Jim Guy is a character. And--believe me--I say that with all the respect in the world. As the properties director (or czar) of Milwaukee Rep Guy heads up a prop shop staffed by six full time prop artisans. His staff includes a carpenter, soft props specialist (who happens to be Guy's wife), shopper, crafts specialist, graphics specialist, and one go-to rover type.

Guy loves the work he does and hopes to inspire future prop artisans and help guide them toward the respect and passion that he has for theater. According to Guy, one of his missions in life is to “spread the gospel of props.” He does this through his work with The Society of Properties Artisans & Managers (you guessed it, SPAM), as well as giving master classes for tech theater students across the country. Besides having spent the last nearly ten years as the head props person at one of the country's most respected LORT theaters, Guy also spent several years teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he founded one of the nation's few MFA programs for props. Unfortunately, upon his return to professional theater, the program fell apart (there are, however, still a few out there--see Academic Programs in Technical Theater to find them).

“Part of what [prop artisans] do is support the performances,” he says, discussing the ins and outs of creating props that can be appreciated by the audience while adding to the world of the play in order to boost a performer’s connection to the text. “I’m not the one that people are paying to see,” he reminds us. “People aren’t paying to see the furniture.” Of course, there is more to props than furniture building, and Guy has done his share in the sometimes wacky world of props.

His beginnings in theater were auspicious. Coming from an undergraduate life that focused on becoming a librarian, his skill and training as a researcher gave him a leg up in the world of props, and after delving into the professional theater at the Cleveland Playhouse, he went on to earn his MA in Theater from Kent State University in Ohio. Eventually, he landed as a professor of theater at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But after seven years in this position, Guy began to worry that continuing indefinitely in academic theater would harm his students’ability to learn from a working professional, and it was keeping him from the regional theater he loved. “As soon as I had the opportunity, I went back to professional theater,” he says. “It’s different from doing any
other kind of theater.”

More info on Guy, as well as a few examples of the work of his shop has done at Milwaukee Rep can be found in this story. If you are interested in participating in one of Guy's master classes, or would like his advice on pursuing a career in props, he can be reached via email at jguy@milwaukeerep.com