Setting the stage for Bright Star, tech theatre gets to work
Tech theater students are beginning stage construction for the theater departments fall musical, Bright Star. Unlike years past where sets were built from scratch, this year’s set of students will be conserving materials.
October 13, 2021
Set construction for Bright Star, the fall musical set to debut Dec. 2, is well underway with tech theatre classes building numerous pieces for the performances.
“We’ve started to build a lot of the movable pieces, like a picnic table, toolbox, an icebox, and yeah, we’re making a lot of progress,” sophomore Megan Daugherty said.
Along with those, there are a lot of non-movable pieces they will have to build as well.
“We haven’t been able to actually build on the stage yet, but I’m hoping by next week, we’ll actually be able to build the platforms,” tech theatre director Laura Darce said. “That way the actors can work with multiple levels instead of just pretending.”
For sophomore Ananya Kulkarni, building sets is something that she looks forward to.
“This is my first year in a non-virtual tech theatre class, so I’m actually able to work hands-on,” Kulkarni said. “I’ve been learning a lot about tools and saws and just building in general, so it’s been really fun. My favorite part is probably using the saws though.”
The theatre department builds their own sets from scratch every year, but this year, it is important that they use their resources sparingly according to Darce.
“We have wood already in the shop that we can use, but we need to make sure that we’re not wasting anything or making any mistakes when cutting, because we don’t want to have to buy more,” she said. “With everything going on with COVID, the prices of wood have gone up so much that we need to be really careful with what we have.”
According to Kulkarni, it’s a lot more complicated than it may seem.
“It’s not just drilling a bunch of wood together and hoping that it works; there are a lot of things that we have to think about,” she said. “First we have to design it based on what it’s being used for and the director’s vision. Then we have to cut the wood and actually do the building which can be complicated with a lot of the angles and things like that. But we also have to think about what type of wood we need to use, will it support the actor’s weight, is it too heavy for people to carry, and a bunch of other things like that.”
However, she is proud of what she has accomplished so far and is excited to see the end result.
