Joan Mansfield was born in Cape Town, South Africa in the 1950s – a period of pain and suffering for many, due to the evils of Apartheid. In 1966, leaving for a new, and safer, life – Daniel and Cynthia Carelse, and their two children, Joan and Clement, emigrated to Canada, making a home for themselves in North York, Ontario. In the 1970s, Joan was a glamour model for fashion and cosmetics lines, and found an enriching lifelong career in children’s education, often infusing her love of theatre to nurture arts in education. Joan met James Mansfield in the mid 1970s, and they’ve been married since 1976. Over nearly 50 years together, Joan and James have owned and operated a number of businesses – a booming chip truck in the 80s and 90s, and an e-bike and motorsports store in the late 00’s, and into the very early 10’s. The business that has never left their hearts is Mansfield Entertainment – which started out as jjazmans productions in the late 1990s, evolving over nearly three decades to become one of the few commercial regional theatres in Ontario, now committed to providing employment to artists in their own “backyard”. Joan has been Artistic Director for the company’s entire journey thus far, and has directed most of the productions for the company, and is committed to many more years in these roles