BY HANNAH DEAR (‘17)

NEWS EDITOR

No show is complete without a hardworking crew behind the scenes.

Junior Kate Guiney and senior Kate Duncan student direct this play. The duo pushes the actors to give their best performance.

“I help out with characterization when actors are not working with Mrs. Sharp,” Duncan said.

The student directors are essentially the aids to the teaching directors, Sara Sharp and Stefanie Stanton.

“I pretty much help the directors out and I have some input in the acting,” Guiney said.

The student directors struggled to choose a favorite character because of the diversity of the show.

“They’re all so important in their own ways. My favorite part would have to be Bradley and Rowan,” Guiney said. “That was one of the most emotionally moving things I’ve seen Granville’s stage put on.”

The character development would not be the same without the student directors.

“Anna Minton and Rick Duffus’ scene was really fun to work with because it was such a difficult scene to do,” Duncan said. “It’s hard to transition like that emotionally for both of them.”

Behind the scenes, a group of diligent technicians work on set, props, lights, sound, costumes, makeup, and publicity crews.

The set is pretty much a revolving set of doors, literally. These doors create a rough outline of the town.

“My favorite part of the show is all of the scenic painting,” assistant stage manager Kayla Braden said.

The crews are accident prone because of the props and sets everywhere.

“I accidentally tripped one of my people backstage,” Braden said. “We went out for the scene change. We were carrying the bench together, and he tripped over my foot.”

The props lend themselves to magical realism. Whether it is through the bag Gloria (Gabriella Schnaidt) carries her heart in or the trash bags that are full of Lendell’s (Rick Duffus) love that Gayle (Anna Minton) hauls into the apartment, the props make an important statement in the show.

The costumes and makeup are specially coordinated for the background.

“Since the entire stage is white we couldn’t have any costumes that were white because they would blend in with the background and wash the actors out,” costumes crew chair Kate Plaugher said.

This show was a unique challenge because of the time period “Almost, Maine” is set in.

“This show takes place in modern times, and we don’t have many of those costumes in stock,” Plaugher said. “A lot of the costumes are actually the actors’ clothes.”

The crews form a tight bond during tech week.

“I couldn’t do it without them. They played a big part in making this show come together,” Plaugher said.

The cast and crew come together and work hard for months to create something special.

“The show is one of the most moving shows I’ve ever seen at Granville,” Guiney said.