The upcoming fall play, “Much Ado About Nothing“, a Shakespearean comedy set in an Italian restaurant, is brought to life by the tech crew. Led by Brian McTier, the tech crew is constructing the sets, managing the lighting, and sound. They do a majority of the work that the audience does not see.

Being a part of the tech department includes building sets and props, managing lighting and sound, as well as making costumes and doing stage makeup on the actors. The tech department is vital to maintaining almost all aspects of the show, a lot of which the audience does not even consider.

Brea Davis, senior and lead actress, said without the tech crew, the actors would all just be standing around.

The set of this years fall play is an Italian restaurant which the entirety of the show will take place in. The set is called a “box set” in the theatre world because it completely takes up the stage with three walls. The student production will be showing the first two weekends of Nov.

“This is Shakespeare so you can expect it to be done a lot of different ways,” McTier said.

Above all, students gain valuable life skills from being on the tech crew that they would not normally learn in school. From building sets to doing makeup and costume design, the tech department is a great way to broaden a student’s horizons.

Gavin Boren, junior and student tech leader, has “learned how to build things” using power tools during his time on the tech crew.

The tech work is divided among students. Certain students with more experience are selected to be student leaders. The process of creating a professional show starts with picking the show, then designing the set. The directors will do the delegating and students do most of the work of building the set itself.

McTier said his favorite part of the process is “taking a project from literally an empty blank stage to having a finished product.”

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are more new students on the tech crew than ever. In fact, even juniors on the tech crew this year have only experienced one live show.

“We have a lot of new kids this year, thanks to Covid,” McTier said, “There’s going to be some learning curves.”

Finally, students can join the tech crew anytime during the school year. While most of the work for the fall play has been done there are upcoming opportunities for tech work including the winter One Act show and of course, the spring musical.

“It’s a good way to understand what happens backstage because people don’t know or don’t appreciate what happens,” Boren said.

The tech crew is appreciated for their work on and off the stage by their fellow actors. “It’s a fun group of people, it’s a very inclusive and safe environment,” Davis added.

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