Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2008 - 51

Biloxi Blues, 2006.

photo by chris richards

Arizona Repertory Theatre,
directed by Brent Gibbs;
sets, Sally Day;
costumes, Patrick Holt;
lighting, Jeff Warburton;
sound, Scott Readel.

ence. The intent of the pilot year was to determine if our summer show could provide the "next step" training I envisioned,
so at least this time around good basic skills were a necessity.
I developed flyers and an application, and sent the materials to
the drama teachers at those two schools.
Although the program is voluntary and free for the apprentices, I wanted a formal application in which detailed information could be given to the students-the scope of individual
apprenticeships and a production calendar-and information
could be gathered about the applicants-contact information,
their job preferences, and their conflicts with the schedule. (A
PDF copy of the application is available at www.usitt.org/tdt.
index/extras/44-3apprentices.html.) Though the program was
beginning small, we were looking for students to take the opportunity seriously. I also wanted to address as many questions
up front as possible and provide a space for the signature of
the parent or guardian who would ultimately see that the students met their commitments (and sometimes drive them here
and back each day). Past experience had taught me that written
commitments are less often broken than verbal ones.
The application invited students interested in lighting,
sound, scenic construction, props, and costumes to participate. One of the schools, Catalina Foothills High School,
responded right away. This was the school of the previous
summer's student, and he had spoken quite positively about
his experience. Several of his classmates were interested, and
I soon welcomed five students: three lighting apprentices, a
sound apprentice, and an apprentice in scenic construction.
A few tweaks to the standard ART summer schedule were
needed to make this pilot program work. The university summer schedule began a full two weeks before the end of the

theatre

design

technology

S U M M E R

2008

school year for the area high schools. By the time their classes
were over, we would be nearly ready for technical rehearsals.
I asked the production areas to alter their daily schedules,
working later into the afternoons and preserving some of the
Saturday calls which are common during the academic year.
This would allow the apprentices to begin working as soon
as we did, and although they were only available for limited
hours during the first weeks, this was long enough for them to
get fully involved in projects. The sound apprentice and one
of the lighting students quickly showed exceptional promise,
and they soon benefited from additional responsibilities and
involvement.
All of the pilot students signed up for "construction apprenticeships," meaning they were done with the opening of
the show after a month's involvement. Some opted to attend
technical rehearsals, while others finished up with the end of
the major work in their area.

evALuATIoN AND exPANSIoN
Once the production closed for the summer, I sought feedback
from the high school students who had participated. I sent questionnaires to each apprentice, asking about their likes and dislikes, other areas to add to future apprenticeships-essentially
any feedback they wanted to share. Brighton Beach Memoirs
featured a graduate student lighting designer, an undergraduate sound designer, and a guest faculty scenic designer. Each
offered their own evaluations of the program as a whole and of
the individual students with whom they'd worked.
The apprentices who returned the questionnaires offered
me some valuable insights: several students would like to work
as stage managers (I had originally not included stage manage-

http://www.usitt.org/tdt

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