‘Twas the dress rehearsal before opening night, when all through the theater department, not a techie was standing still, not even for a moment. The microphones were laid on the tables with care, in hopes that the actors would all be prepared.
Once every academic quarter, the Woodgrove Theater Department produces a new play for the school. However, the actors performing in the production oftentimes end up receiving the majority of praise from spectators, while the tech crew is overlooked.
The technical crew is made up of a multitude of roles, including the lighting crew, sound crew, run crew, makeup crew, costume crew, technical director, and stage manager. Each individual aspect of the tech crew has to work cohesively in order to help the play run smoothly for both the actors and the people watching. However, the tech crew also relies on superstitions to help their productions go well. Each time the theater department performs a play, each individual person has to pet a little gummy figurine called the “tech turtle” after the show. “If you don’t pet him after a show, the next show goes terribly wrong,” technical director Kennedy Dehler commented. “I have forgotten to pet him before. The mics broke the day after and the lighting was not working. It was a whole thing.”
Leading up to a big theater production, the theater department endures one to two weeks of what is called tech week. Throughout the course of the week, the theater department runs through the show with all of the technical aspects added in. This is done to ensure that everything will run smoothly come opening night. “In the real world we call tech week ‘hell week’, because it feels like literally everything that could go wrong goes wrong,” Mrs. Beverly Pruzina, the head of the theater department, expressed.
For Dehler, the ritual of tech week and the final rehearsal before opening night is something that has become familiar to her over the years. Dehler’s first theater production was the fall play Clue in 2022, and as she nears the end of her time at Woodgrove High School, Dehler has learned to find comfort in the ritualistic preparation for a show. “I enjoy the ritual of it, like putting out all of the microphones and that kind of stuff. It helps me to zen,” stated Dehler.
Although the actors and the tech crew take on very different roles, the skills of both groups are required to put on a production. Assistant technical director Gracie Vosburgh has been a member of the theater department ever since they took part in their first production, Grease, in the spring of 2024. During their time on tech crew, they have made connections with both the actors and techies and understand the necessity of both groups when it comes to putting on a show. “The actors really appreciate the tech and vice versa,” Vosburgh commented, “To do tech crew, you have to really be able to trust the actors, and the actors have to be able to trust you.”
Although it is not done at many high schools, Pruzina makes sure to incorporate the tech crew with the actors when a bow is taken after a show. “Oftentimes, crew members are the unseen stars of the show, and we really want to give them the opportunity to take a bow. They deserve it,” Pruzina expressed. While the actors are the centerpiece of a performance, a show cannot be a well-rounded production without a set of microphones and a sound board. A spotlight cannot shine on an actor without the help of the tech crew.