Aly Murphy 8538816

THE1101 Introduction to the Practice of Theatre: Backstage

Prof. Jonathan Lockhart

18 April 2017

Crew Hours (And Lack Thereof) Report

As perhaps evidenced by my attached crew log, I struggled to meet the crew participation

hour requirements of this class. Between a university transfer audition in Chicago, an Ottawa-

wide musical theatre competition (that I somehow managed to win), a 20 hour/week job at a call

center, and two performing arts internships (one based out of Chicago, and one out of

Baltimore), its been busy, and I did not necessarily give this class and its assignments the full

attention I know they deserved. I make no excuses for my lack of participation; I wish Id been

able to handle my time better. I wish Id prioritized my coursework over my myriad of other

commitments. That being said, I did manage to complete a few crew hours for this class, and I

did gain some important insight from these excursions.

As part of the Friday afternoon lab, I worked with my section to hang lights for

uOttawas production of The Marriage in Academic Hall. Having never been up on a ladder,

never mind having been shown how to hang and focus lights from such a height, this was a new

and important experience for me. I have always stuck strictly to onstage work, with the exception

of a few directing projects, and I know that by participating in the lab-wide lighting hang, I

gained skills that I may use again in my future theatrical endeavors. By knowing how to safely

scale a ladder and hang a Leko, I may be of use as part of a future production team. Even if I

mainly choose to stay onstage as an actor or in the house as a director, I may be able to provide

some insight to technical theatre novices, which is an undoubtedly useful tool.

 Another part of the THE1101 lab experience that I will almost certainly use again was

learning how to operate a sound board. As a musician who has often found herself at a loss for

what to do when setting up her speakers, keyboard, and microphone, learning how to correctly

wire these devices was invaluable. Even though I struggled a bit with the practical exam for this

component of the class, I still learned some important basics of how to manage sound for a show:

never use the phantom power button unless you are certain you need to do so, never face your

speakers towards your microphone, et cetera. Whether rigging a basic coffeehouse-style setup for

a gig or playing a Qlab file for a production, I am certain that knowing how to use a run-of-the-

mill sound board will be important in the future.

Outside of labs, I was able to complete approximately four crew hours as a crab for

uOttawas French production of Le Chant du dire-dire. Lighting for this show was rather

complex, as the set was multi-leveled and featured various pieces of jagged wood obscuring the

audiences view. Working as a crab showed me just how precise theatrical lights need to be in

order to produce the desired effect; if they are at the wrong angle even by a single degree, the

entire stage picture becomes distorted or washed out. By interacting with the director, stage

manager, and lighting designer, I also noticed just how ubiquitous theatre has the potential to be.

Everyone in the theatre spoke varying levels of English and French; I and another crab, Valrie,

were bilingual. The director spoke mostly French, and the lighting designer only spoke English.

The other crabs in our group spoke no French and only a little English. Despite the varying

languages and viewpoints in the theatre, we were still all able to work together to effectively

focus the lights on their intended targets even the dire-dire itself, which was a bizarre glass jar

seemingly filled with color-changing fairy lights.

 Though perhaps not my main priority this semester, this class and its subsequent crew

hours taught me skills I am certain I will use again, both in my time at university and in my

eventual career. If anything, this course taught me the importance of time management and

learning to place importance on tasks that might not necessarily be immediately fun or

rewarding. The rehearsal process, by its very nature, places dependence on waiting around while

other teams work to make different components as perfect as they can be; this is often boring, but

necessary to produce a cohesive and gratifying final product. Though I wish Id had more time to

spend in Academic Hall with the theatre department, I am thankful for the skills I was able to

procure and apply during my time in Theatre 1101.