Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rich Dionne on June 4, 2012 at 5:51am

Danielle,

I think this is a problem everywhere. Certainly it is at Purdue, where I teach. In the past, their stagecraft class has functioned very much like you describe yours, with projects that don't directly affect the shows we're producing. Unfortunately, I've come to believe that the students aren't blind to the fact that we're not trusting them to build things "of value," and this has the dual effect of reinforcing their own belief that they can't really do construction and the sense that the stakes of the work they do in class are low.

We're fortunate in that we have a relatively new directing graduate program, with studio productions that need some amount of shop support, but not to the same expectations as our main productions. This year for the first time, students in the stage craft class will provide the labor for building these productions (at least during the Spring semester, when the stagecraft course is offered). I'll confess to be curious how that works out.

This question is always a tough one for me. I sometimes fear that our level of expectations vis a vis scenery craftsmanship are unreasonably high in school; other than the set being safe, how perfect does it really need to be? What I mean is, don't stage craft students have just as much right to mess up in class as other students? After all, we've all seen more than our fair share of student acting performances that leave something to be desired...

Rich

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Danielle M. B. Curtis on June 4, 2012 at 8:53am

Thank you so much for you input, lots to think about!

Danielle

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laurie Jo Johnson on June 4, 2012 at 10:18am

Danielle,

I whole-heartedly agree with Rich. Although I teach stagecraft at the high school level and my class is a wide mix of interest levels, I am fortunate when I have in class one or more of the actors from the show we are building. Actors need to know what tech goes through to build a set, to create the acting space. In my case, the knowledge of how a set was built came in handy when part of a set broke at the end of a scene, and the actors that helped build that set were able to quickly rush in and fix the set piece. Unfortunately, our tech crews are never big enough to be able to spare one to fix a set piece. The other students in class also profit from getting to know the show a bit better through their interactions with the actors.

On the subject of mistakes, if you make sure to pair the actors with "trained" techies, the chance of mistakes is lessened. And mistakes are not permanent. Many of my general ed students learn tons of "option thinking" when they have to figure out how to fix an error very quickly.

My .02 worth.

Laurie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Danielle M. B. Curtis on June 4, 2012 at 2:14pm

How long of a build time do you have for your shows? We have five weeks from start to finish, I had an ATD and five Workstudy students....so I'm wondering how the time frame translates?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mattie Roquel Rydalch on June 16, 2012 at 12:52pm

Danielle,

I worked in the scene shop at the University of Idaho (in Moscow) for two years (2009-2011). Our designers were mostly juniors, seniors, and graduate students, but most of the people who built our sets were freshmen and sophomores from the technical theatre class. We had juniors and seniors as work studies and grad students and as teaching assistants (I was one of the latter). We split the students into groups to work with each of the work studies and TAs. We divided up parts of the sets and gave an assignment to each TA or work study and had that person oversee that project. This way a lot of the sets were built correctly the first time and the students learned how to work in groups. We didn't have to tear everything apart every time (sometimes we did, but that was usually because I had made the mistake!). We passed the students off on each of the tools along the way. We also had the course divided into a classroom portion and a lab portion. The class met in the morning and the lab met twice a week in the afternoon and ran for about two hours. Half of the students came in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other half came in on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fridays the students didn't come in--the TAs and work studies worked on the set. Or a student who needed more hours could come in on Friday. The other thing we did was have the students make a food prop at the end of the semester for their final. They came up with some really fun props and they were able to use the tools and paint and other materials to make the "fake food" of their choice.

I learned that because the students had worked with us since their first year, by the end of their time with us they were quite skilled. They had been working on sets for an extra couple of years because we had them start during their first year. Some of them started to specialize in lighting and sound and scenic design soon after. Some the students who started working with us as freshmen took awards at KCACTF later on. By senior year, they were ready and able to take on projects the faculty could tackle.

(Anybody from UI can correct me if I'm wrong).

I hope everything works out for you!

Mattie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lars Thorson on March 19, 2014 at 8:49pm

Teaching stagecraft is tricky because each teacher has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. I have always taught what I knew well, building and lighting, and found help through books, youtube, smart students, etc, to help with areas where I am weak -- sound, costumes, publicity. The more you can get your students to invest in the creation of the production, the better chance for success you will have. It's a hard subject to teach well.

• ▶ Reply