While the cast of DHS Drama Club’s fall play “The Tempest” work hard in rehearsals, crew members labor in the shop creating set pieces and designing the stage for the show. Sophomore and Assistant Stage Manager Sophie Reed joined crew originally because she was pressured into it, but she found a love for being backstage and has stuck with it ever since. 

“I think a lot of people that enjoy theater and enjoy music don’t really understand how the show actually gets put on, and it’s fascinating for them when they get the opportunity to go backstage and see all the lights all the sound and all the different curtains we have and the sets we have in the shop and everything like that,” Reed said.  “It’s a really cool experience to get to just watch and you’re still a part of the show and you’re still kind of making a lot of things happen, but you don’t have to be on stage and have that sort of pressure on you.” 

Cast members have traditions that they participate in before every show and during rehearsals, but the crew members have their own traditions to prepare for a show. 

“We like to stretch, and there’s a dance routine that we do to ‘Fergalicious’,” Reed said. 

Due to the importance of the crew, Reed feels that a show would not be possible without their work behind the scenes. 

“There wouldn’t be a show if there was no crew,” Reed said. “There wouldn’t be costumes and there wouldn’t be lights and there wouldn’t be sound. There would be a stage and there’d be people, and I’m sure the actors would be able to put together an actual show, but it wouldn’t be a production the way it is with an actual crew.” 

The play’s show dates are Nov. 21-23, and each show will start at 7 p.m.