Stagecraft and Event Technology
When the Theatre Program began in 1970, the curriculum required students to take technical courses in lighting, staging, and set construction, meaning students who had interest in acting, directing, or writing would also need to complete these credits. In the early years of Douglas, instruction for these courses actually took place at the workshop at New Westminster Secondary School. To build practical experience, students would also help set up lighting and sound equipment for graduation ceremonies and other events, in addition to the Theatre Program’s productions. For these major productions put on each semester, they would also construct sets and props – a collaboration that continues today.
Like many things in the Theatre Department, this changed substantially when the 700 Royal Avenue campus opened its doors in 1983. The Stagecraft portion of the program was granted access to its own practical spaces, complete with a set construction workshop, as well as paint, costume, and set fabrication workshops to go alongside the 350-seat Performing Arts Theatre. This centralization greatly improved the capabilities of the Theatre Program, allowing them to put on more ambitious productions, complete with large scale set pieces that only had to travel a short distance or even be constructed on stage. Productions with such elaborate and visually spectacular set pieces included Curse of the Werewolf, the adaptation of Inherit the Wind, Kiss Me Kate, and more.
The new facilities and demands of the program needed additional help – enter stage technician Drew Young. Originating from a technical theatre background, Young was the first to manage the new Performing Arts Theatre and outfit the Stagecraft workshops – a monumental task! According to a 1994 Unit Review from the archives, this was because, “at this time, the College did not own a hammer or saw” (Jones, 1994). The program inherited the Performing Arts Theatre and its accompanying workshops completely barren – no curtains, equipment, or tools to speak of. When the Stagecraft classes were separated from the Theatre Department in 1987 to form its own program, Young took the role of program coordinator. He would serve in this role from the program's inception until his retirement in 2016. Materials in our archives show the impact of long-serving faculty members, such as Drew Young and Dorothy Jones, in playing pivotal roles in keeping the Theatre and Stagecraft Programs aloft over the college's history.
