Week 10 at Hangar

This is my second to last week working at the Hangar Theatre. Seussical Jr. opened today and this week of tech has showed me the true complexities of being a theatrical designer. One must be able to protect both the design and the people building said design. Designers must work to create a tangible representation of the production team’s vision. However, there are always budgetary constraints placed on designs and so the vision must therefore be obtained within those constraints. This is also true in terms of time allotted to a shop. If a shop is building two shows simultaneously they must split the time allotted between those shows evenly. Over the course of this summer we have produced fourteen shows with only one shop working. This means that designers must be understanding of not only budget but also time. This becomes even more apparent when entering tech. For a scenic designer there should be very few build notes for the scene shop but there can be many prop and paint notes. This means that shops will need to be working constantly while the show is actively being teched on stage. Thus, props must be taken to the shop when not on stage and returned for their next scenes; painters must come in after tech to paint flats and other scenic units being used on stage. Thus, when there are notes beyond the shop’s capabilities designers must be flexible. This is a very important responsibility. I have learned that I am willing to stand up for my shop’s time and balance my design on their abilities. I can get frustrated when the vision is not achieved but this rarely occurs. I have learned that theatre is very difficult but extremely rewarding. Even with such a tight budget I am still extremely proud of the work I produced.

This week’s highlight is the opening of my first professional show. I will post photos next week in my final blog entry.