Eurydice is the first theatre production of the 2025 fall semester, where the story of Eurydice and Orpheus has a twist in perspective, showing the love between a daughter and father, sacrifices and a self-discovering journey. However, who helps transform the script from a booklet of paper to a reality on the stage?

“Stage crew isn’t visible to the audience; they aren’t flashy, but they are an essential part of any theatre production,” director and sound designer Mentor Robyn Accetta said. “You can’t do much in a play without the stage crew.”

The sound production, lighting, quick changes, prop moving and building are just some of the things that the stage crew does behind the scenes. The audience sometimes forgets they are there as the production is playing before then, until the acknowledgments at the end.

“Lighting is an essential part of the Eurydice story; it helps create drama and sets the mood for the whole show,” Accetta said. “The light design is designed by a student and it helps represent a dream-like state and feeling.”

The stage of Eurydice is a three-sided floor where the audience surrounds the actors in the set, putting them into the story itself. Lights shown on the floor add texture to the concrete, whether that is a cobblestone or a reflection of windows. On the back wall is a ramp that has designed

staircases that are used frequently within the story. The light complements the ramp by glowing a warm, welcoming light toward the top to represent the world above, then a dark, cold blue to represent the decaying underworld.

“When a prop breaks or requires repair, we do it as soon as possible,” Accetta said. “As for unused props, they live with many other props in our storage room.

In Eurydice, there aren’t many props used aside from balloons, “rocks,” a suitcase and many other small trinkets.

“A lot of different moving pieces happen within the stage crew; we make everything happen on stage from putting together costumes for quick changes to setting up the proper lights,” stage manager Lillian Nicholas said.

The assistant stage manager said something similar yet different when talking about the importance of the stage crew.

“A lot of stuff wouldn’t happen if there weren’t a stage crew,” assistant stage manager Maddie Cichon said. “If you don’t notice the stage crew, then we are doing our job and our goal of keeping the performance running as smoothly as possible.” 

Run crew member Keala Loya within the performance gave her thoughts on the importance of the stage crew.

“We are the reason why actors get to be where they are by organizing vital parts with the script backstage so that things don’t fall apart,” Loya said.

What many may not know is how far in advance the theatre department solidifies the season’s performances and the creative process.

“We establish this production season by the end of fall 2024; we are always a semester ahead as to properly plan and secure rights to the play productions that we want to do,” Accetta said.

The creative process is constrained by three main factors: time, money and manpower. The set building and designs are dependent on how much manpower the production has. Having more resources would be nice, but not necessary for the elaborate set design.

Over this winter break, they will be finalizing the selected season for the 2026-27 school year.

Take the time and thank the stage crew as well as the actors for all of their hard work in bringing a papered script into a movie-like experience for all to enjoy. Eurydice is showing on Oct. 9-10 at 7:30 p.m., as well as their final performance on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.