So a few weeks ago we had the Student Showcase. We laughed, we cried, we saw some great theatre. But what you guys (the audience) might not have been aware of was that there was a whole other world going on backstage that was making sure the shows ran smoothly. Yes, I’m speaking of the world of the techies.

      For the showcase my tech job was to run soundboard. Basically whenever my stage manager said “go” I had to cue whatever the sound effect was to happen. I liked to joke that it was as easy as just pressing the spacebar, but in reality I had to be careful to always pay attention to what was going on in the scene, so I didn’t miss any of my cues (which thankfully didn’t happen).

       Now you might ask: why soundboard? Good question, I would reply. I wanted to do soundboard because: A.) I had done it before so I already knew what I was doing, and B.) Because I really like working with sound/music. It’s a really fun and cool experience setting up a sound cue and knowing you were part of the creative process of a show and helped contribute in some way to the success of it.

       Tech theatre is a lot of fun, and it’s something that I think anyone who is involved with theatre should do. You can learn a whole new set of skills, and there are so many different roles you can play. Run crew, soundboard, lightboard, stage manager, load in/load out crew, props, set painting, costumes, the list goes on and on. If you are interested in tech theatre (and I hope you are), be sure to check out our very own Techies Union group. There Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Suffolk.Techies You can also stop by our very own Theatre Department to learn about how to get involved with the tech side of any shows they put on!