What is is truly like for theater majors in the midst of tech week.
Productions of shows usually have four stages of preparation. All this builds up to one final stage, being the stage it's all performed on. HA! Joke! My humor's terrible right now. I'm writing this article at the last minute before it's due, and if I don't finish it soon, I'm going to miss my first class of the day. If I do, I'm sleeping. These are all signs that I am a part of a community that has entered stage three of preparation.
The first stage is auditions and warm up rehearsals. Second stage is blocking rehearsals. Third stage is tech week. Tech week is when the cast and the crew have full tech runs, final dress and lengthy penultimate rehearsal before a likely warm-up performance with a small audience of the production team. Then it moves onto stage four, which is the performance itself.
Stage three and stage four together form the complete tech week. It. Is. Hell. A hell that's worth it for what theater majors do, but hell all the same. You wanna experience tangible delayed gratification? Go to a theater after tech week.
Here is a rundown of what tech week is like for theater majors.
No plans. There are no more plans for this week. You're booked. Friends want to invite you to a late night party? lol don't kid yourself. You're not going. It's tech week. You're in that theater until ten, and classes in the morning
The only free time you have is after classes, because later that day, you're in the theater. When tech week rolls around, you're merely a piece of barnacle ingrained into the side of Davy Jones's ship. No escape. Part of the crew, part of the show. Part of the cast, part of the show.
Another reason why we can't do anything after rehearsals is because most of us have homework. This description of tech week is just for college students too! Imagine doing this professionally.
Speaking of time consuming, all theater departments love to flaunt the fact that their hair and makeup department is great. Crew doesn't get to be seen on stage, so when they have influence over something that does get to appear on stage you'd better believe they're going to make it lavish.
Nothing has the ability to look more stunning than people's hairstyles. The moment that cast list goes up, you'd better tuck into the back of your head who the hair stylist is because eventually you will be bending your locks to their will.
Do you understand how long it takes for the actors on stage to make their hair look that way? It's ridiculous. Every time you quietly mutter a compliment about an actor's nice haircut while watching a show, the person who styled their hair's migraine goes away.
It's no cakewalk for the crew either. Anxiety fills the air like a faulty fog machine that just won't work on cue. They're likely lying awake at night wondering what they did wrong in a past life that made them deserve to have static on their headset.
Cast and crew work together in harmony. Neither can exist without the other. But sometimes there's conflict. It's not a bad, violent conflict. It's very, very petty. I'm not talking Montague and Capulet, but more like Batman and Superman.
But when a prop is misplaced by an actor, the prop's head will fight the urge to put that actor's head on their prop list. When an actor is waiting for their sound cue, and they stand on stage in silence, you'd better believe the only sound you can hear is the resentment the actor holds for the sound crew.
OWU's theater is in tech week right now, and if you didn't know--*stares at publicity crew*
We're all so engrossed in our jobs, that we forget how hard it is for everyone else in the department.
It's tech week. We're going to hit a wall of fatigue together as a cast and crew. We're gonna pull each other's hair out as a cast and crew. We're gonna cry together as a cast and crew. But you won't see this anguish because we're actors. We're not here to display our sorrows and scars from our hard work, we're here to perform for you and give you what you want. You just want to have a good time.
And you can have a good time. Ohio Wesleyan Department Of Theater And Dance is putting on a musical review about legendary songwriter Cole Polter. It's called "RED, HOT, and COLE," and it's showing in Chappelear at April 15 and 16 at 8:00 p.m. It's also showing on April 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Wow! That's this Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
Go to it. Give us an audience.
