Wendy Mainprize

When Wendy Mainprize was working as an ambulance officer with the South Australian Ambulance Service, she never knew what any given shift would bring. “It could be quite confronting sometimes,” she recalls – “and quite depressing.” It meant that she needed a way to take her mind off the job at the end of each day.

So after finishing up, she would swap uniforms and head to the Adelaide Festival Centre as a volunteer. “It was always a great relief for me to know I had a shift coming up that night,” she recalls. “I can actually remember walking along North Terrace and as soon as I saw the sails of the roof of the Festival Centre, I’d just relax.”

For Mainprize, the Festival Centre is “a happy place; it’s where people come for fun.” And in twelve years as a volunteer she has assisted everyone from couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary at the theatre to celebrities strutting the red carpet and hundreds of guitarists attempting to break a world record by playing the Smoke On The Water riff at the same time.

When she isn’t helping out, you’re just as likely to see Mainprize in the audience. “Whatever’s on, I’ll go… I can’t get enough of it,” she laughs. And volunteering has given her an entirely new perspective on the performances she attends. Though she was initially worried that learning how much work goes into each production would affect her ability to sit back and enjoy the show, it actually enhanced the experience. “Because I know what’s involved behind the scenes, sometimes I just sit there in awe and just think, ‘Wow, how did you do that?’”

Since 2018, Mainprize has also served as the Festival Centre’s Volunteer Coordinator. She tries to keep her team at about 40 people, but festivals like OzAsia, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, DreamBIG and Adelaide Guitar Festival are “a whole different ball game.” The scale of these events means that she begins meeting with producers up to six months in advance and has to find up to 100 extra volunteers for each festival.

In the lead-up to opening night, they assist with everything from mail outs to packing gift bags for artists, and once the festival kicks off they are the main point of contact for the public. But whether they’re amateur theatre performers, retirees or Event Management students, the volunteers all have several qualities in common. “They love talking to people, they love the thrill of the event, they love watching what’s going on,” says Mainprize. And like their boss, “all of our volunteers have a passion for performing arts.”

Now the former ambo laughs that even though she’s switched jobs, there’s still no such thing as a typical day. “I always say to my volunteers, ‘expect the unexpected,’ because that’s live theatre; you never know what’s going to happen.” But there’s one thing she is certain of. Asked if festivals could happen without volunteers, her answer is immediate. “No, not at all!”
 
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This article is part of the Festival City Stories series, a collection of reflections about Adelaide made by the people who make this a festival place. The project was funded through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Arts South Australia, Arts Recovery Fund, and delivered in partnership with the State Library of South Australia. 

Written by: Alexis Buxton-Collins

Photography by: Alex Van de Loo