Hanging Speakers, Painting Rocks, and Sewing Squirrels
What happens when two shows are running at the same time, in load-in at the same time, and it’s all during Halloween week? A look into the process of Sunena, and what it was like to work as a production assistant.
I’ve come to find that there is something truly special about being a production assistant. I loved occupying a kind of “floater” role where I essentially lingered with each department. I always looked forward to when I was called upon as it meant I could be of more active help. Whether it be to sub in for a performance, to take blocking or line notes, or if an extra set of hands was simply needed. Working as a PA for Sunena was particularly a fun one; not only was it a wonderful group of people to collaborate with, but there was an added excitement of our show being in repertory at the same time with another show, Scouts.
The shows ran at the same time in the same theater, but with different days for rehearsals and performances and with alternating time slots over the weekend. Our load-in period, however, was a shared one. We all went through load-in together, which meant on day one, when we all gathered at our call time to review guidelines and introduce ourselves, there were maybe upwards of forty people in that theater. And there was the added bonus that most of us were wearing pajamas, as it was our theme for day one. The respective production stage managers then went over the schedule and the division of teams, and as a PA, my name was a part of almost, if not all, the teams. But I spent my first day working with our sound team, where I gained insight into the specific placement of the speakers, how lighting and their equipment are also taken into consideration, and later hanging my first speaker!
“OH MY GOD THEY SQUEAK?”
Compared to the detailed set of Scouts, our set for Sunena was not as demanding. So when day two rolled around and I inquired with my production stage manager on where I was needed, I was sent to help out the Scouts team. I soon found myself in the costume shop learning how their props designer, who is one of my dear friends and whom I adore to work with, was fixing props for the show. These were squirrel dog toys that squeaked but for the show, the heads of these toys had to be detachable, the stuffing inside had to be removed, a plastic bag had to be sewed inside, a plastic pipette was then cut and placed into that bag, fake blood would be inserted into the pipette, a small piece of sponge was then placed atop the hole, velcro was sewed on two sides of the neck hole, a red fabric was sewed under the squirrel head, and was followed by red velcro. It was a very intricate process with a very specific vision in mind of how they would be used during the show, and the payoff was well worth it.
I spent that load-in day getting the hang of it, and over the following days I continued to bop around department to department, show to show, and continued to help the Scouts props team. On day three, before I went over for squirrel duty, I was sent to help out their scenic team. I assisted in painting one of their set pieces which was a rock, before shifting gears and returning to assist props when I noticed the scenic team had several people, and their props team only had one person that day.
Our fourth and final day of load-in fell onto Halloween, which saw many of us dressed up in costume while continuing to build and work. I myself was a witch, and I had on a small purple witch hat, green eyeshadow that was packed with glitter, and the rest of my costume packed in my bag for my Halloween plans later that night. It was me and my small witch hat against the world, and the squirrels were officially completed. Everyone was in high spirits, some people brought candy to share, during focus time for the lights team, they briefly made our Whitebox theater similar to that of a disco with all of the colorful strobe lights that would catch anyone’s eye when they walked past. It was a lovely way to end our load-in process before we entered tech, and it was all happening on a strangely warm Thursday.
The rest of the Sunena process soon passed by, and we had our opening night in which I subbed in for our assistant stage manager. I executed my duties in presetting the props, including a life-sized puppet; which made me realize that, at some point in the future, I would love to work more directly and hands-on with puppets. That same week is when I entered load-in for my other show, The Amethyst and the Peridot, and for a brief period of time, I was pulling double duty. I helped with set up for Sunena performances as much I could, and then headed to Kehoe for load-in. Luckily the theaters were just a turn down the hall from one another, yet there was something so magical about having to shift gears that quickly and having different responsibilites to adhere to; all right after one another.
Sunena played performances from November 11th to November 15th in the Whitebox Theatre at Fordham University.