By Forest Nichols, Special to Nighthawk News
Sitting in a far corner of the dark auditorium, it is very easy to just notice the actors performing on the stage. Look a little closer, though, and you’ll notice the props being used, like the sword the main character swings, or the forestry scene in the background, or maybe even the people dressed in black running to move things on and off the stage.
This is where technical theater, more commonly known as backstage theater, comes into play.
There is so much to be done for a play or musical to take place other than just the actors memorizing their scripts. Costumes must be put together, background scenes must be built, props need to be found, makeup needs to be planned, microphones need to be set up – the list goes on and on. All of these things are done by the students in technical theater, which covers everything that is needed for a production besides the acting.
The teacher behind it all is Monica Penn. She is in charge of everything technical when it comes to the FFHS StageKraft Theatre program.
“It’s a real passion of mine,” Penn said. “I love design. I went to school for theater.”
Though Penn is in charge of it all, it’s really the students pushing it all along. The backstage crew can include 30 or more students as StageKraft continues to grow. Kit Liverman, a junior, worked on sets and props for the school’s fall production of “She Kills Monsters.” When asked what the most important job in tech theater is, he answered with, “Probably stage managers. They run the whole thing, but everyone has equal parts to the show.”
Everyone also shares in the long hours getting a show ready, from early rehearsals to the marathon “last 10 days” before showtime.
“You definitely have to be focused. You can’t be there just to be there,” Liverman said. “It takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it.”
Junior Levi Moldovan was a part of the running crew and helped with costumes for “She Kills Monsters.” Running crew is the people who zoom quietly across the stage, moving things on and off, which really explains its name. But sometimes, the space behind the action can get a bit crowded: “For running crew, I actually hate how tight backstage can get,” Moldovan said.
Some people in technical theater have more than one job they are responsible for. Moldovan enjoyed working with costumes the most.
“Digging through the costume racks is my favorite part,” he said, before pausing to offer one complaint: “Those costume racks are disgusting, though.”
All the hours spent doing all the different tasks for each show means the students in theater are all close with each other even though they found their way backstage for different reasons and to do different jobs.
“I saw a community of people that are very nice and I wanted to be a part of it. You can talk to these people and open up to them,” senior Bowen Lesiewicz said. “I will miss the community. The theater community is something special.”
Freshman Forest Nichols wrote this story for his Intro to Publications semester project. He can be reached at nicholsve9882@daretolearn.org.
