By Jason Dagenhart
Round Table reporter
Tech Week: [Tek Week]-noun. 1. A sustained amount of time when a select group of actors, technical assistants (“techies”), directors, and assistant directors engage in the final, long week of preparation for a show or theater production. 2. A very strenuous time in a drama kid’s life, usually associated with uncontrolled shouting, break-outs of pimples, attempted school skips, the pulling of hair, the practice of witchcraft, loss of sleep, drowsiness, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea (hey, Pepto Bismol!). Synonym: Hell Week.
The description above isn’t far from the truth. This week is Hell. Sort of. It is basically Hell. That’s better.
But hell would be a very good synonym for this blood-pumping, hatred-inducing week because the stereotypical hell would be a Tech Week. Or that we’re all just a bunch of juvenile teenagers and wanted to call the worst week of the year something vulgar and cool. But that’s not the point; it just plain sucks.
It just happens so fast. It’s like the weather. It is fine one second; sunny, blue sky, fluffy clouds and a hint of laughter everywhere you go and then BAM. The sun melts into a pale moon and the blue sky turns an opaque grey and there are shouts of rage and disagreement everywhere while it’s raining disappointment upon every open mouth.
To me though, I don’t think it’s the activities and the things we get done during the week that make it so horrible. I think it’s the stress and the high blood pressures mixed with loads of caffeine. So that put into a combination sandwich of doom makes everyone very snappy and moody the entire week.
Not to mention we have to stay in the auditorium until 10:00 at night to try and get in every single possible ounce of time to create the masterpiece that is a high school drama production. We only have one week to do it and half the people there think we’re going to fail and not make it in time. Including the directors.
It just makes everyone tired and comatose and sleep-deprived so they fall asleep in school and do badly that week.
The drama department at Middletown High School always seems to love it anyway despite the large amount of time-consuming, energy-sapping work that is put into it. There is always the will to continue with the show and produce the best thing since sliced bread, which can never be reproduced by the way.
That and there are always high spirits as odd as that would seem. People are bouncing about on the balls of their feet dancing to the music to the latest song that is being practiced or kids are running around performing odd jobs for their jobs or positions while joking with friends and just enjoying the highly stressful week that is Hell.
I personally love the chaos. I love seeing everyone run around yelling and screaming and seeing the hustle and bustle of everyday, or last minute, theater life. It makes me smile, knowing that I am a part of such an event and knowing that I do things that are integral to the creation of the play (which by the way is “Grease,” come and see it)
It’s the thrill of the fight, the excitement of a show that is coming up and is almost upon us. It motivates us to do more and do our very best in what we are doing. I get through this stressful week by my friends. They are my life-support system for this week without all the annoying chirps and bleeps. They help me stay sane and relatively calm and collected like my usual suave self (that’s a joke).
I think that’s also what drives the show. The actors, the techies, the directors; it’s not the set or the idea of the show or the audience when they come and see it. It’s the people that participate in it. It’s the actors, one of the biggest parts of the show because obviously without them we would have no show, just a bunch of techies running around lifting things, which is a show nonetheless.
We have the directors, the adults of the play. They make sure that we all stay in line and act “mature” and make sure that the play goes as scheduled and that we all do things correctly and are able to put on a fantastic show. Plus, they buy us food on Tuesday.
And then, last but certainly not least, (and to me the most important “interchangeable-part” of the play) is the techies. We, as I am a light techie myself, control the play. Literally.
We have ultimate control over the livelihood, the progress and the remarkableness of the play. Without the techies, there would be no play. No lights to light up the actors, no sound to let you hear them, no outfits or music. The stage would be dark, the lights would be off, the sound would be off and the set wouldn’t even be built without us; the worker ants of our little colony give the fruits of everyone’s labor.
It’s the people. The people make the show. The people are the elements that make it move and speak and animate it. They are the heart and soul of the show and they are the heart and soul of Tech Week. They make it run. They keep it alive and going with every single day that goes by, it goes by because the people that are involved have the will to continue with what they have come so far to achieve.
This is the real definition of Tech Week.
