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The world behind the front: Stage Tech
The underlying heart of the theatrical experience
Oct. 31, 2023
Selena - RCP Newspaper
Drama room at Palmer Secondary, curtains and set piece
Behind every great theatre production is a great production team full of orchestras, sets, lighting, and costuming. To support the vision of a play, the setting is brought to life by the immensely hard work of the design crew.
In high school productions, the set design and props are usually done by all of the students involved, creating different elements to represent different locations and items that are unique to the play being produced. This builds a sense of intimacy in the stage where the actors can connect to the set that's been built more deeply because of their involvements in its creation. On the chance that it is not, other students are grouped in "stage crew" where they are in charge of the design for the actors on stage.
Ceiling of Palmer Secondary Drama room, colour-changing lights
Another important part of the set is lighting. The drama room at Palmer recently had new lights implemented to be able to change colours to create more immersion during a production, and are multifaceted in functions where they can flicker or stay static.
The lighting is important because it sets the tone for the scene, in which it could be a spotlight or a different colour to signify a change in time period, location, etc. The lights are operated in a room above the seating area which have a spiral staircase that lead up to them from the stage, and students get to follow and support the characters with their emphasis through lights to help the audience understand what happens more clearly.
The effort for these sets and lighting is all very collaborative, as with costumes and such students often bring in their own things from home to help make them, as well as props and sets, and has a special kind of teamwork within the group that produces the play.
The work that goes into making and bringing a play to life is not done without collaboration, and oftentimes the elements that create the world around the characters are not recognized because of their subtle nature, being in the background, but they are incredibly essential for a show to thrive and sustain its accuracy.
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