WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT HELPING THEATRE TECH STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE

The secrets behind getting tech students to take charge of their learning

When I started heading up the theater tech program at my current school I was surprised to find that the tech students were not taught how to operate the lighting board or sound equipment. They were told it was easier and faster for the tech

Technical directors and board operators to do things themselves without the students getting involved. The students were allowed to observe, but were not given control over the productions.

I have worked in professional theater for 20+ years and, yes, I could have easily gone down that road running the shows on my own so there wouldn’t be beginner mistakes. But, what gives me the most joy working with theater students is watching them learn. I enjoy showing students the basics of how the faders work, how to care for the instruments, etc. and I love seeing them grow in their confidence and knowledge. I’ve even had students ask to design lighting for a scene on their own or ask if they can come into the theater during their free time to work on some ideas they have to make the production better.

My goal when I arrived at my current school nine years ago was to train the tech students so well that they would take ownership of their own productions. It takes being open to questions, fears, and frustrations that students new to tech and theater will bring to the table; after all, they are supposed to be student run productions. How can they learn if they aren’t given a chance to take on the responsibility of running tech? Those responsibilities, of course, involve the stress and joy of live theater. High School is the place where tech students can learn and make mistakes and take ownership of the production. I always tell them that to run clean tech means that most of the time you are invisible. The better you do your job, the more people won’t notice you. I teach them how to troubleshoot tech issues and help them prepare and care for equipment. When the students care about the equipment and the tech, they convey that caring and attention to detail to other students in the cast and crew. I have found that messages about how to care for a mic pack, for example, are much more powerful when a tech student tells the cast themselves. In some ways it is more powerful than if I were to make the same speech.

I now find myself standing in the booth with the students more as a good luck charm than holding their hands during a tech run or a performance. I’m there to help, but my greatest joy is seeing the upperclassmen eagerly train the middle schoolers and underclassmen on how to use the systems. I also make sure the cast thanks the tech and crew for all of their hard work and will often find the actors looking at the lighting/sound booth in utter amazement at all of the hard work the tech students do. The cast comes to realize that the crew are performing alongside them as their silent stage partners and working together as a team.

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