By: Michelle An, Copy Editor
On October 31, Seminole High School will be premiering Bad Seed as part of the annual fall play produced by the theater company. As the date fast approaches, students involved continue to work out the technicalities backstage in order to make the play a success.
This year, for the first time, there will be a student co-directing the play, senior Alex Lowie. His main job will be to split up the role of overseeing the acting and tech departments along with Mrs. Tiffany Ortiz and making sure all departments are properly doing their assigned tasks. This gives them an opportunity to invest more time into each department as well.
Senior Alex Lowie comments, “Before, no one was really given the opportunity to step up, so last year it was really our chance to find our place.”
The jobs backstage are divided up into two main sections: tech and acting. Tech is inclusive of all of the preparation backstage including makeup, stage craft, costuming, and booth. There are eleven main departments in tech that all of the involved students are a part of, each lead by their respective directors.
The leaders, or directors, are personally handpicked from a variety of applications by Lowie, who then sends his choices over to Ortiz, the director of the play, for approval to ensure that the best choice for the position is picked. Afterwards, all tech directors are involved in a tech meeting where they hand pick select students to work as their assistants.
Junior Samah Meghjee, a house director, explains her role: “We decorate and man the ‘house,’ or lobby, during the show. Since it’s going to be on Halloween weekend, we have a lot of spooky surprises in store… it’s going to be really great!”
Tech meetings work depending on the department. Typically, in the weeks leading up to the play, the meet-ups will last from after school until 11:00 p.m. Each department will go at their own pace depending on what they need to accomplish, with deadlines to keep everyone on track.
This year, the set will be what is called a permanent set, meaning that the entire story will take place in one location, a house in Tallahassee, Florida. The set department will begin building most of the set a couple weeks before the actual play due to the fact that the auditorium has limited availability and cannot store large props.
Stage manager junior Amelia Green says, “I think it’s the most successful we’ve ever been productivity wise. With a smaller set, we’re able to be productive so it helps with a lot of different jobs and everything else.”
“I think everybody that had stuff to learn last year learned,” commented Lowie. “They’re the people who are the tech directors this year and I honestly think they’re going to do a good job.”