Behind the Booth
Inside story of what its like to be an actor learning the ropes of tech.
Throughout all of high school, I’ve been happily active in Theatre Productions; particularly active on the stage. I have portrayed roughly 13 roles and loved every minute of it. I understand the essence of it all: you learn your lines, you formulate a character, and you perform for a crowd. While finding my technician resume to be scarce, I also found that I was rather clueless when it came to a light board. I decided to interview to be the light technician for the upcoming Varsity show: Miracle on 34th Street.
I went into production knowing absolutely nothing; I’m not exaggerating, I was completely new to the tech booth. I remember my first lesson was how to turn the light board on and off: this took me a few times to perfect. From then on I learned about subsets, light placement, and the difference between an LED light and a working light. This might sound completely foreign to you and it was to me too; but in all honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. The show is this week, and I find myself learning new things every day. I am nowhere near perfect but I have acquired some basic skills.
Don’t give me wrong, I am thankful and excited to be a part of a learning opportunity; but it has not been easy. Sometimes I’ll find myself in a lighting rut and it’s really frustrating. Other times it is a lot of fun: I get to sit in the booth with my good friend, Sofia Hernandez, who is working on sound for the show and play with color LED lights whenever I deem necessary.
Going into the process I was really afraid that I would mess up horribly but I am glad that I challenged myself and I encourage everyone to do the same. If it makes you nervous, do it! You never know what anxieties you could conquer if you simply push yourself.
Elizabeth is a senior at WHS and is also the Vice President of Theatre Productions. She enjoys writing, performing, and spending time with her friends...