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Technical Direction
and Process
My approach to technical direction is largely dictated by: the scale of any given project and the talent available, their competencies and personalities, and differing levels and preferences of communication across the scene shop and the theatre as a whole. Generally, I prefer to allow my teams to have a sense of guided autonomy to fulfill their projects, preferring to limit management strategies to the minimum needed to keep efficiency and morale high. I am of the belief that morale and willingness to experiment and learn in the scene shop is just as important as running a shop as professionally as possible. I also recognize that each individual in a team responds to different leadership and management strategies in their own way and cater my direction according to the needs of a shop and the individuals working within it. I view my role as one that is supportive, flexible, and organizationally focused, allowing my crew's to demonstrate their talents at their highest levels while also providing opportunities for education and assistance when necessary.
I have included several examples of different projects scales on this page to demonstrate my approach to this process.
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Lees-McRae Summer Theatre, 2021
Scenic Designer: Rebekkah Meixner-Hanks
Large scale (7-10 people)
Plate 1 working drawing example
The floor plot. The space was incredibly difficult to paint in due to the high humidity and concrete sub-floor. The best solution we found was to base-paint the stage floor panelling in the scene shop and then install and rout them in place.
Example of floor measurements from plate 1
An example of the measurements needed to create the panels from plate 1.
Rehearsal shot of the full stage
Plate 1 working drawing example
The floor plot. The space was incredibly difficult to paint in due to the high humidity and concrete sub-floor. The best solution we found was to base-paint the stage floor panelling in the scene shop and then install and rout them in place.
1/9
My approach to Spelling Bee highlights my supportive role of taskmaster and delegator of projects. During my tenure as Technical Director with Lees-McRae Summer Theatre there were very few projects that I would personally touch as I needed to manage a crew of 9 people of varying backgrounds and abilities. Due to the quick nature of the production schedule at LSMT and my communication with the designer we determined that this production had to be built, loaded in, painted, and available for space out rehearsals within two weeks of us arriving to the theatre.
To more easily cope with these limitations I opted to take a very prescriptive and documentation heavy approach to management. With a week of pre-build time I broke apart every aspect of the design, determined what stock was available to pick from, and had the remaining scenery spec'd out and priced down to the board foot into specific cut lists for this time to work with. After a day of training and a trip to the lumber yard we had the entire show cut and ready to assemble before the end of our second day in the shop. We were successful in loading in by day 4, minus the header of the false proscenium, which needed to be rigged to the building's structure above the lighting grid to accommodate a false-batten we installed for the banner raising in the first number of the show. We did face a few challenges after the initial load in that I needed to train my staff to address, such as welding together an actor-proof and danceable gym bleacher unit, and some careful rigging to get the "jesus-doors" to open by themselves.
Proof
Hanover College, 2022
Scenic Designer: Christian Bowyer
Small scale (1-2 people)
Facade of the house
An earlier draft of the house facade. The final design saw a few cuts: notable the lack of railing, a single window on the second floor, and no transom.
Structure making up the facade
A break down of how this facade was to be built. All lumber had to be brought in through a man-door so we could building anything in the shop before hand.
Hal and Katherine
Facade of the house
An earlier draft of the house facade. The final design saw a few cuts: notable the lack of railing, a single window on the second floor, and no transom.
1/11
My approach to Proof was grounded in conventional residential carpentry strategies. The director wanted to push the limits of our black box and to try a maximalist and realist approach to design and construction. The original production time line had been for spring of 2020, but the pandemic pushed it back a year. the design itself is built around the limitations of our space. We have a narrow blackbox with a 24'x50' footprint that allows for intimate performance. The crew working on this show consisted of myself and my student worker. Several department members did volunteer to help us raise the house facade on the first day of load-in.
Documentation was limited outside the structure of the facade and ground plan due to the configuration of the space. We had decided to enclose the playing space in a 3/4 thrust and allow the house to be the back wall of set. This saw us fencing in the audience to create the cloistered feeling of a narrow row-house in a Chicago suburb.
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