by James Olny

Created on: February 14, 2007   Last Updated: April 07, 2007

Getting involved in community theatre is an incredibly rewarding undertaking, and I suggest it to everyone who isn't sure what they want to do, has free time on their hands and doesn't mind churning out a bit of work to to produce a beautiful piece of art.

When going into theatre, you can either become and actor, or a "techie." Now, I don't know anything about acting, as I have never acted myself, and won't pretend to as I'd simply end up misleading you. As far as technical theatre goes, it is often over looked and understaffed, which is unfortunate because just like actors, you can't make a good show, much less a show a all without a technical crew. There are a plethora of breeds of tech workers in the realm of theatre, community or otherwise, enough that at least one if not more would undoubtabley suit the interest of just about anybody of any interest and any skill level. Here I will detail these "breeds" and variety of technical jobs.

First off is Stage Hands. Stage hands are what are generally referred to as "run crew." They run the shows, simply put. Stage hands include jobs like mopping and sweeping before house opens, running spot light, Flying scenery in and out on a fly line system, opperating machinery, or even running a sound or lighting console, etc. This, simply put, means that anyone who can push a broom, lift a box, push a "GO" button or pull a rope can succesfully run a show.

Because a stage hand is a RUN of show worker, they will often double as carpenters during Pre-production (building/designing/setting up the show) A carpenter is exactly what you think it is. It is someone who cuts wood, welds, builds sets and does the general scenic construction for the play. Carpenters work with a very wide variety of tools, including but nowhere near limited to table saws, radial arm saws, band saws, chop saws, steel shop saws, tiger saws, power drill, circular saws, drill presses, various welders (arc/MIG), pneumatic staple guns etc etc et al. If you like working with your hands and with wood and/or steel, and love to build, being a theatrical carpenter may just be right up your alley.

Next is costume crew. Costume crew is responsible for the design and construction of all clothing worn by the actors at any given point (unless they directly use it, then it's a prop). Costume crew is an unfortunatley overlooked part of technical theatre, because it is actually just as important and difficult to design as lighting, scenic, sound, projection or whatever else.

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