Another view of Adam Joseph as he gets ready for a dress rehearsal of "The Miser." Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Four members of the Gargoyle staff — senior editor Anna Gooler and junior editors Kahlilah Cooke, Adam Joseph, and Katy Metcalf — are involved in this year's fall play, "The Miser."

This week they will take us backstage to get a sense of what goes into putting on a school production. What happens in tech week doesn't always stay in tech week. Today: Adam Joseph.

Nov. 4 update: Ticket prices had been incorrectly reported as $6/$5; the prices are $7/$6.

URBANA — "Can I get another person on this ladder?" seems to be a phrase said by me much too much this week. I have been, since last week, moving, aiming, and focusing the lights for "The Miser" and still may have more to do.

I have a different perspective on this process from most, for I am a techie and I am not on stage; rather I am in front of it. While the actors are worried about learning lines and entrances, I worry about knowing what lights to turn on when and making sure each light is where it needs to be. And just doing that presents a certain number of problems.

In a lot (if not most) theaters, lights are accessed via catwalks above the audience or stage, but in the North Attic we must use an incredibly old and shaky ladder in order to adjust the lights. It's not perfect, but it works.

For the lighting of this production, however, the ladder seems to be the nemesis, having already caused a few problems. It is a quite large ladder, and therefore has a rather large base, so sure enough after they put in our wonderful new risers, the ladder wouldn’t fit.

So come Saturday's work day, I got firsthand experience on how to take the risers apart, at least the first two rows. Once we made enough room for the ladder, though, we still had to move it to the light, which took two people and three trips up and down the ladder to remove cords each time we needed to move it.

But moving and aiming the lights is only part of the process. The next part started at our first tech rehearsal, where I had to learn my cues for when to turn on what light, and that process will continue until opening night.

I like doing lights for many reasons but one more fun reason is that I get to see the show from a very unique perspective. Each tech rehearsal, I start the day by moving any lights that need to be moved, then I start to set up everything on the light board so that I am ready.

When the show starts, I bring up the lights and start to watch the script, looking for my notes on when to change the lights, and that is where I get a different view.

Every rehearsal, instead of watching the play or studying lines, I watch the show (while keeping up on a script) and pay attention to how everything looks, how everything is lit. When I look at the set, I look at which parts are dark or bright, where there are shadows, etc.

And then when I watch a performance I pay attention to where the actors are standing relative to where I put the lights. I have to watch all this so that I can adjust and make the play look better and add to what the actors are doing onstage.

So, come see Uni's production of "The Miser," and when you do, give me a wave. I’ll be sitting in the corner at the light board.

FALL PLAY '09: Molière's "The Miser," directed by Barbara Ridenour

CAST

• Harpagon (the miser) — Zack Goldberg (sr)
• Cléante (Harpagon's son) — Ethan Schiller (sr)
• Elise (Harpagon's daughter) — Stefanie Senior (jr)
• Valère (in love with Elise) — Ben Zehr (jr)
• Mariane (in love with Cléante) — Vivian Robison (sr)
• Maitress Simone (a moneylender) — Maia Gersten (so)
• Frosine (a scheming woman) — Anna Gooler (sr)
• La Flèche (Cléante's servant) — Andrew LaPointe (sr)
• Jacqueline (Harpagon's servant) — Kahlilah Cooke (jr)
• First Servant (Brendavoine) — Stirling Hobgood (fr)
• Second Servant (La Metluche) — Matthew Meyer (fr)
• Justice of the Peace — Katy Metcalf (jr)
• Clerk to the Justice — Arch Robison (su)
• Seigneur Anselme — John Garvey

CREW

• Stage Manager — Tianna Pittenger (sr)
• Costumes — Mary Stasheff
• Set Design — Margarita Mouschovias (jr)
• Lighting Design and Operation — Adam Joseph (jr)
• Sound Operator — Adam Joseph
• Poster Design — Tianna Pittenger
• Program Design — Tianna Pittenger
• Set Crew — Kahlilah Cooke, Maia Gersten, Greta Goldbart (su), Zack Goldberg, Anna Gooler, Stirling Hobgood, Andrew LaPointe, Diana Liu (sr), Katy Metcalf, Matthew Meyer, Margarita Mouschovias, Charlie Newman-Johnson (jr), Arch Robison, Vivian Robison, Ethan Schiller, Stefanie Senior, Fiona Weingartner (jr), Ben Zehr