by Shauna Sandhu November 26, 2022
Last week CHS Theatre presented the play Clue, a theatrical comedy based on the 1985 film. It's a humorous murder mystery set at a dinner party where six guests arrive with the same blackmail letter. Those who saw it witnessed a wonderful collaboration of acting and technical skills. Most students don’t have the opportunity to see the hard work that the department does behind the scenes, so I interviewed the stage manager, Isha Atiq, who gave some fascinating insights.
Her job as a stage manager essentially consists of ensuring that everything operates smoothly. She was constantly there during auditions, callbacks, rehearsals, and the show, guaranteeing that everyone understood what they needed to do. Other examples of her responsibilities are running lines with the cast or taking notes to improve the consistency and flow. During the play, she sat up in the balcony and called light and sound cues as well as scene changes. She said, “I feel the most magical part is the process backstage.”
She felt it was an excellent leadership opportunity for her to hone her skills, especially considering how challenging it can be to manage your peers and the effort to be assertive while keeping everyone happy.
Isha highlighted that all the roles in the production are equally important. Putting on a play requires a lot of support from the crew. Some of the roles required are the assistant director, student tech director, people in charge of scenery, set builders, and more. She said that as stage manager, she didn't get to spend much time with the cast, but that they were funny, professional, and dedicated.
Isha illustrated how rehearsals were the most important part of everything, starting promptly after school each day at 3 with basic warm-ups. There was a large focus on blocking (movement concerning the actors and props) because of how it contributed to the show. She feels rehearsals were a fun and happy time where she could put other things aside to focus on the show, and she could tell that others felt similarly.
When I asked about her favorite aspect of the process, she talked about how she enjoys the first read-through of the script and described it, saying, “the script really comes to life.” Her favorite scene of the play would be when all the guests are in the lounge and begin accusing one another. Isha also said that the actors did a wonderful job with the physical comedy of the scene.
I asked why specifically Clue was chosen and she explained that Mr. Hamen, the director, selects the piece and that it was chosen because it seemed like a good choice to ease back into the school year with all the new faces in the program.
I saw the play as well and I thought it was fantastic and hilarious! The twists at the end were phenomenal and the program did a spectacular job. We can't wait to see what they do next with Kodachrome (auditions 11/30-12/1).