Belfast Maskers – 2012
Board of Directors and Artistic Director

Chip Curry, Board President, has been volunteering with the Belfast Maskers since our 2005 production of Medea. He is an elementary school teacher and has worked in the field of education and youth development for the past 20 years. Through his ten years of leading a large AmeriCorps VISTA project, he has significant experience supporting community organizations as they seek to build their capacity and effectiveness. Chip has formerly served as a board member of the Waldo County YMCA and as a Commissioner of the Maine Commission for Community Service.  He is currently a member of the Belfast Parks and Recreation Commission.

Patricia Hustus, Vice President, is originally from Greenville, Mississippi. Pat enjoys volunteer work, giving time and energy to Meals on Wheels; Belfast’s Parks and Recreation Commission; GreenStreets!, as well as the Maskers. She was the Prop Mistress for a number of years, before assuming the role of Vice President of the Maskers’ Board of Directors.

Penny Squibb, Secretary, is a graduate of Bennington College, where she majored in dance. She has always been a supporter of both visual and performing arts. Before retiring to Belfast, Penny had the job of librarian and Associate Dean of Students at Storm King School, in New York. Penny has won New England awards for her stitching, which has been displayed in galleries and museums throughout the New England area.

Joanne McNally, Treasurer, is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1999, Joanne retired from the Harris Bank, Chicago, as Senior Vice President of Systems and Operations. She moved to Searsport, Maine, in 1999 and with a friend, created the Celtic goods store Shamrock, Thistle & Rose, which they operated for almost ten years. In 2002, Joanne purchased Garden Cottage and operated it until 2008. She entered full retirement in 2009 and is a member of several local boards.

Lilias Outerbridge, Board President Emeritus, was a former elementary school teacher in N.Y.C., and subsequent teacher/director of Special Education in Hope, Maine.  She moved with her husband, David, and their four sons to Belfast in 1986. The following autumn, Lilias joined the nascent Belfast Maskers and has worked happily with the group ever since. David, the primary fund-raiser for the Basil Burwell Endowment Fund (now a foundation), was an enthusiastic supporter until his death in 2008. Their grandson, Cay, now an avid singer, has been in many Maskers’ productions. Lilias knows, from firsthand experience, the broad educational and social value of Community Theater.

Aynne Ames, Artistic and Managing Director, has spent her professional life as a teacher, primarily in the area of both professional and educational theater.  She has also taught English Literature, Ancient World History, and Current Events.

After co-founding and managing for five years Castine’s Cold Comfort Summer Theater and Cold Comfort Theater Camp, Aynne returned to college, where she finished her BA in Theater, with a minor in Classical Studies. In 1993, she attended a one-year program at the American School of Classical Studies in Athen, Greece, working on her Master’s Degree.  That one year stay turned into five. Although she came home summers, she returned to Athens every fall to teach at the TASIS International School and continue her studies in Ancient Theater. Along with her work in Greece, she also worked in England through the TASIS School there, which gave her an opportunity to do some on-site work in Elizabethan Theater.

Aynne has been the recipient of many awards, including the prestigious Educational Impact Award from the Helen Hayes organization, which acknowledged her outstanding contributions in educating and nurturing youth through theater. She has served on the Maine Arts Council, as an Adjudicator for High School and College Theater Competitions, and as the Maine State Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Aynne also received the 2001 Citizen of the Year commendation from the town of Castine, Maine, for artistic contributions to the community over a ten year period.

Aynne is also known for her playwriting, winning the Hamlet Playwriting Award for best playwriting by the Department of English, University of Maine, Orono.

As Artistic and Managing Director for the Belfast Maskers, Aynne designs each theater season, selects the directors, and runs the theater’s day-to-day workings. She sets all artistic budgets and selects/hosts summer interns, who come from all over the world to gain experience in acting, lighting, set design and building, costuming, and other aspects of theater production. She also creates, every summer, the Belfast Maskers Youth Theater Camp, for children aged 8-14. This camp provides a safe, inclusive environment, where each child can learn the arts of voice diction, dance, the fundamentals of live performance, stage combat, stage management, costuming, lighting and sound design, and more. Aynne also offers private and group classes in acting for students of all ages.