Every show works like an ecosystem. There are so many moving parts that go into making that ecosystem thrive, and without all of those parts, it simply doesn't work. Godspell, and every other show done at Wooster, has followed this same rule. The parts that make up our ecosystem are these: the actors, whom you see on stage and attribute most of the work to; the stage managers, who run the show; and, finally, the techies, would are responsible for letting the audience see the actors and hear the actors, who clothe the actors, and who create sets for the actors to play on. Without all of these parts, there is no show, and no ecosystem.

We all need each other to put on a show, but a lot of people don't know much about one of the hardest working groups of our team, the tech crew. Today I sat down with Holly Tomaino '18 and Aden Mariyappa '17, two of the leaders of theatre tech, to learn more about everything they do.

The first thing I asked about was what tech does for a show, which turns out to be, well, everything. Anything you see on stage was created by tech, from the sets behind the actors to the mics letting them be heard.

"We design the sets, we build the sets, we manage props, make props, gut props, design costumes," Aden told me, along with lighting and sound.

Finding the perfect props and designing a beautiful set are things that take a lot of time, and to take on anything of that magnitude, you need a strong team behind you, which tech clearly has.

"There's a very unique atmosphere in there," Holly shared, "I've never been in anything, and this is a very uniquely tech thing, where we all teach each other, instead of one teacher teaching everyone. The students who have been there longer are more encouraged to teach the kids who haven't been. I have my little patch of kids who I've been teaching... it's like I've been raising them. I do costumes and lights, those are my things, so I kind of proctor those areas."

"It's different for people who are just starting from people who have been doing this for a while," Aden said about the experience. "Holly and I, alongside doing our main things, are teaching other people how to do them."

"It's a team effort," said Holly, "I have seniority, but I still have to work in tandem with everyone."

According to the two, it definitely becomes this very familial thing. Teaching each other how to do everything, putting in all of this grunt work as a team results in a very strong bond, especially when passing down tasks to one another.

"I know that I will eventually have to pass on the torch to the new branch of techies. Right now I'm teaching Zoey how to do lights, but Kimmie taught me, Annie taught Kimmie. It's like a whole legacy of people, which is another uniquely tech thing," Holly told me.

Tech theatre works extraordinarily hard to put everything together, especially with so few people. This is something that isn't always known or appreciated about them.

"Oh yeah, it's very labor intensive. A lot of people don't know that we built this from the ground up, or how much work goes into it. They'll look at the set and think, 'Oh, that's very nice,' but they don't realize it took us like, two months to build. And a LOT of planning, many mistakes."

The group designed the set themselves, and then built it in its entirety. The massive panels behind the actors were hand-built out of wood and styrofoam, a project started near the beginning of the trimester and finished a few weeks ago. The intricate painting on the floor was done by tech, all of the props were tracked down by tech, members spent weeks creating costumes, and they run everything behind the scenes. Students run the sound, students run the lights, which also took months to design. It's a ridiculously hard job, but one that everyone in tech takes with stride.

One thing they wouldn't mind having more of however? Recognition.

"I'd love it if people recognized everything we do," Holly shared, "I would feel better if they knew we existed kind of, because we're so easily forgotten but our job is so important, so it's a wonder we're forgotten at all. People forget to give us credit all the time and it's like, we were running the entire show. You never hear anyone talk about it. We're kind of in the shadows, which is our job, but it's always nice to be appreciated, you know?"

Tech is one the most essential parts to making any show work, and something that we often take for granted in our program. The entire team along with Kim Gerardi, the technical director of our show, and Suzzi Immarigeon, the lighting designer, deserve all of the credit in the world. Thank you, for all that you do.

Come out to recognize the hard work that the techies, the stage managers, and the actors have put in over the past three months today at 7:30pm, tomorrow at 2pm, and tomorrow night at 7:30pm. Student tickets are $5 at the door.