{"id":419,"date":"2011-04-11T16:44:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T00:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/?p=419"},"modified":"2011-06-06T13:32:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T21:32:29","slug":"419","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/2011\/04\/11\/419\/","title":{"rendered":"Props to Janet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note ~ This month\u2019s guest blog post is by our Head of Properties Janet Bickford who is retiring this spring after 19 seasons with Theatre at UBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got interested in theatre during high school, inspired by a charismatic teacher called Maurice Gibbons. \u00a0My other love was writing. \u00a0So at UBC in the sixties I did a BA in Theatre and Creative Writing. \u00a0Perhaps I\u2019d become a playwright. \u00a0Afterward I needed some experience in the business to get me going. \u00a0Mustering all my nerve, I applied for the costume job at Holiday Theatre<\/a>, a children\u2019s theatre group that ran out of the old Metro Shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere I met Cameron Porteous, a set and costume designer who was to become a big influence on my career. \u00a0He convinced me to apply to Wimbledon College of Art in London England for their costume-cutting program. \u00a0I was accepted and soon found myself sharing a cramped flat in Camden Town with my boyfriend David, his sister and her boyfriend. David was also going to Art School in London but he decided his program was rubbish and headed to Morocco with a friend from Vancouver. \u00a0They didn\u2019t want a woman with them in a Muslim country, so I was left in London where I freaked out. My course hadn\u2019t started yet, so I took what money I had left and returned to Vancouver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo: Martin Dee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

\u201cBroke, I called up Allan Wallis, then production manager at the Vancouver Playhouse, and asked for a job. \u00a0He told me he had no openings in the costume department but if I\u2019d work as a props apprentice, he could hire me. \u00a0This was a turning point for me. I was working under the late Jack Simon and the designer was my old mentor, Carmeron Porteous<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell in love with prop making. \u00a0Jack was an amazing teacher. \u00a0Cameron\u2019s designs were always an inspiration. \u00a0When Jack became a fully-fledged designer, I took over as Head of Props at the Vancouver Playhouse<\/a>. \u00a0I have fond memories of my years as a member of the Playhouse team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1979, I did the summer Opera Festival at the National Arts Centre and, in 1983, I joined the Playhouse migration to the Shaw Festival, again working with Cameron. But I missed Vancouver and so I returned. From my base in Kitsilano, I branched out into film work as a sculptor in the Construction Department of IATSE and joined All Set Design for the big push toward Expo 86. Here I learned model making skills and some of the tricks of the display trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a few years of free-lancing, I found my way to the Freddy Wood in 1992 working with Sherry Milne. \u00a0I\u2019ve been here ever since. \u00a0It seems fitting to retire after giving something back to my Alma Mater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget being called into Professor John Brockington\u2019s office upon my graduation from the UBC Theatre Program. \u00a0\u2018You haven\u2019t really distinguished yourself during your time here,\u2019 he said. \u00a0\u2018 I wouldn\u2019t suggest you go knocking on the door at the Playhouse asking for work.\u2019 Little did he know.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note ~ This month\u2019s guest blog post is by our Head of Properties Janet Bickford who is retiring this spring after 19 seasons with Theatre at UBC. \u201cI got interested in theatre during high school, inspired by a charismatic teacher called Maurice Gibbons. \u00a0My other love was writing. \u00a0So at UBC in the sixties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2208,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[148173,148175],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ubc-alumni","tag-ubc-staff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":443,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/theatre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}