Bygone Theatre Rentals – Office Furniture

We recently did a production of His Girl Friday, which meant acquiring a LARGE volume of vintage office furniture and supplies; here’s some of the furniture pieces we now have available to rent.

Vintage 1940s oak desk chair – spins, without wheels.

Vintage 1940s oak desk chair – spins, with wheels.

Vintage 1950s wooden desk chair – spins, without wheels, slatted back.

Vintage 1960s wooden chair with rattan back – spins, on wheels.

New, vintage looking faux-leather burgundy desk chair – spins, on wheels. 26″ wide, 26″ deep, floor-back 47″ tall.

Small (somewhat fragile) telephone table with sliding drawer. 26″ wide, 18″ deep, 30″ tall.

Sturdy arts & crafts/ craftsman style (c. 1920) wood desk 40.5″ wide, 28.5″ deep, 29.5″ tall.

Painted metal cabinet, could be used as a file cabinet or safe. 19″ wide, 12″ deep, 40″ tall.

Mid-century style (1950s/60s) desk with drawers. 42″ wide, 20″ deep, 28″ tall.

 

1. Vintage Wood Office Chairs: see individual pictures for details
   Rental Price: $20.00 each/wk
2. Burgundy Faux Leather Executive Chair: see individual picture for details
   Rental Price: $30.00/wk
3. Small Telephone Desk: see individual picture for details
   Rental Price: $15.00/wk
4. Wood Arts & Crafts and Mid Century Modern Desks: see individual pictures for details
   Rental Price: $40.00 each/wk
5. Metal Cabinet: see individual picture for details
   Rental Price: $15.00/wk

The styles we have available would be suitable for someone looking for something from the 1920s-60s, or something modern day with a vintage twist. Discounts available when renting multiple pieces at once, prices listed are for a single item, before HST.

Stay tuned to see some of the smaller set dressing items we have as well.

Bygone Theatre Rentals – Appliances

Bygone Theatre has finally gotten our  storage space sorted, which means we are ready to start renting out some of our great vintage pieces! Take a look at some of our larger items here; all prices listed are before HST. Please note that we are able to negotiate payment structures, and that discounts are available when renting multiple items at once. Email us at info@bygonetheatre.com with any questions, or to place an order; we require a minimum of 3 days notice for all prop rentals.

1. Vintage Fridge: used in Wait Until Dark, gorgeous late 50s/early 60s white fridge with dusty rose interior. Inside latch has been modified to make for easier opening. Rental Price: $75.00/wk

Vintage 1950s/60s Fridge: 32″ wide, 27″ deep, 63″ tall

Shannon Lahaie with Eric Miinch, Bygone Theatre’s Wait Until Dark.

2. Vintage Stove: used in Wait Until Dark, charming late 1940s white stove with oven.
Rental Price: $75.00/wk

Vintage 1940s white stove: 25″ wide, 23″ deep, 42″ tall

Bygone Theatre’s Wait Until Dark, with Dave Walpole as Carlino.

Bygone Theatre’s Wait Until Dark, with Shannon Lahaie as Susy.

3. Vintage 1950s Ringer Washer: used in Wait Until Dark, white General Electric washing machine with wringer, mid-50s, excellent condition.
Rental Price: $75.00/wk

4. Vintage 1950s Red Mini Fridge: Late 1940s/1950s, bright red mini fridge with chrome handle. Great for a photoshoot, or for a cafe/soda shop look.
Rental Price: $75/week

Stay tuned for much more, including vintage office supplies, props & costumes.

Theatre Magic: Brick by Brick

Our Production Assistant Janice Li was interested in learning some theatre production techniques, so set designer Jackie McClelland taught her how to make some inexpensive fake bricks for the exterior flat for “Dial M For Murder”.

Jackie started out by giving Janice this simple design: Window Flat exterior.

Janice’s first step was to cut out a bunch of cardboard “bricks” – keeping the size consistent was important, but the edges could look rough, just like real bricks.

We got this cardboard for free – 3 cheers for recycling!

Then Janice painted them all using Krylon Make It Stone paint (Jackie chose “Charcoal Sand”, but there are several different colours available.

Painted with Krylon Make It Stone paint

Jackie stressed that, like real bricks, there could be some small imperfections, but that it should still cover as much as possible.

The painted “bricks”

In the end, we had a very inexpensive, easy-to-do brick wall, as you can see here:

The finished product onstage

Of course there are many ways to achieve a similar effect;

I found an excellent post on how to make a very realistic faux brick wall, something that looks considerably harder but would be great it if was to be seen up close. That method is probably more for interior design than set design.

Another great post shows a similar but more labour-intensive version of what we’ve done, swapping out the cardboard for styrofoam which can be given a more “brick-like” texture.

And of course if you have more money, but less time, you can opt for the paintable wallpaper or panels, like they use in this post.

I’ve also seen especially skilled artists do amazing effects with just paint alone, but with all the great things you can use for depth and texture (not to mention my abysmal painting abilities) I don’t think I’d be trying that any time soon.

Do you have a great faux brick method you want to share? Leave a link in the comments.

-E.