Tekkies: Brawn Behind the Art

Their names aren't listed in the playbill. They never appear on stage. They don't have a curtain call. Yet, the members of the technical staff of a play are just as crucial to the running of a good production as any other people involved in the theater.

"As an actor you take them for granted; as a director you realize that they are as necessary as the actors," says actor and director Eric D. Ronis '86.

"Everyone's essential," agrees Erin B. Mee '85. "You can't have a show without tekkies--you won't have a set, you won't have costumes, you won't have a sound. You need everyone."

Yet, Albert V.B. Webster '85, former president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC), estimates that, on the entire Harvard campus, there are only ten people who are capable of performing technical tasks for an entire production. He adds that there are about 20 available carpenters and electricians, and then a larger body of nonspeciallized "tekkies," as they are known around the Loeb.

Ann E. Pforzheimer '86 attributes the paucity of people involved with technical theater work on the fact Harvard does not offer theater as a concentration. She says that there is "just a small circle" of people who do the shows at Harvard.

Other explanations for the relative unpopularity of technical work may be that the time commitment is large and the rewards seemingly few, according to Donald R. Soule, technical director of the Loeb."

The challenge of technical work begins from two months to two weeks before the show's opening night, when the director, set designer, lighting designer and costumer design meet to collaborate on an overall concept for the production's design, says Webster.

After the set has been designed, the technical director and the producer must find a crew to help with the final building. Often, actors pitch in to hammer and paint.

The task of "doing lights" for a set is a little more solitary and involves a "ludicrous" time commitment, says J. Kent Smith '88, master electrician for this spring's production of The Devil Always Wins. While planning a lighting design, Smith says he also has to take into account the limitations of the equipment as well as "any color that's going to be on stage."

"You have to think of what the actors look like, what they're going to be wearing and what the set is like," explains Smith. Black actors are usually featured in lavender or green light, while green light can make a white actor look dead, he adds.

"It's a very subjective art." Smith says, adding that he enjoys the chance to experiment with various ideas. He finds what he does more creative and satisfying than acting because "you come up with something that looks good."

Tekkies agree--one major drawback to their job is that sets are not always noticed. Says Pforzheimer, "If things are right, then the set shouldn't be noticed at all. You shouldn't notice the door until it comes off the hinges."

Tekkies point to comraderie as another source of satisfaction with their theater work. Pforzheimer says it's a good way to get to know people--"you know how they react at three in the morning if something goes wrong."

Brett O'Brien '85, agrees. "There's a lot of comraderie involved. It's a nice feeling to be able to work really hard with group of people and at the end see it all under the lights and the actors playing on it."