You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not have ANY other classes, homework, or other commitments, and I'm telling you why. Tech week for theatre has arrived, and once you've reached this giant ball of re-dos, extended rehearsals, sleep deprivation, and tears, there's no going back. To those of you that actually read my last article, do you remember where I mentioned how I'd almost forgotten how much work went into putting on a play? I might have forgotten a good amount of what all goes down, but there's no way I could EVER forget tech week!
What's that? You don't know what tech week is? Did your mom or dad never force you into a school play when you were younger? Or have you just been living under a rock for your entire life?
Tech week can honestly be described in a single word that perfectly conveys the levels of agony and stress that it creates within the hearts of the actors, directors, and techies it involves: HELL! Sorry to all of my college friends out there for using the "H" word, but it's quite necessary here, I'd say. For crying out loud, the alternate name for tech week IS hell week! That should be enough to tell you that it's no joke whatsoever!
Alright, now that the introduction is out of the way and I feel a little better now that my semi-rant is over with, let's actually get into what tech week is all about, shall we?
Tech week is where you basically fully sell your soul to whatever production you've involved yourself with. You spend hours upon hours being re-positioned into various locations on the stage, while the director, or tech people, make use of the lights and sound effects to further enhance the scene in terms of atmosphere, tone, or mood. That being said, I'm sure by now you're wondering where the actors fall into this. Well, I DID say at the top of this paragraph how there'd be a ton of moving around, right? Well, that's the actor's job in all of this. They're moved around in certain spots until whoever's in the tech booth is satisfied. Doesn't sound too bad, right? That is, until, the actor is told to do the entire scene over again with the newly improved lighting and music.
But that's not all there is to it, oh no! Brace yourselves, because this is where it gets juicy! Mistakes from an actor on tech week is the equivalent of a death sentence. If you say the wrong line, forget it, move or even breathe the wrong way, the entire scene has to be redone, no exceptions. Perfection is key on this week, you guys, meaning that a single mistake could bring about the downfall of not just your own sanity, but everyone else's as well. Words can't describe the levels of anxiety one feels amongst their fellow actors and actresses, silently praying that none of them makes a mistake, that YOU don't make a mistake for fear of what would happen next.
It's a huge job that takes a huge amount of commitment and effort. Anything outside of it, like friends, family, social lives, food, schoolwork, and even classes if you were unfortunate enough to give yourself a class around the same time as it, become irrelevant in comparison.
But you know something, even with all of that I don't see tech week as a downside.
I know, right? Weren't expecting me to turn it around like that, were you? Let me explain. Tech week, while it IS a stressful time, gives you, your fellow actors, and everyone else involved a chance to polish everything you've done so far. The actual performance will be happening that week as well, so yeah, it's actually pretty helpful to get the chance to tweak everything just the right way. So if anything, tech week is a necessary evil. I still enjoy it though, because as an actor, it's in my DNA to aspire to make my own performance as great as it can be, and this is my big chance to do just that. So yeah, it might be a huge pain in the butt sometimes, and it makes me want to seriously maim someone, or something, half the time, but I still love it all the same. So before any of the theatre people in my feed, or on this site, try to bury me alive with reprimanding comments, know that I'm not bashing or complaining about tech week. If anything, this article is meant to relate to all of you that have gone, or are going, through this process. Not only that, you could also see it as a means to prepare any new aspiring theatre twinkies (I'm telling you, that title is going to stick) for what's going to happen in their near future.
So cry your eyes out now while you can, punch a wall, or drown your sorrows in food--you might want to do that anyway, since you can't really eat while working onstage--because once tech week fully comes around, if perfection wasn't already on your mind, it'll be pounded into it very quickly. But once it's over, once you've survived, and you will, you'll realize that it might have just been the most rewarding experience you've ever had.
