Childs’ work has been displayed at the Prague Quadrennial, where the production that he lit for set designer Ladislav Vychodil won the Gold Medal for Scenography. Among Childs’ favorite designs was the production of Not About Nightingales, which was produced at Sam Houston State in 2003. Nightingales brought him a number of awards including an invitation to exhibit in the inaugural World Stage Design exhibition in Toronto in 2005. Childs was named Artist of the Year by Texas Educational Theatre Association in 2007.
Childs began his theatrical career at the San Francisco Actors Workshop during the 1960s. During his tenure with the Workshop he spent his summers at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (for five years) working as a technician, lighting designer and finally as technical director.
When the Workshop founders went to New York to take over the Lincoln Center Theatres, Childs returned to college, where he obtained a BA from the University of Iowa and an MFA from Indiana University. A teaching career has taken Childs from San Diego to Montreal and many places in between. At the time of his death, Childs was teaching and designing at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
In 2006, Childs and his wife, Jane Childs, founded the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas, an 8-week summer training program. The Institute will go ahead with their 6th season beginning in June 2012.
In addition to his professional roles as educator and designer, Childs was also the chair of the Southwest region of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) and a member of USITT, IATSE-USA 829 and IAAM.
Along with his wife, Childs is survived by a daughter, Tera Lynn Childs. A celebration of Childs’ life is planned for the upcoming USITT annual conference in Long Beach, CA on March 31. Memorial donations are being accepted for the Don Childs Student Opportunity Scholarship at USITT, which will pay the registration fees for students wishing to attend USITT national conferences. They should be sent to USITT, Re: Don Childs, 315 South Crouse Avenue, Suite 200, Syracuse, NY 13210.
