As the lights dim and the curtain rises, months of hard work is on display for an audience. But what goes on behind those curtains and starts long before the actual show can be just as phenomenal.
This November, Princeton High School will be performing “The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime,” which tells the story of a 15 year old boy named Christopher and his adventure when he finds out his neighbor’s dog has been murdered, including secrets being revealed along the way about Christopher and his family.
Each year, the selection of the play is led by Julianna Krawiecki, PHS’s drama teacher and the play’s director.
“So [the] first step of my process was to reflect on the last three shows, because the kids that are seniors would have potentially been in school during [the] time of those three shows. And so I looked back at it and we had done ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ... ‘Rumors,’ and we did ‘Clue’ last year. So I wanted to do something that contrasted well to that,” Krawiecki said.
Once the important decisions have been made, like the casting of each character, the rehearsals can begin.
“We ... start working ...[by] doing a lot of character analysis to understand every moment and then build the show moment by moment through movement and different stage pictures,” said Krawiecki.
However, before any work can get done, the actors must focus on getting in the right headspace.
“We do this thing called Stretch and Share, where you can just get in the circle and stretch and share how your day was,” says Nanea Barton ’28, who plays Judy, Christopher’s mother.
Next up, the creative team starts their work on all the aspects that elevate the theater experience. This team is made up of sets, costumes, props, lights, and sounds.
“When I design and create sound I like to make sure it’s an immersive experience for the audience member. I feel like good sound design is something that pulls you into the world and its presence makes it more immersive,” said V Srikrishnan ’27, the sound supervisor.
The PHS sound crew is able to elevate the sound experience in unique and interesting ways.
“One way we do that is with spatial audio so stuff might come from the left speaker or the right speaker rather than both to have it feel like ‘oh the doorbells actually coming from the door,’” Srikrishnan said.
To put these two parts of the creative team and the actors together is where the stage managers come in. Lizzie Voronin ’27, the stage manager, describes her job as “the bridge between actors and tech crew.”
“We make sure to communicate everything back to our team that’s actually creating all these props and sets and changing the lights and organizing the sounds and projections ... we’re the ones who collect all the information in rehearsal and then send it out at the end of the night,” Voronin said.
Being a stage manager is knowing the ins and outs of the show to make sure that it goes as well as possible.
“It’s a lot of responsibility, because you have to really understand the show inside out, and have to be able to manage a whole team while also taking care of yourself,” said Voronin.
But not all of the behind the scenes is serious work. Special traditions allow for bonding, connecting, and hanging out.
“We do a Tech potluck where we all meet at someone’s house and bring something and have fun and play games. We also do dinners out sometimes,” Srikrishnan said.
Another special tradition is the preparation before each show. The cast and crew do a pump-up before every performance.
“We all run upstairs and we go into the Black Box [Theater] and we all huddle in a circle and we all give a motivational speech ... it’s just to get everybody’s energy up and get everybody so excited,” said Voronin.
The part that makes the behind the scenes of the play so special is the touch that PHS gives to it. Besides being successful in their organization and even performing at the Speech, and Theatre Association of New Jersey (STANJ), PHS also has a special backstage atmosphere.
“I just love how nice everybody is. ... Sometimes in theater settings it can be kind of competitive, ... but here everyone was super welcoming,” Barton said.