SINCE its inception in 2001, the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society (BMDS) Charitable Trust has bestowed various awards and bursaries on talented actors and students in an effort to promote theatre amongst the island’s youth. The trust was started following a donation by the family of BMDS member Kate Huntington, who died in a motorcycle accident in India in August 2000.BMDS trustee Adrienne Hintz, told the Mid-Ocean News this week that the family wanted to ensure the money would be used for the promotion of theatre among Bermuda’s youth and Paul Rowlerson, who was a vice-president of BMDS at the time stepped up to the plate to help.

Mr. Rowlerson had been instrumental in setting up the End to End Trust.

“Peter Pearman at CD&P provided legal support, thankfully, and donations in memory of Kate came flooding in, in addition to the funds from her estate,” Ms Hintz added.

“It just grew from there. Each year the coffers of the Trust are supplemented by the net profits from the annual BMDS playwriting festival Famous for 15 Minutes, and the more successful this gets each year, the more bursaries we can award each year.”

Besides herself, trustees also include Philip McIntosh and Kevin Blee.

“We try to give as many as we can to help as many students as we can. I think Kate would like that. And actors Gavin Wilson and Nigel Kermode also requested that all net profits from The Slippered Pantaloon>performed at Daylesford recently also go to the Trust.

“We’re very thankful. The show was completely sold out and with minimal costs, the proceeds should almost cover two bursaries.”

In order to qualify for a bursary, applicants must be Bermudian and have already been accepted into an accredited performing arts programme with a recognised institution, but she added that it is not limited to drama: “Our first award was to Tyler Barker who was studying dance.”

Other students who have benefited from the Trust include Katrina Kawaley-Lathan, Kendia Gill, Kerri-Lynn Dietz, James Birch, Zawditu Maryam and Madison Mello. But it has also helped sponsor various playwriting workshops and awards.

Ms Hintz felt it was important for both students and the public to know who Kate was in order for her memory to live on through the trust.

As for her relationship with Kate, she recalled meeting her for the first time in December, 1994 when she joined the society to work on the show Alice in Wonderland $>in which Kate was a cast member.

However, it wasn’t until 1998 when Kate returned to Bermuda that the two women struck a bond through the Daylesford theatre community.

“She was much younger than most of us, but that’s one of the great things about BMDS, we all come from all walks of life, careers, ages, countries... just the love of theatre that brings us all together. And we used to have many, many discussions about life, the world, politics, religion, you name it down at Daylesford,” Ms Hintz recalled.

Kate studied drama at university and always wanted to pursue it professionally - something Ms Hintz said Kate “pondered” while in India.

Her death came as a shock at the theatre community:

“I was one of the first to find out and I thought my boyfriend at the time was kidding. I put the phone down and just started hysterically crying. Kate was one of those rare people that is just so full of life, ambition, love, talent - you imagine them as being infallible. It proved to me that day that we aren’t.”

As the news spread amongst the theatre community, everyone came together at Daylesford to hug, cry and comfort each other.

“I remember her close friends all went out for dinner that night - I couldn’t go - I was too upset. I went home and called her friends that were overseas. More tears. It was just so unbelievable how a vibrant young life could end in such an instant. It seemed so unfair,” she said.

Ms Hintz was president of BMDS at the time and had a show opening that week: “I had to do a lot of manoeuvring to grant her family’s wishes to have the memorial service in the theatre at Daylesford, which was emotionally very difficult for me. The service was packed. We had to have a video feed into the bar and the foyer and those rooms were full. She was so loved.”

She added that it was during this difficult time after her death that she met Kate’s parents for the first time.

Since then she and Terrence “Terry” Huntington have become good friends.

“I like to think he knows someone is looking over Kate in Bermuda since he and Barbara moved back to Canada last year.”

Every year on Kate’s birthday and the anniversary of her death, Ms Hintz and three friends visit Kate’s grave at St. Mark’s Church, Smith’s Parish: “We feel much closer to her when we’re all there. Granted, anyone driving by must think we’re nuts sitting in a graveyard!”

The Trust continues to accept donations and is planning several fundraising initiatives on opening nights of BMDS productions.

Donations can be made to the BMDS Charitable Trust, PO Box DV631, Devonshire, DV BX.