Acquiring a hobby that sticks with you for life is rare for some people in my experiences but there is always one that is very memorable that will stick with you. For me, that would have been Technical theater. I remember being first introduced to it when I visited this school when I was in the 4th grade. I was there to watch my sister perform in the 8th grade play. I didn’t pay much attention to the play, but instead I paid attention to what was around me and my awareness always got the best of me. From looking around, I was amazed at how the lights worked and from that day I knew I wanted to know more. Staying after the performance I was able to ask questions to the current tech director and allowed me to explore how each light with different colors mixing created cool looking effects.
When I first became a student at RHP and Ren, I had asked about any role I can apply for or take in school that revolved around technical theater. Luckily, it seemed it was something anyone can join so I did. We would handle all kinds of events and daily tasks from the musicals and plays we get running to just daily morning meetings that recur each week. Working in theatrical tech was fun until the pandemic started last spring. At first, we were not experiencing any issues but once we became acquainted, it seemed as if the tech crew would never be the same. Instead, it has opened up a new way to look at theatrical tech for me in that we can now have a lot more freedom when it comes to ideas such as our recent play, Clue.
With the use of a green screen we could place the setting of each scene anywhere without restrictions. Of course, with this freedom we still had some technical limitations such as troubleshooting network issues and hardware errors. Even though the pandemic had gotten in our way, it had shown that even in the worst of times there is always a way to overcome our troubles. We may have started in quarantine and in a different unfamiliar environment but hopefully and eventually we will return to normal day operation. Stepping off from the impacts of the pandemic, technical theater has impacted me not just on performances but also at home when I am using my green screen and other equipment for videos. Now when I make videos at home you can see the focus clearly and there are no defects with green screening. Technical theater not only impacted as a perfect hobby but also now applies to my daily life.