Performance Crewing Essay

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Performance Crewing
Performance crewing is the art of set movement on stage during a performance. Some productions have set pieces that are on tracks (automated), which are programmed and can move on their own, but when the budget is small or when tracks aren’t available, the set movement must be done by hand. When performance crewing is done correctly, it makes for an excellent show and great visuals. Performance crewing is done by the stage crew members, these crew members, if seen by the audience, need to be in costumes related to the show or simply just need to be in all black clothes, if they aren’t going to be seen, both options are so that its not obvious to the audience that its not actors moving set and that it’s not mechanically powered. …show more content…

A team that works well together will have the ability to listen to each other, appreciate each other and consider every member’s opinion. Communication is key during the rehearsal process of a show involving performance crewing, if crew members can’t get their point across or can’t be heard, they could run into some serious health and safety issues. Another thing is that all actors must be aware of their space and not walk into the path of a crew member pushing possibly a 16-foot set piece. As well as having good communication skills its helpful to be able to manage your time well enough and have a good understanding of special awareness so that all pieces off set get moved corrected and that unnecessary items aren’t being moved. Also, an incredible amount of knowledge on your production is needed while being part of the performance crew. Crew members need to know exactly when to move the set piece, where to move …show more content…

In May of 2016 I was on a stage management role for Northern Lights Theatre Company’s production of ‘Our House’ the musical. The set consisted of eight 16-foot periaktos. A periakti is an ancient Greek device, (set piece), with three sides, which when it was developed, while one side would be showing the other two could be changed, meaning the scene can change without taking any large flats off stage by flying, tracks or crewing, the periaktos can just being spun around or moved across stage. All 8 of our periaktos had three sides and each side was seen at least twice during the show. All movement for these periaktos had to be choreographed in time with the underscoring and they’re neutral position had to be marked/spiked. Most of the movement and changing of scenes and set pieces was done by the cast on stage and in costume but a few changes were done by us, the crew, in costume so that we were not noticeable to the audience. It’s a task that must be rehearsed and perfected before show goes up. It had to be slick and run smoothly, we didn’t want pieces to almost get to their marks and need a bit of slight adjusting during the beginning of the scene. There were rehearsals simply dedicated to just set movement, with timing and running with music, there was certain ways to turn the pieces to make it easier, more efficient and faster, a few changes would have had two crew members on one piece and there was

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