Goshen College’s fall play, The Metromaniacs, will be performed for the next two weekends at Umble Center. In preparation for the upcoming performances, the cast and crew participated in tech weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
The Metromaniacs takes place in 1738 when the stylish Francalou throws a party to welcome his poetry fanatic daughter, Lucille, home from college. He organizes a play to be the primary entertainment for the party, but, through a series of secrets, grudges and disguises, the party descends into a snarl of chaos. The characters then must untangle the confusion so that true love can prevail.Teo Kingsley, senior theater major and stage manager for The Metromaniacs, said that one of his favorite things about this show is the language. He said, “This show is written in verse, so everything is in that really distinctive, Shakespearean, iambic pentameter pattern, and everything is rhyming.”
Far more goes into putting on a show than just a script. This past weekend was “tech weekend,” the term for the back-to-back 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. workdays. The purpose of tech weekend is for the tech crew of the show — including stage management, lighting, sound, costumes and props — to have an opportunity to incorporate the technical aspects of the show with the acting. The weekend included running through all of the tech cues and a full run of the show with complete lighting and sound.
Kingsley explained that tech weekend provides a space for focusing on the technical aspects of the show, since that usually takes a backseat to working with the actors in everyday rehearsal.
One way that tech weekend simplifies the process for the crew is by having the stage management desks and lighting boards in the seats near the stage.
Andrew Russell, sophomore religion and music major, explained that this allows for clearer vision and communication. Russell is the lead sound designer and soundboard operator for The Metromaniacs. He said, “Everybody on the crew has some theater experience working with tech, so that’s always great when you have an experienced crew.”
Tech weekend looks a bit different for the cast, however. Adam Sherrill, a sophomore broadcasting major who plays Francalou, said that tech weekend involves a lot of standing around and jumping through the show as needed by the tech crew.
He said, “It’s a lot of time in the theater, and some people don’t like that as much as I do, so tech weekend can be a lot for them.” The main development for actors during tech weekend was the requirement to be completely memorized, without the safety net of someone ready to give them lines.
The performances for The Metromaniacs are rapidly approaching. Amy Budd, associate professor of theatre and director of the show, is eager to share this play with audiences. Of The Metromaniacs, she said, “It embodies a contrast of new and old ideas on stage together … The lightness of the comedy with the depth of philosophy really makes it special.”
The cast and crew say that The Metromaniacs is a funny and whimsical show. Budd noted the contrast between The Metromaniacs and last year’s play, Poor Claire. She said “We went really heavy with reflection and examination of our own affluence, but I think we have just as much capacity to change hearts and souls with this lightheartedness, so I hope the audience will join us to develop their own sense of hope.”
