In my second year at the Residential College, I got the chance to get involved with something entirely new to me: theater tech. Theater had been something I was always one degree of separation away from throughout middle and high school - and in the past I’d certainly helped out friends of mine on prop design, show setup, and even stood in for absent actors - but I was never deeply involved in it until this year.
At the beginning of this semester I began to work with the Residential College’s Keene Theater, the performing arts space inside the building of East Quad, and in a few short weeks I was scheduled for my first show: Red Eye.
Created by the RC Players, Red Eye is a show I was aware of last year, having seen the flyers up all around East Quad, but I didn’t get a chance to attend, which meant I went in completely unaware of what I was about to experience. For those who aren’t familiar, Red Eye is an event, a workshop, and a performance put on each semester during which multiple skits are written, practiced, and performed over a wakeful period of roughly 24 hours.
When I showed up to the tech booth that evening, the theater’s energy was chaotic, frenzied, and the furthest thing from boring.
The actors and crew were polishing up the production, trying to make the most of the last few hours before the doors opened to the public. As the clock hit 8PM, everyone mustered their remaining strength and put on a hilarious show featuring a range of subjects like living statues, boybands, AI, ghosts, and frat boys.
Red Eye’s shorts are certainly entertaining, but the real heart of the show is how every member of the cast and crew seems bonded by exhaustion, and the deliriousness of it all just amplifies the comedy. Red Eye is a really great introduction to the spirit of the RC Players, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to be a part of it this year.
The RC Players mostly have shows of the preplanned variety, and a few weeks after Red Eye, I got the pleasure to tech their second show, Evening of Scenes. EoS is similar to Red Eye in that it also features an array of student-written skits, only with more preparation and no sleeplessness involved. Completely candidly, I loved getting to tech this show and witness its fumbled romance, lactose-driven lycanthropes, VR misadventures, steamy superheroes, awesome friendships, and scandalous fanfiction. I really recommend anyone that is curious about the RC Players to go see this show the next time it comes around, because you won't be disappointed by lack of creativity.
If this all sounds interesting to you, good news! The RC Players will be back performing a shadowcast performance of Rocky Horror Friday, October 30th, and Saturday, October 31st! Come by the Keene Theater at 8pm for a great performance you won’t want to miss.
