Throughout the month of October, The Harley School ran Out of the Box theater every Saturday in the courtyard. People lined up to watch the weekly Covid-safe performances, marvelling at both the excellent acting and the actors’ dedication to be out in the cold fall nights in costume. But the cold weather, rain, and wind affected more than just the actors.
Probably the most often forgotten parts of any performance are the tech and stage crew. From manning lights, mics, and sound effects to changing the set in between scenes and plays, the ‘crew’ keeps a play running and are a massive factor in the enjoyment by the audience of the performance. But being outside presents a whole new set of challenges for both the actors and crew.
Most obvious, of course, is the weather. On the day that I photographed backstage, it was a clear night, but on a few of the dress rehearsals, it rained up a storm. Fortunately, on those days, the crew was able to put speakers in bags, and the running lights were hot enough to evaporate any water that leaks into them. However, the rehearsal itself was a mess of putting up tarps to shield the delicate instruments inside of the supposedly waterproof tent, while covering exposed cables and huddling in the shelter.
Fortunately, rain was infrequent and hardly fell on performance nights. A much more pervasive problem was the cold. While actors could spend their time offstage, the tech crew in particular needed to sit still, exposed to the elements covered only by a flimsy tent. To mitigate this problem, we brought heavy coats or sleeping bags, but even this wasn’t ideal, as the added bulk could interfere with our tech duties.
Besides personal discomforts, there was the issue of light and sound. Unfortunately, humans can’t control the sun, so we had to adjust cues and settings on the fly to adjust to changing conditions. Furthermore, we had light bleed from the surrounding hallways, which is not an issue in an indoor theater. Also, while a theater is built to have excellent acoustics, a courtyard does not; placing speakers to have acceptable sound quality and location was quite an ordeal.
A final detriment was mixed usage of the space. Every week, after performances, we had to strike the vast majority of the lights, speakers, and boards. Thus, every week, we had to set up and calibrate the equipment, a tedious task at best.
Stage crew had fewer of these difficulties, as they could be inside and didn’t use expensive technology. For them, the effects of the weather were mitigated; they had little to strike since a backstage area was assembled, well, behind the stage.
As difficult as it was for both stage crew and tech crew, it was far from unenjoyable. Tech crew spent quite a bit of downtime complaining about the weather and doing theater outside, but I enjoyed hanging out with my friends. It was almost a bonding experience to have to work through our troubles, and be able to be together for a few hours, while school is lacking in free time and human interaction. The technical aspects of the plays even looked and sounded pretty good!
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