Although most kids who gravitate towards a theatre program love performing–be it singing, dancing, acting, or maybe clowning–there are some who don’t love the spotlight at all. Why join a theatre program if you don’t like performing? What is there to do if you are not inclined to be on stage? Believe it or not, there are still meaningful, satisfying, and exciting ways to join in the theatre fun, even if you never, ever want to be in front of a live audience. Non-performing kids still get a lot of benefit from being part of a theatre production, whether they choose to participate on stage, off-stage, or backstage. Here are three ways that kids who don’t want to be stars can still be part of the magic.
Ensemble
In musical theatre, most productions require an ensemble. This is the group of background performers who form the crowd, the chorus, or the townsfolk. Typically they don’t have specific characters or names, but are just listed as “ensemble” or “chorus”. Some kids don’t want any of their own lines, or to do any solo acting or singing, but they might still like to perform in the back row of group dances or crowd scenes, lending their presence to the action without being singled out. Some participants find joining the ensemble to be just the right amount of spotlight, and choose to decline any offers of speaking roles. This can be an exciting way to be part of the performance without needing to study the script, memorize lines, or carry any solo moments. It is a way to be part of the action with less onerous responsibility, and less stress.
Stagecraft
Stagecraft can be another very creative and satisfying way to contribute to a production. Designing and/or making the sets, the set pieces and props, and the costumes, helps shape the look and feel of the play. These atmospheric parts can establish the era, the genre, the region, and the subtext of the story. Costumes can be used to identify major information such as hero or villain, social class, historical period, affiliations, and role or function (eg. job), but also more nuanced aspects of character such as allegiances, habits, associations, personality, and even more subtle qualities such as vanity, nerdiness, or self-confidence. The colours, the materials, the relative busy-ness versus spartan appearance, how realistic versus cartoonish props are…these things have a major impact on the overall presentation. Stagecraft is vital to function (sets that change, props that work), but also to the successful creation of genre, scenery, mood, humour, and believability. Through stagecraft, kids who love the creative process, who love theatre and theatrical design, can play a vital role in the vision and shaping of the production without ever stepping foot in front of the audience. These kids add their legacy to the stage from behind the scenes.
Theatre Tech & Production
Another way to help shape a play is by designing or running the technical aspects, such as sound or lighting. Many plays have sound effects that underscore the action, such as sounds of water, explosions, crashes, and so on. But musical theatre also requires music: unless there is a live band, someone has to operate the sound. And almost all theatre requires lighting. Spotlights, atmospheric lights, special-effect lights, and lights that connote mood and ambience, or specific conditions such as sunshine, gloom, anticipation, wide-open space, dreamscape, freezing cold, or twilight. A good lighting design not only supports the story but helps create the exact atmosphere or scenic requirements of the overall mood, and changes within it. Lighting helps distinguish the feel of one scene from another, identifies action from rest, tells us when the play begins, acts change, or intermission starts, and directs the audience where to look, and what to focus on. Both sound and lighting are like additional stars of the show, but the people who design and operate them are rarely seen. This can be a very rewarding way to be a pivotal part of a theatrical production, to contribute immensely to how it looks and sounds, without ever being on stage oneself. These kids are behind the spotlight rather than in front of it.
Most kids who self-identify as “theatre kids” love to sing, dance, and act, but believe it or not there are some who thoroughly enjoy all aspects of theatre except those very three things. Some prefer to contribute to the background, be it the ensemble, the stagecraft, or the production tech. At TES Theatre, we invite students to participate in any way that excites or inspires them. We have a production program, we have stagecraft, and we always have room in the ensemble. Because not only do some kids make do with backstage arts, some kids are passionate about them. Some students at TES prefer designing a lighting scheme or tackling a creative project like scenic backdrops to create just the right tone in a play: for some kids, this is their passion. They never wanted to be on stage, but they still love creating theatre.
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