In a term packed with unprecedented and powerful dramatic productions, some of the people most responsible for the successes of the plays are not the ones whom the audience sees acting and performing on stage.
The faceless individuals who work behind the scenes are some of the true engineers of the theater. They are the ones who make sure that the scenery, the props and the lighting in the theater contribute to the audience's total aesthetic enjoyment. Yet they are more often than not the most overworked and the least appreciated members of the production staff.
The work of the production staff is not only complementary to the acting, it is essential to the functioning of the play. For example, the drama department's production of the major project "The Beautiful People Die Twice" required an extraordinarily elaborate array of display cases and props.
Chance Whitmire '94, playwright of the "The Beautiful People Die Twice," believes that technical work should be required as a component of acting in a dramatic production.
"Technical work on the set of a production has helped me as a writer, an actor and has improved my performance," Whitmire said. "You gain an appreciation and a respect for backstage work."
"Because there is little recognition for technical people, people who do backstage work are often doing it for higher, more altruistic reasons," Whitmire added.
The very life of a production can depend on the efforts of the production staff. The completely student-run play "Coyote Ugly" was produced independent of the drama department. As a result, the students had to work with very limited resources.
In "Coyote Ugly" the emphasis is on the action and dialogue of the characters because it was performed in the middle of the Collis Common Ground without a technical stage. But Pavol Liska '95, the director of the play, said the technical staff is often underestimated.
"The main people of the production staff were the first ones who went into the play with me. With them, it was a team effort and everyone contributed to the play; it was based on a lot of personal input." Liska said.
Brian Cremins '95, the scene designer of "Coyote Ugly," ended up having to spend his own money in the production, despite the help of the drama department, which allowed the staff of the play to work in the scene shop and use some props.
Evelyn Waters '95, the stage manager of the play "Lawd Have Mercy," believes that the production staff and the cast should generally remain separate, but the staff is still very important. In "Lawd Have Mercy," she wanted the actors to concentrate on acting, while the crew stay behind the scenes.
"The actors needed to have a lot of committment, especially with the many rehearsals close to the time the play was about to go on," she said. "But the production staff was made of individuals who worked on different schedules."
Despite a certain lack of recognition for the long hours of work, directors, stage managers, technical crew and other members of the production staff are forced to push on in their developing of a show.
Useful for academics
Often times backstage work can be directly related to a person's academic work. Jen Trieloff '94, a drama major, has worked on nearly 30 productions in the last four years at the College. This term, he was the scene designer in "Lawd Have Mercy" and did much of the painting and design of the panels used in "Tom Thumb and the Author's Farce." He is using his work on the panels in a presentation as a part of his major project.
"I will show the techniques that I used to design the panels, such as using wallpaper or layering as a part of my presentation," Trieloff said. The production work he did this term, which amounted to nearly 40 hours a week, will be a part of his work for the drama major.
Many students also do technical work on the production staff for the work-study program. Carla Richters, the Hopkins Center costume shop manager, said, "Some of the people in the wardrobe crew are work-study students. They aren't making many of the artistic decisions, but they are helping to run the show." The costume shop provides a source for student involvement with dramatic productions every term.
Why get so involved?
When production staff are asked why they do all this work instead of gaining more recognition on stage, Aurora Leute '97, a stage manager of "TomThumb," said, "I love the people who do theater. The positive feedback I get from them is very rewarding. I don't act but I get recognized because it's my job to enable the actors to go out and get recognized."
"Everyone who works backstage and the actors form a sort of community. There's a lot of bonding in the play and everyone helps each other out," she added.
Waters said backstage work makes her feel attached to the show. "While backstage people might not get the same recognition that the actors do, you still feel attached to the play and know what you did. When the play comes on, you see all the hard work and your name in the program and it's a real rush," she said.
