When you go to see your favorite plays at your local theatre or even on Broadway, you can't help but wonder at times how amazing the actors are or even how amazing the set itself looks. Well, behind the show you have your theatre techs. They work hours upon hours a day to help make a directors vision on stage a reality from gathering props to building the set into a masterpiece from nothing.
Tech theatre is a completely different experience from being on stage. Techs are usually set up in different categories such as your stage manager, audio and sound crew, video crew, wardrobe, etc. the stage manager is especially important to the crew because they have to analyze the script and setup cues for all the other techs.
The audio and sound crew help get the scene set in more detail focusing more on the audience's auditory senses. With that being said, they help set up the cast of actors with microphones at times to be heard and even help set up everyday sounds, such as raining, if called for within the play.
The video crew sets up with just as you would think; video. They also help make the set look like a replica of the director’s vision while still helping with visual cues such as flashes of light to replicate that of lightning. Your video and audio crew must be in singular unison to compliment one another’s given part on stage.
The truth is the entire tech crew is usually in unison to better help one another and help develop the show. The wardrobe helps the actors uniquely by setting up the costumes for the individual characters. The set built by the tech crew is always more complex than that of which the audience thinks, due to the fact of some sets having to have electrical work done. Others even have plumbing put in just to help incorporate that of realism to the play.
The set starts off as a simple idea in the director's head, which is the sketched out onto paper. From there a blueprint is made and the real work begins. The first step is reviewing the blueprints to make sure there are not contradicting problems with the sets setup. The prototype of the set is developed in to help get a better idea of how it would look. Step three is to start building. They usually start with the base, getting platforms set up on stage and then moving onto the walls like building a house. After the walls are setup, detail is added into the scene. Small props such as side tables, books, and even dishware help bring a small set to a more realist view. In some plays, the set changes in its entirety, going from a forest like scenery to the inside of a house between acts.
Though the actors are credited for a lot of work with the play, it is the techs who help bring it all together an make the show more amazing.
