Backstage at ‘The Shape of Things’

During mid-term break last weekend, as many students relaxed and slept until noon, the cast and crew of the upcoming Carleton Players show, “The Shape of Things,” worked long, arduous hours in Arena Theater to coordinate the logistics for the show.

For many, it had been a long-awaited moment after performing tasks including set-building, props designing, sound designing, costume designing, finding running crew, publicity and photography, much of it done by Carleton students. Technological rehearsal began early Saturday morning, but the good-natured crew, consisted primarily of students and a few staff members, acutely planned complicated tasks such as scene changes and cues for light, sound and slides. Though it took countless takes to establish an eventually clean and quick scene change, the crew still appeared in good humor and joked throughout rehearsal.

Saturday morning proved to be the beginning of the culmination of four weeks of rehearsal and planning for the cast and crew, but Saturday afternoon was the first time they would combine their efforts to create a fully functioning performance. In the afternoon, the cast joined rehearsal to ensure the accuracy of timing for aspects such as costume changes, lighting and sound, among numerous others. Involving much waiting and repeating, the cast and crew eventually performed the entire play. Though smooth for the first run-through, many of the crew would have to redesign aspects of the production later that night to ensure a flawless performance for the audience.

At the end of the day, director Ruth Weiner smiled and said, “You’ve all worked really hard. Thank you so much and I’ll see you all tomorrow.” For the cast and crew of “The Shape of Things,” it appears that the hard work is only just beginning.