Bill Adkins

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William Adkins, CM (died March 28, 1982) was a Canadian noted for his 50 plus years service to amateur theatre. [1]

Contents

Early life

Adkins was born in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, [2] [3] circa 1889. [3] He left England for Canada circa 1911, [2] farming near Edmonton [2] [3] and working for the Hudson's Bay Company. [2] During World War I, he served with the Canadian Field Artillery in Europe. [2] [3] After the war, he returned to Canada, settled in Ottawa, and married Gertrude Helen Green, with whom he had two children. [3] He joined the Department of Indian Affairs, where he met Duncan Campbell Scott through whom he became involved in the theatre. [2] [3]

Theatre work

Adkins worked backstage on every production of the Ottawa Drama League (later the Ottawa Little Theatre) after 1920. [4] [5] Over many years, he worked as electrician, carpenter, scene shifter, [4] scene painter, [2] lighting operator, set designer, [6] [7] [8] set builder, [9] and, from 1927, stage manager. [2] [3] [4] [10] During World War II, Adkins arranged and stage managed shows for troops. [2] [11] Adkins continued as stage manager of the Ottawa Little Theatre after the war, travelling with it to the Dominion Drama Festival and other regional performances. [12] [13] He also supervised visiting stage managers when Ottawa hosted drama festivals, [11] and managed the stage and lighting for the outdoor theatre at a summer drama school for children. [14] Adkins was still stage manager at the time that the Ottawa Little Theatre burnt down in 1970, [15] and when it reopened after rebuilding in 1972, with improved stage facilities. [16] He retired from the theatre in 1979, [3] and died in Ottawa on 28 March 1982. [3]

Awards

Adkins received a 1960 Canadian Drama Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to Canadian theatre. [17] [18] [19] [20] In 1973, the first year it was awarded, he was invested with the Member of the Order of Canada, [21] [22] "for his 50 years' service to the amateur theatre movement in Ottawa and to the Dominion Drama Festival". [1] In 2013, during their 100th season celebrations, the Ottawa Little Theatre named him as a Cornerstone Inductee, an honor instituted for volunteers who made an extraordinary contribution to the development of the theatre. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Honours - Recipients - Mr. William Adkins, C.M." The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ketchum, W.Q. (24 August 1963). "Faces of Ottawa: William Adkins". The Ottawa Journal. p. 16. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ashley, Audrey M. (29 March 1982). "Former OLT manager dies". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 46. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Alford, Walter (30 November 1935). "Back Stage Staff Work Hard For Drama's Success". The Ottawa Journal. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Bill Adkins at L. Theater for 39 Years". The Ottawa Citizen. 15 October 1960. p. 20. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Frankham, Roger (3 January 1942). "Look For Man Behind Scenes When Play Is Great Success". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 26. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Thistle, Lauretta (26 April 1960). "Does Agatha Christie Despise Her Audience?". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 13. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Daley, Frank (7 January 1967). "Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Journal. p. 34. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Devlin, Edward "Ted" (1998). "3. "The Stanley Cup was a Centrepiece on our Dining-Room Table"". In Finnigan, Joan (ed.). Tallying the Tales of the Old-timers. GeneralStore PublishingHouse. p. 33. ISBN   9781896182957 . Retrieved 13 February 2019. Above all there was Bill Adkins, the English-born stage manager and set-builder, who put it all together and made it happen on stage.
  10. ↑ Meiklejohn, J.M.C. (Fall 1989). Johnston, Denis W. (ed.). "THEATRE IN OTTAWA IN THE 1930s: A MEMOIR". Tric/Rtac. 10 (2). Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Teen Corn Festival May Not Be So Corny". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1949. p. 11. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  12. ↑ Coates, Richard (21 March 1951). "Set Delivery Delay Sweats ODL Director". The Ottawa Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Pinocchio Packs His Bag And Marks It 'DDF, Rush'". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1951. p. 24 (S3). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  14. ↑ Cooper, Philip (12 July 1958). "Manotick Farm Is Now School For Thespians". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 21. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  15. ↑ McIndoe, Jane (4 July 1970). "The History of the Ottawa Little Theatre - A Tradition to Rebuild On". The Ottawa Journal. p. 6. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "Curtain goes up on Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Citizen. 29 January 1972. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "Bill Adkins Honored". The Ottawa Journal. 3 December 1960. p. 52. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  18. ↑ "Here and There: Award For Stage Manager". The Ottawa Citizen. 3 December 1960. p. 26. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  19. ↑ "Conversation Piece". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. 7 December 1960. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  20. ↑ "Little Theatre Play Tops Drama Festival". The Ottawa Journal. 20 March 1961. p. 9. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  21. ↑ Grantham, Ronald (9 April 1973). "Canadian honors system enters fourth stage". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 16. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  22. ↑ "Appointments made to Order of Canada". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. 23 December 1972. p. 35. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  23. ↑ "Cornerstone Inductees". Ottawa Little Theatre. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
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