The Threepenny Opera
Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s subversive romp remains as potent and topical as ever — as a visually striking new production at the University of Victoria reminds us...I’m told the expense of hiring a seven-piece band meant little money was left for set and props. So it’s a real testament to the design crew (especially costumer Jacqueline Gilchrist) that this show looks so terrific. The beggars, bandits and whores wear wonderful outfits of red, black and white. Cost-cutting plastic and cardboard loom large in these costumes — and they look stunning. The pièce de resistance is the arrival of the queen in a shimmery, plastic-y creation that might have come from a Paris runway.
-Adrian Chamberlain, Times Colonist
The Threepenny Opera... is an extravagant spectacle, with minute attention to detail where every design choice is in service to advance the aesthetic of the show... one cannot help but be captivated by the wacky enthusiasm of the costumes (Jacqueline Gilchrist performs wonders with cardboard)…
- Janis La Couvée, janislacouvee.com
The star of this show is costume designer Jacqueline Gilchrist. A fourth-year design student, this was her first time designing for the main stage and she and her team knocked it out of the park.
The costumes were black and white and red all over while making liberal use of plastic, netting, duct tape and cardboard – all culminating with an appearance by the Queen (Nathan Patterson), which was a highlight of my theatre-going season so far.
Girl in the Goldfish Bowl
Girl in the Goldfish Bowl is a charmingly absurd, startlingly emotional show for which The Fourth Wall is more of a suggestion than a rule...The set and costumes are brilliant and utilize shapes and colours that suit the 60s aesthetic, a pier at the oceanside, and the inside of a goldfish bowl all at once... It is worth your time.
-Tony Carter, Showbill Canada
A young girl wears a diving mask and a Catholic-school uniform. Music swells as she swims around the stage, which is a surreal mélange of seascape and 1960s’ living room... Everything is awash in blue light. So begins Girl in the Goldfish Bowl: a delightful yet dark piece of theatre by renowned Canadian playwright Morris Panych, directed by Janet Munsil... Credit should also be given to the entire design team for their work... Girl in the Goldfish Bowl is definitely worth seeing. Go for the intriguing and absurd premise; stay for the writing, design and performances.
-Kat Taddei, Victoria Pink Pages
Swan Song {and Other Farces}
For the women, Jacqueline Gilchrist’s costumes convey a bohemian chic inspired by folklore, with petticoats, floral crowns, embroidery and lace. The men are rumpled and often constrained... they claw at tight collars and throw off coats in fits of pique. This physical representation of emotional state by the manipulation of garments is highly comedic...
-Janis La Couvée, janislacouvee.com
Much Ado About Nothing
The show’s design is consistently strong as well: especially Jacqueline Gilchrist’s revolving Venetian set with its bold lines and colours plus a clever gondola that gets well-earned applause…
-Jerry Wasserman, Vancouver Plays
…a striking Venetian villa and distinctly stylish apparel changes bring life into the story.
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Consisting primarily of a multilevel set piece on a rotating stage, the scenic design by Jacqueline Gilchrist is ingenious. It is particularly impressive as two actors, Matthew Rhodes (Claudio) and Rafael Ruiz (Don Pedro) mount the stairs on one side of the set piece. As they climb, the set rotates and they descend another flight of stairs on the other side with the audience able to see them throughout the process.
-Irving Bolton and Ash Tisdale, Two Cents & Two Pence
What I liked the most about the production was the staging. The sets were very creative and worked well for the play.
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The set is great.
-Evelyn McKelvie, Theatre Addicts
One of the play’s greatest strengths is how visually pleasing it is…The show makes use of a surprise technical feature to beautifully depict both the inside and outside of Leonata and Antonia’s mansion. One side of the set is a gorgeous representation of a Venetian canal...The other side shows the courtyard, warm and inviting with fairy-lights and cartoonish statues that transport the audience to summer nights on European patios.
-Cassandra Betts, The Ubyssey
Barefoot in the Park
Snappy direction, strong performances and stunning costumes and set make this a great summer show…the real star of this show is Saefkow's set and Jacqueline Gilchrist's costumes…the '60s chic fashion is to die for; I want to know where Corie Bratter shops!
-Amanda Farrell-Low, Check the Program