At Los Osos, there is a 6th-period class called Theater Tech that not many people know about, but without it, a lot of events that happen at school wouldn’t be possible. Taught by the head of the drama department, Randy Shorts, Theater Tech does all of the backstage and unseen stuff for the theater. Whether it’s running a band or choir show or completely building a set and producing a play, Tech does it all.
Along with anything to do with performing arts, theater tech also helps ASB with the lighting for some of the rallies, and Mr. Shorts does the announcements for every football game.
Each year, the theater program produces four plays and one haunted house, all of which are exclusively built and run by students in Theater Tech using skills like building special walls called flats or programming lights and audio. Along with literal and obviously unique skills, students also learn problem-solving, cooperation, and communication skills due to the cooperative nature of the class.
While audiences often only focus on actors and performances, Theater Tech students don’t get nearly as much publicity. Theater Tech students are almost completely out of sight during productions, so it isn’t hard to go unnoticed, but behind the scenes they build sets, program lights, manage sound, manage scenery, and keep a production running smoothly.
Every year, we have three normal plays, one studio play, and every other year we have one musical. These events are how students get any practical experience in actually running a show, with plenty of different jobs that students can have.
These jobs can be but aren’t limited to: Audio Engineer, who sets up all of the audio equipment and runs audio during plays, Stage Manager, who manages the production of the play, Light Engineer, who sets up all of the lighting equipment and runs the lighting during the play, and Stage ops, the people who do any kind of work backstage.
For many students, Theater Tech becomes more than a class; it becomes a community. Students often spend long hours during school, after school, and during the weekend, all throughout the year, prepping for different performances, ultimately creating bonds formed through shared responsibilities.
Senior Roman Robledo is one of the students who has been deeply involved in theater tech, being in the class for all four years of high school. When I asked what his favorite part of theater is, Robledo said, “I think my favorite part about Theater Tech is being able to achieve goals no matter what size they are. This is because the idea of getting a task and finishing it as well as I can is very rewarding for me and motivates me to do more.”
His response highlights how Tech not only teaches students skills that can help them in life, but how it also teaches students good work ethics while doing stuff they can enjoy and be proud of.
Robledo continued, “I would recommend Tech Theater to others mainly because of the family that is created while in the class and because of the rewarding experience and work that you can achieve, which gives the greatest satisfaction.”
Roman’s comments show how Tech does more for people than just teach them about the technical side of theater; it can change people’s lives. The community that tech creates is built on a very strong trust that is needed for students to be able to properly run a play together, and I would recommend anyone who has any slight interest in Theater to try and do Theater Tech.