You may be familiar with the LWW Theatre department by its wide display of musicals and plays you know and love. However, behind the flashing lights and enticing performances, lie another hard-working group of students. The crew community consists of various different jobs taken by students with a passion for theatre who wish to contribute to such an influential performance.

One area of crew is stagecraft; consisting of painting, building, and set design. Stagecraft creates the overall environment and setting of the production, allowing actors to interact with the world and convey a realistic performance to their audience. Additionally, we have costumes and prop design. This section of crew works to bring the characters you know and love to life with intricate costume design and realistic props to effectively demonstrate the story. Then comes the backbone; run crew. Run crew consists of moving props and furniture on and off of the stage. Although it sounds quite simple, run crew members must be quiet and efficient in their movements, as well as keep backstage organized for the actors in order for everything to go smoothly. Stage crew leaders and assistants work to keep track of the performance, as well as both cast and crew members, to move the production along. Away from backstage lies the tech booth, which is above and behind the theatre. The tech booth is where select crew members take care of light cues, sound cues, and any projections that are used throughout the production.

The theatre environment includes various groups of hard-working students with a passion for the arts. Each and every student is important and contributes greatly to the performances at LWW. So go see the Lincoln-Way West Theatre Department’s production of Matilda and see what makes theatre so great!