It is that week every actor and crew member dreads and loves tech week. For those that don't what tech week is, it is the week leading up to opening night where it seems like everyone gets sick and tired. To anyone going through this process right now I can tell you that it usually one of the most frustrating weeks in any theater person's life. No matter the show, or how smooth the show went before this trying week, something will go wrong. Usually the entire show, to be honest.
It is a safe bet that he first run-through of a show with lights and costumes will be tough. Rehearsal can stretch on for hours, leaving everyone involved frustrated. A scene that had been running smoothly before can go down the drain during tech week. Actors and crew hate this week due to what seems like hours waiting for just one thing to go right. They will also tell you one thing:
IT'S WORTH IT.
There is nothing more thrilling, and exciting than opening night. It makes all the tiredness from the from the week go away, though it will return the following week. Usually, if a show has a bad pre-opening-night rehearsal, then the rest of shows will be great. Plus, there is just something magical about putting on costumes for the first time.
They add an extra piece to the unfinished project that isn't completed until opening night. The strike is probably the second-worst day of tech week, not because things go wrong (they never do during the strike), but because the sadness of knowing that you will never work with some of these people in a theater production ever again. To me that is the hardest part of the entire week, knowing that you might never get the chance to work with certain actors or crew members ever again. The cast party does make up for it a little bit, though not entirely.
So in short, tech week is both Heaven and torture. You are happy that it has arrived, but happy when it's over.
(Regarding the title, I know a different word probably would fit the title better, but my mom reads these articles. So no cursing here.)
Thanks for reading!
