on the situation - and that you should always choose the best way for that particular situation.
Reach out to me - I enjoy working with people in any capacity and I delight in helping young professionals!