My first encounter with Sheila Norgate was in the hall of St. Andrews United Church in Nanaimo. She was relaxing after yet another witty, wise performance as one of the characters she invented for the latest manifestation of her creative career. And she was explaining her very short criminal career.
Canada legalized homosexuality in May 1969, months after she had come out as a lesbian. That was years before she transitioned from a credit union employee who wrote banking manuals to the intrepid artist she is today. But Sheila’s path to her epiphany was laid in childhood during the 1950s.
“My parents were crazy about each other when they first got together,” she says. “He was a Canadian soldier wooing an English girl. And they had all that war lust and drama going on. But, overall, he treated my mother horribly and even in his old age was threatening. To give you an idea – there are five of us children and none of us went to his funeral. That’s how bad it was.”
I first discovered Sheila as a painter and asked her if she knew when she had become an artist.
“I know exactly when it was,” she says. “When I was 33, I ended up in the hospital with a fever. They didn’t know what I had and eventually took me to the operating room for a biopsy. I had Crohn’s disease. Twelve hours after the operation, my intestine ruptured, and I was back in surgery. I nearly died. During my near-death experience on the operating table, I was given a chance to come back, to continue living. When I took it, everything changed.”
While recovering from her surgery, Sheila painted with watercolours. They were a gateway to a life after banking. She became a painter and a writer and her current artform: performance. Her home includes a studio on ‘the Isle of the Arts’, Gabriola Island – five miles from the church hall where I first saw Sheila perform.
While the artforms have evolved, the message remains the same: the battle for women, even on quiet Gabriola Island.
“I was on the board of a group called ‘People For A Healthy Community.’ They run the food bank and deal with poverty. We tried to have a drop-in for women. Nobody came. We learned you can’t get women to come out because they have to live here. So, it is a problem here – the police know there’s a problem, but it’s under-reported everywhere. There’s a gap between what we know and what’s being reported.”
That hard reality helps drive Sheila’s sharp, witty performances. Wearing a succession of styles from the 1940s and bad wigs, she reappears as S.M. Norgate, esteemed pseudo-scientist from the Ladies Institute for Endless Rectification; Mrs. Frank Hokum and her talk on ‘Better Living Through Improved Hostessing’; and even H.R.M. Queen Elizabeth II, among others.
As for the person who is Sheila Norgate, she finds comfort in the sweet memories of her dog, Rosie, who she credits for healing her heart and guiding her to a plant-based lifestyle. And her god is Santa. Santa Claus? That demanded an explanation.
“It all started with Miracle on 34th Street. Edmund Gwenn, who played Santa in that film, was a miracle of benevolence; something I’d never had with the men in my life, especially my father. So, I chose my God, and it’s Santa. I call myself a ‘Santafile.’”
Santafile, artist, writer, performer – all these roles are wrapped up in Sheila as a feminist. What continues to impress me as a straight, married male is how all her experiences – from her fraught family, her unhappy career in banking, her successful painting life and, lately, her sardonic performances – are informed by compassion and humour. What makes Sheila brilliant is her ability to bring that to life for all people while making them laugh. Her stories relate to the human condition, no matter your gender or life experiences. That rare quality is why I was happy to join the women and the men standing in ovation in that church hall – loudly cheering for the fun, the wisdom and audacity of Sheila’s performance.
While COVID-19 persists, we are unable to enjoy live performances for now. But Sheila has morphed yet again – into an excellent producer, writer, and actor for her online videos.
See for yourself on YouTube or at www.sheilanorgate.com
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Never heard that one before, but I like it: Santafile. Where do I join?
Such a great article! I have had an art crush on Sheila since moving to the isle of arts three years ago and am continually amazed and in stitches every time she reinvents herself for her performances! She is a beautiful soul!