Astrid Janson
The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts Awards: the Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Dora Awards), awarded alumni Astrid Janson (Production/Design MA, 1972) and her colleague Melanie McNeill an award for Outstanding Costume Design for The Great War, VideoCabaret.
Astrid’s Biography: Astrid Janson’s set and costume design work has been seen on stages across Canada, from the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland, to the Pacific Opera in Victoria, BC. Canadian theatres include 12 seasons at the Stratford Festival, 8 seasons for Soulpepper Theatre, The Canadian Opera Co., The Shaw Festival, Canadianstage, Citadel Theatre, The National Ballet, the National Arts Centre., the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and most theatres in Toronto.
She designed the costumes for 13 of Michael Hollingsworth’s “Village of the Small Huts” play cycles for VideoCabaret., most recently the award winning The Great War and Trudeau and Levesque.
Her television career includes award winning films, specials and series. Civic projects include Expo ’86 and a Discovery Gallery for the ROM.
Internationally, Astrid has designed in Germany, Amsterdam, Paris, Sweden, Philadelphia, Houston and New York.
She has been recognized with numerous awards for her design work, including 18 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a Gemini Award and the Silver Ticket Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
In June 2016, Astrid received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Website: http://astridjanson.blogspot.ca
Canadian Encyclopedia: http://bit.ly/2a7bpZt
Astrid’s thoughts on attending UBC:
“I was lucky to be at UBC working on my MA during the “Golden Years”, years that produced so many well known actors and directors, from Brent Carver and Goldie Semple to Larry Lillo.
I had the joy of designing the MA thesis projects for John Grey, Larry Lillo and Richard Ouzounian all in one year!
I learned how to make great crepes (among other skills) from my design prof Richard Wilcox and how to use the newly invented glue gun from my costume prof, Kurt Wilhelm.”
