When One Act Play is brought up in conversation, the first thoughts that may come to people’s minds are the actors on stage and the extravagant costumes. For the tech crew, however, their minds immediately shift to lighting, fog and how to manage building a two-story set.

This season, the tech crew for “Blithe Spirit” won many awards, including Best Overall Tech Crew at the District One Act Play competition. The crew members include: Dalan Jones, Richard Warner, Shawn Blair, Sarah Middlebrooks and Cade Bonin, who received a tech award at the Regional contest. Jones, a junior, was given a tech award at the Area performance of the play.

“With ‘Blithe Spirit,’ it’s the biggest set we’ve ever had,” Jones said. “That also went hand in hand with moving complications. It was always a chore to load everything properly and unload (going) to and from contest sites. We always had to make sure we had every set piece with us, which involved us going over a list we had put together that detailed every single piece we needed to bring.”

Along with the challenges of making sure all the lighting and sounds are accurate, the crew has learned many new things they can apply in years to come.

“We’ve learned that we are completely able to set up an enormous set under UIL rules,” Jones said.
“This involved Set and Strike in under seven minutes. The set is key to this show, which we will continue to remember moving on to next year. We know our capabilities and intend to do even better next year. Every year you learn something new, and you face new challenges that you must overcome. Thankfully, we have a group of skilled technicians that don’t miss a beat with our work.”

According to theater director Cory Broom, this year’s tech students have proven to be nothing less than above average and are some of the best around.

“They work extremely hard in class, after school and on the weekends, in addition to when the actors rehearse to ensure a successful production,” he said.

While the actors in the play have the responsibility of memorizing their lines, the tech crew has the responsibility of making the play come to life – even though they are not often seen by the audience.

“In shows, we ensure that the actors have lights, sound, and backstage assistance,” Jones said. “This includes having special effects and LED lighting. During our tech class, we build set pieces for our current show or repair our existing set pieces that may be damaged during our competitions or transportation. With having to move the set pieces and using them in the show, they often had to go under routine maintenance, which involved repainting, refinishing stain, and repairing broken pieces. In a catastrophic case, we may have a main set piece break that’s crucial to our show. That actually happened to us a day before our Area contest.”

Senior stage manager Shawn Blair said the best part about being on tech crew is the ability to shock and awe people during productions without actually having to be on stage and be seen.

In past years, the tech crew has wowed the audience by going above and beyond what a normal crew does. In the fall production of “Radium Girls,” the crew filled the set with an eerie green aurora throughout the play and had an abnormally large clock hanging on the set.

“I’ve enjoyed being a part of tech these past two years,” Jones said. “We have a group that works very hard to be the best we can be. One Act Play competition is very stressful but very rewarding. I have made some great friendships. We are all one big family.”