Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2022 - 30

holistic, liberal arts objectives. But due
to budget constraints, limited schedules,
and overworked shop staff, I have yet to
find a department able to follow through
on their philosophy with sufficient pedagogical
resources.
In theory, universities expect that the
research they fund produces knowledge
that inspires innovation in a material
sense or the adoption of original/modified
methods of creation. For faculty in
the sciences, laboratory exploration and
application regularly accompany their
research practices. Laboratories in the
humanities, however, are few and far
between, presented lately as a novel concept
in higher education (see Breithaupt
2017 and Greguska 2019). Of course,
theatre departments have long touted
their production spaces as laboratories
and production activities as an avenue for
applying knowledge in acting, directing,
design, and theatre technology. But theatre
studies research falls outside such
expectations. For example, universities
expect faculty to publish their research
about backstage labor but to leave material
practices of backstage labor to department
colleagues who supervise scenic,
costume, lighting, and sound shops. I can
ask questions about the ethics of production
labor here, but to do so in the workspaces
mere steps from my office would
be a breach of departmental politics and
etiquette, jeopardizing relationships with
the colleagues who I respect and with
whom I feel an affinity.
So I ask my questions here in anticipation
that my research into unionized
technical theatre labor could inspire
other educators to consider the labor
politics of their production activities. Do
our university theatre departments offer
educational gains that correspond ethically,
if not materially, with the fair compensation
and work provisions received
by professional unionized technicians?
Do our curricular work requirements in
technical theatre break ethically, if not
materially, with the labor codes that govern
industry professionals? In my experience,
we promote backstage work as
generative learning experiences in which
students acquire a range of theatre-specific
and transferable occupational skills.
But in practice, student technicians receive
less guidance, fewer opportunities
to experiment, and quicker explanations
about how their labor contributes to a
production's overall mission. Run crews
in particular receive short shrift, entering
the production process at a point when
acting ensembles have largely finished
their exploratory phase and when directors
and designers are eager to see their
artistry realized onstage. How much
time do we give students to learn their
new roles and responsibilities, explore
backstage spaces, and build their technical
skills? In our rehearsal spaces, we
encourage actors to be curious, to experiment,
to be not afraid to fail, but do we
inspire the same curiosity about theatre
technology, give students access to equipment
to play and experiment, and create
safe conditions where they can practice
and fail? I've heard from students about
their frustration and economic burden of
paying credit hours for the opportunity
to learn these skills in departments that
Students who
identify primarily
as technicians feel
pressured to take
on more backstage
responsibilities
because fewer of their
peers are willing to
engage in work with
little recognition.
mandate technical labor as a curricular
requirement. Those who come to shops
with wider learning curves and no background
in technical theatre often find
themselves assigned to simple, repetitive
tasks. Necessary tasks, yes, but bestowed
unequally. I've witnessed students with
proficiency in technical skills learn more
by engaging in more complicated tasks,
creating scenographic elements with
visible impact, and feeling pride in their
accomplishments. But I've also seen students
with fewer skills told to stand with
brooms until needed, placed in out-of-theway
corners and forgotten, and perhaps
berated, for watching the clock because
they find their tedious task unsatisfying
and lack an understanding of its larger
purpose.
Faculty and staff need to be sure that
labor theorized and justified in curricular
programming and syllabi translates to
30 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | WINTER 2022
everyday shop practices, regardless of
looming deadlines, fewer resources, and
students with undeveloped skills. Similar
to internships with for-profit or nonprofit
organizations, educational labor finds
its reward in skills learned by observing,
receiving instruction, and working
alongside professionals. When we use
our shops as production laboratories, we
are ethically bound to help students understand
the value of technical skills both
inside and outside the theatre industry.
We cannot only teach an assistant stage
manager how to use a headset and map
out a props table; we must spend the
time and have the patience to explicate
the full process and meanings behind
each activity. As I have argued throughout
Working Backstage, technical theatre
labor is physically, intellectually, and emotionally
engaging; it is distinct from other
types of production work (acting, directing,
designing, etc.) and rewarding in its
own way.
When students grumble about technical
work requirements, they need an opportunity
to talk to someone for whom
that labor is engaging and invigorating;
even more, they need to realize how such
grumbling devalues skills that many of
their peers enjoy and find satisfaction
performing. Theatre departments that
operate largely on volunteer student labor
are also ethically bound to explicate
the quality, value, and creativity of technical
work.
In many liberal arts-focused departments,
faculty expect student actors to
donate additional hours to backstage
work as part of the privilege of performing
in productions; those not cast in
shows often volunteer for run crew positions,
knowing that their future chances
of being onstage increase from perceived
dedication
to
the
theatre community.
Such expectations operate from the assumption
that backstage labor is a second
choice or consolation.
According to K. C. Wright in the
Backstage article " 5 Reasons All Actors
Should Do Stage Crew, " the primary benefit
is " getting to watch (or hear) other actors
work, " thus forwarding one's acting
craft. " Want to know why they tell you
to 'find your light' as an actor? Try working
as a spotlight operator! " Wright then
follows with learning etiquette, making
friends, and only lastly " picking up new
skills, " which quickly becomes equated
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