The magic of theater goes beyond performance—a play or musical represents a culmination of hard work by people who make every magical moment possible.

Many students see only the finished product of a production and never know the work that goes beyond acting, singing, and costumes—including lighting, sound, and the building of the set.

Stagecraft, a longstanding elective at the School taught by Creative Arts Department Head Bill Jacob, offers students an opportunity to design and build sets, handle power tools and equipment, and learn to work backstage for the School’s plays and musicals.

This course aims to give students an understanding of how professional productions are built and run, especially in terms of how cues, sound, and lighting work during a production.

“I’m not really an actor per se, but I’ve always been interested in the behind-the-scenes [aspects] of the productions. I enjoyed [working backstage] in middle school, and stagecraft was the way to get into it in high school,” Charlie Young ‘29 said.

Students begin the year learning how to properly operate tools to build sets. After working with a set designer, students then build the sets for the Upper School and Middle School plays: Radium Girls and The Great Ignored.

Jacob taught the students how to work from plans to make the scenery for these shows. For these sets, students used drills, saws, and other tools to construct the foundation of the set, then painted and decorated the set to add detail.

“Stagecraft has taught me the ability to use power tools to build sets and more with wood,” Will Heatherington ‘29 said.

Students from Stagecraft are the first crew members for each production at this school, filling roles in sound and lights. They work in the booth doing sound effects and music, and operate light systems and spotlights. Some students also work on the deck, running props and scenery during shows.

“I aim to teach students a good working knowledge of the different equipment and sound and lights,” Jacob said.

The course emphasizes both craftsmanship and collaboration between crew members and students, ensuring that students not only learn how individual elements are constructed, but also how they fit together during a show’s run.

“I want students to have a basic idea of how a professional production runs in terms of how cues are given and taken and how things are handled backstage**,”** Jacob said. Jacob hopes that if students want to pursue further education or work in theater programs in colleges and community theaters, they will have the skills necessary to be able to do so.

“If we have students who go from Brimmer into a good college theater program or a small community theater, I want them to be able to quickly jump into that work,” Jacob said.

Ultimately, Stagecraft provides much more than just a behind-the-scenes look at theater. Whether they pursue theater further or simply carry these skills into other areas of life, students leave the class with a strong working knowledge of professional equipment, sound and lighting systems, and the inner workings of theatrical productions.