Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2013 / February / 21 / New marquee lights the way to University Theatre
Arts & Humanities

New marquee lights the way to University Theatre

February 21, 2013

Installation of the new University Theatre sign at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Installation of the new University Theatre sign at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Can’t-miss sign draws attention to increasingly active UBC performance venue

A bright new installation at UBC’s University Theatre is a sign of the times for the burgeoning live-performance culture on campus, and for the growing theatre and music crowd in the Okanagan.

Launched last November, University Theatre is the first dedicated live-theatre space at UBC’s Okanagan campus. It seats up to 220 people and is housed in the former ADM026 Lecture Theatre in the Administration Building, adjacent to the bus stop.

This week, a 4.8-by-1.65-metre (15.8’ x 5.5’) backlit sign was installed above the theatre entrance, providing a much-needed visual presence for Kelowna’s newest permanent public performance space.

“I’m delighted to see the Theatre gain a visual presence near the bus stop,” says Neil Cadger, head of the Dept. of Creative Studies and associate professor of performance. “This is the first part of the campus that many people see. It should be welcoming and it is absolutely appropriate that the Theatre will be immediately visible.

“People coming to the Theatre from downtown will be well-advised to take the bus and not worry about parking. You can’t miss the Theatre now when you get off the bus.”

Cadger has been heavily involved in the Theatre’s evolution, including production of the new sign, designed with Byron Johnston, associate professor in the Dept. of Creative Studies.

To draw attention to the Theatre, they worked with the idea of a marquee. Johnston suggested chrome-looking metal spheres to replace the lights you might see on vintage cinema marquees, which avoids exposing the light bulbs to the elements.

The finished frame incorporates 38 metal orbs — with one anomaly.

“A single red ball is included to create a sense of serendipity,” Cadger says. “It connects to the red strip on the top and destabilizes the rectangle in a playful way. It makes people ask, ‘Why is there a red ball?’ It stimulates a question. We like questions.”

University Theatre has been upgraded, renovated, and turned over to students in the performance program in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. The students group, called Theatre 26, is immersed in every aspect of live staging, from performance, to writing, designing promotional material to managing the Theatre itself.

With 1,700 students living on campus, there is a ready audience for the regular programming of live theatre, performances, DJ nights and comedy revues, says Cadger.

“UBC has invested considerable effort and dollars into University Theatre and we will use it to full advantage,” he says. “Our audiences will be thrilled and entertained, while our students will get a chance to show what they can do.”

— 30 —

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
Media Relations Strategist
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 317 0293
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Trending Stories

  • Opening doors for international student research
  • Cutting breakfast carbs can benefit people with Type 2 ...
  • UBCO honours this year’s most outstanding researchers
  • Why don’t we eat turkey eggs?
  • Call for Canada to braid Indigenous rights with endangered ...
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility