Tech week.
Those two particular words, when placed in that particular order, become a particular phrase that wields great power. This phrase can strike fear in the heart of the most seasoned director. It has been known to create great excitement and anticipation in the minds of actors. Perhaps most importantly, this phrase has the power to make a whole cast freak out so much that they band together out of fear and become a single, driving force with one goal: put on a good show.
For all you non-thespians out there: tech week is the period of time when a cast gets serious and practices a play the way they are going to perform it at the shows. If you don't know your lines by now, I think the director gets to sell you as a test subject to scientific research. Tech week means hours of dress rehearsals, blocking, sitting still while people slather your face with foundation, re-blocking, hot costumes, standing still on stage doing nothing while the light crew figures out what lighting works best in your scenes, re-re-blocking, sitting still and being quiet so that people can actually work, practicing sound and light ques, and then going home for some sleep before you drive to the theater to do it all over again the next day. It pretty much becomes your life.
You've probably guessed by now that my theater group, HTT, is now in the middle of tech week. Actually, tech weeks. Yes, we habitually spend two weeks in this manner whenever we put on a show. Great for the show, not so good for the sanity of actors (whose sanity, I might add, was never quite confirmed in the first place).
Believe it or not, I actually enjoy tech week, most of the time (just not the energy crash I get when I go home at the end of the day). I love acting, and I've found it's always easier to get into character if I'm wearing a costume on stage. And I really like the way that everything comes together and the show becomes better and better.
But because everything is still being worked out, there are some funny and embarrassing moments. For instance, a completely silent fight scene (the guy at the sound board wasn't paying attention). Or yesterday, when the evil fairy entered in one scene, someone played the wrong sound effect so that instead of the sound of thunder there was gentle, cheerful music. But after all, I guess this is the whole reason that we rehearse: so that we don't make those same mistakes during the actual show.
If I had to choose something to dominate my life for two weeks, tech week wouldn't be a bad way to go. I get to see my friends every day, and, of course, I get to act. As a close friend of mine always used to say, "The play's the thing."
~Naddie
