Monday, March 30, 2009
The queen of props
Surrey Leader: "When theatre directors need muskets for a squad of soldiers, a classic sailing ship wheel or a mural backdrop of Ottawa's Parliament buildings, they come to Maxine Lloyd – and get what they ask for."
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7 comments:
It's always interesting to hear stories of how some theater stereotypes are true. The idea that people literally go out and browse through places like thrift stores just seems strange to the rest of the world, but in theater it's just kinda something everyone seems to do at one point or another. I actually really want to see this ladies storage since props storage tend to be like miniature museums.
She is so amazing. I would love to walk around that shop and just look at all the great and crazy things they have made over the years. I think that the energy she has is showed very clearly in the article and that it translates into amazing prop pieces.
That seems like a very cool job. It would be very cool just to walk around and see all the different props and pieces that she has. I wonder if they have ever used the portrait of Queen Vitoria?
Finding props when you know exactly what you are looking for, you've even seen it before, but you have absolutely no idea where the F it is, is such a pain in the ass. What I'm most interested in here is how this company organizes and categories their inventory so you can honestly find what you are looking for. I know an attempt to digitize the CMU prop collection is underway right now and it might be beneficial to take cues from Maxine Lloyd who obviously knows what she is doing. Making the props on the other hand is an entire shop set up. I've only ever seen one company in which props had its own shop and specialized equipment, but I really do think props are often overlooked and it greatly affects any production. So yeah this company is fantastic.
I have always admired what creative props people can do with materials and processes that may not be intended for the purposes that they were used for. They are among the most creative people in theater. They are very crafty and good with their hands. This particular woman is very cool. That she is able to do this for a living.
I also agree with Michael that props are often overlooked both in shop space and staff members. Props often only have one person in their department and are responsible for way more things than one person should be.
Props is always one of the hardest fields to work in because of how rare and out of place some of these things are. It's people like this who help all those desperate props people :) I'd love to walk around this place and see what they got...
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