Often in life, we only see a small portion of what goes on behind the scenes. We enjoy the results without seeing the full process.
One example of this is the plays, musicals and productions put on by the Arlington High School drama and stage production program. The side that we see the least is the crew and tech aspect of the productions. From stage hands, to stage managers, to spotlight operators and mic board operators, and every job in between. They all play a vital role in the final production.
Assistant stage manager Kirstyn Barker describes how crucial the fly position is. “Fly can kill someone.” Barker said “Like I said before, with the big, the main curtain … is about 200 pounds, and it’s all just controlled by one rope system of pulling it up and down.” Barker said.
The crew positions are not only pivotal to the productions but also paramount to the safety of all who participate in the productions. One of the biggest players in the tech side of the productions, Tech Director Steve Cooper, spoke on the importance of the set being done by the time opening day rolls around.
“Well, the first thing we have to do is build the set.” Cooper said “So that’s the biggest thing right now for the first two months of the semester is building the set… Then everything else sort of falls into place,” Cooper said.
Head Stage Manager Jack Hamilton-Roberts spoke extensively on the importance of the stage managers. “A really big part of crew, at least on my perspective, is staying organized because I’m involved in almost every single moving part. So not only am I directly involved with making sure actors know their lines and their places of where they need to be,” said Roberts “but I’m also instructing my spotlights of who to follow. I’m instructing stage hands of where to go and what to push and what to take off stage. I’m instructing my props managers on where props need to be if they’re in the wrong location.” Roberts said.
“Getting people to work together sometimes can be difficult because people have a lot of different opinions on things,”Aurora Cooper, Mic Director said.
