Every Thursday afternoon, and a smattering of Saturdays, a group of Upper School students can be found in The Hayot Center for Innovation (HCI). These students are members of the US Tech Crew, a vital part of our Drama programming.
Tech Crew comprises the Build Crew and the Run Crew. For every Upper and Middle School production, a team of Build Crew students paint, build, load-in and strike the set, while the Run Crew serves backstage, helping to make sure everything goes smoothly.
To begin, an adult designer—either Robert Thaxton-Stevenson (Technical Director and Production Manager/US Drama Teacher) or an outside designer—shows the students their ideas. “I use a program called Vector Works for lighting and theatrical design,” explained Mr. Thaxton-Stevenson. After viewing his plans, the students can add their own creative flare to various aspects.
During every show, 3-6 Run Crew students receive headsets to coordinate with the adults in the room. “The number depends on the play,” Mr. Thaxton-Stevenson noted. Every musical, for example, has a stage manager (a heightened responsibility) and, sometimes, an Assistant Director, which was the case during the 2023 winter play. “But students will get to operate the lighting console, work with sound and help out backstage.”
In the past, any student that’s interested could join Tech Crew. However, due to increasing interest, Mr. Thaxton-Stevenson has begun conducting interviews (and determining availability) to select the student team.
“I got into theater through acting,” Mr. Thaxton-Stevenson shared, “but Tech Crew really lit my fire. Making the magic happen—it’s such an important part of the process.”
“The shows are great,” he continued, “but the process of making it and putting all the pieces together is really important.” Expressing his excitement about the growth that Chapin Drama has seen over the years, he added, “There are a lot of kids who are interested in theater but don’t necessarily want to act.” With the streamlining of Tech Crew, he said, more students can get involved and “it’s great to get as many students as possible.”
One US student who participated in Tech Crew during the spring 2024 production shared, “As someone who was new to the School, Tech Crew was something I'd never been offered in the past, so it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Being in the Build Crew taught me the basics of using power tools, which you’ll most likely use later in life, and was very cool to learn. Also, I don't like performing in front of people so joining Tech Crew gave me a chance to be a part of the magic that is theatre while also staying in my comfort zone. In Run Crew, I made sure all actors were on cue and helped them with their costume changes—the quick changes are always the most stressful ones!”
Another student who just finished working on the US and Class 7 fall plays shared, “One highlight of Tech Crew is learning how to use tools like hand drills and jigsaws. My favorite part is cutting the wood using the miter saw and the table saw in the Fab Lab. I love that Tech Crew integrates both STEM and the arts.”
Other students shared: “The best thing about Tech Crew is seeing the finished results. It's incredible to see where we started in the build in contrast to the end result—everything looks almost professionally done!” and “Tech crew is definitely fun to be a part of and we are glad that Chapin gives students the opportunity to be so involved in making the sets for plays!”
It’s clear through all of Chapin’s shows just how talented the Tech Crew students are. “It’s always a great group of kids,” remarked Mr. Thaxton-Stevenson. “We wouldn't be able to do performing arts productions without them.”
