Episode 205: Talking Tech Theatre Programs

We’re talking tech theatre in the classroom. What’s the first thing you should buy to build your tech theatre program? How do you design a set when you don’t have a theatre program? These questions and more!

Show Notes

• Drama Teacher Academy

Episode Transcript

Welcome to the Drama Teacher Podcast brought to you by Theatrefolk – the Drama Teacher Resource Company.

I’m Lindsay Price.

Hello! I hope you’re well. Thanks for listening!

This is Episode 205 and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode205.

Today – oh, I was going for it, and then I pulled back. I pulled back! Oh, I pulled back! Ugh.

Well, that happens sometimes.

Today, we are talking tech theatre.

If you are struggling with the tech side of things or you don’t have a tech background and you want this for your students, you want to provide this for your students, then this is the conversation for you. It is a great one!

At the end, I’ll give you a little more information on where you can get some great tech units.

I will see you on the other side!

LINDSAY: Hello everyone! Thanks for tuning in!

I am here today with Dan Mellitz.

Hello, Dan!

DAN: Hi!

LINDSAY: I like to start by asking, where in the world are you right now?

DAN: Currently, I am in Barrington, Rhode Island, which is one of the many places I have been in the past ten years. But that’s where I am located right now.

LINDSAY: Awesome! You gave two exams today. We’re talking tech today and we’re going to get into all about how you got to be where exactly you are right now in Rhode Island, but can you just share what you gave as their final exam? It was the advanced tech students who were making the thing, right?

DAN: Their final exam was to build a tech table for our program since we currently don’t have one, so they had to team up in two teams and design separate ones and then come together and combine their designs to a final design. And then, together, they built their final design and had to go and make sure all the measurements were correct because they sit over the seats and then they had to make sure it was portable. They did a really good job. I think they need some tweaking. It’s gotten a little heavier than it probably should be. But right off the bat was a really good choice as a final project.

LINDSAY: Well, not only is it an interesting choice as product, but it’s a practical kind of test for them to do and a sort of real-world test, huh?

DAN: Yeah, I’ve done sometimes where it’s like you’re doing all this – you know, build a platform and build some stairs that you don’t really need because I have a million of them – and then you just take them apart and it seems like a waste. This is a very practical item.

I’ve done ones where they’ve had to build backstage prop tables that are foldable. I like practical items because then I can use them, and they get to see them in action rather than just seeing them get thrown away.

LINDSAY: I love that, and I know that people who are listening love that kind of thing, too.

Another thing that I think you and I both know is that a lot of people listening are struggling with how on earth they teach tech. They don’t have tech backgrounds. They don’t have any access to tech. You know, we know lots of people who are putting on shows in their cafeteria.

I know that you have got this great website of resource help called The Techie Green Room which everyone listening can find in the show notes. I kind of feel we’re totally simpatico and on the same page with helping teachers in any which way we can, right?

DAN: Yeah, I think so.

LINDSAY: I think that’s where you’re coming from, right?

DAN: Yeah, I think it’s a really great place to be. I think there’s a lot of other resources out there, and I think I’m definitely not the only one, but I think I’m close to the only one that is dedicated directly just to the tech side of it because there’s so many programs – you know, there’s drama and tech and there’s a lot to weed through.

I know, over the years that I’ve taught technical theatre, sometimes, you just need a direct access to the tech side of it. It’s hard to weed through everything when you’re on a clock and you need to find something quick. I think that was the goal.

There’s so many size programs out there. Some have technical directors, some don’t have technical directors. Sometimes, it’s a drama teacher who’s doing everything. Sometimes, it’s a drama teacher hoping someone will help them with everything else.

The resource is there just to help middle and high school primarily, but anyone really in the educational world to help them streamline that and maybe get some inspiration in a place that might be more streamlined than somewhere else.

LINDSAY: Also, I think tech is one of those places. A lot of resources are written for people who already know.

DAN: Yeah.

LINDSAY: And there’s a language that they use and there’s lots of terminology that they use. Well, I’m one of those people, when you don’t have that knowledge and you don’t have the language or the terminology, you look at some of those sites you feel a little lost.

DAN: Yeah, and I think that’s one of the reasons. I mean, mostly because I work in middle and high school, but you’re right. when you look at some of the resources that are really meant for college or above and you said you don’t know the language and it’s hard to find your way around it and really you just need to know maybe how to put a flat together or maybe how to do something really basic that you’re not going to be able to find in something that’s talking about hydraulics and all that kind of stuff.

LINDSAY: For sure.

Let’s back up just a little bit.

DAN: Sure!

LINDSAY: What was tech like for you in high school? Is that where you got interested? Was it a little bit later? What was it like for you?

DAN: I actually started out as a performer in high school. I went all through high school as a performer at school shows, outside shows, community shows. And then, I went off to college to be a performer. Throughout that whole experience, I was still just better with the hands-on stuff. I liked how that was all coming about in college.

I was really the only acting major that actually liked doing tech crew assignments, so I would get put in charge of a lot of them. Just over time, I really figured out that I didn’t want to be an actor. I wanted to be a tech student and my college was fortunate enough to let me join their brand-new tech program with all the freshmen instead of my acting senior class. At least that gave me one good positive step out the door before I jumped into the world by myself.

LINDSAY: That’s interesting. It’s like, “Well, there’s your red light right there!” When you’re the only person who is actually enjoying the tech side.

DAN: It’s a good omen to say I think that’s where I should be.

LINDSAY: I was the exact same. I thought that I would be an actor, and I would die. Apparently, you don’t die for not acting.

DAN: I still think I might die from not being in the theatre, but at least I’m somewhere.

LINDSAY: Well, that’s the thing, eh? There’s so many different facets of a theatre life, and there’s so many different ways to get enjoyment out of theatre than the product. For me, and I think a lot of people in the education angle, finding joy in the process of theatre has been great for me – just to not put all the eggs in the basket of the show.

DAN: Yeah. As most parents probably say, “There’s more jobs in tech theatr