Tech Theatre: A Passion That Grows with Me Lindy McDonnell

“Beard Papa to stage right, I repeat, Beard Papa to stage right.” Although it seems strange, this is one phrase I got used to very quickly. Hearing it hours a day for weeks at a time, it became less strange and more of an entertaining inside joke. One may wonder when this would ever come up in a conversation, and the answer is: during technical theatre.

The first time I walked into tech class, I was a timid fourteen year old. I had no idea what the class entailed, as I had never really heard of it before. I knew that someone had to be behind the magic of plays, but while being an audience member, I had never thought much more about it. The first year of tech, I had a teacher fresh out of college. He was more concerned with watching movies than learning how to help with the school plays. You can imagine my surprise next year when, Mr. Lawrence, the new teacher asked us to use the circular saw to start building the set. We stared at him in disbelief. I had never used a power tool before, let alone a saw. He laughed at us as if we were kidding and then gave a little sigh. “I’ll teach you,” he said. By the end of the first day, we had all used the saw. What used to be a frightening task turned into something liberating. I thought,...