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LilyBlog 10/9/12 – Tech It Out!
OCT 9, 2012
Whenever tech week starts, I get this song stuck in my head. Except my mind replaces the lyric “ch-check it out” with “te-tech it out.” Clearly, this is a sign of my innate cleverness. Singing and dancing to this song, with my new and improved lyrics makes me happy. It relieves stress and helps me maintain sanity during the long hours spent in semi-darkness, repeating moments of a play again and again until everything is perfect. Not everyone likes my tech-week cure, however; different theater artists have different ways of meeting the challenge of tech week. Here are a few popular tips and tricks.
The Top 5 Tech-niques for Surviving Tech Week
1) Drink Caffeine. Rare is the theater artist who does not quaff copious amounts of caffeine during tech week. It may come in various forms– coffee (and, within that, it’s many sub-forms – iced, latte, flavored, IV drip) or energy drinks are the most popular– but it is always present. Even those of us who don’t usually imbibe find ourselves doing so during tech week. A recent text message from a friend of mine in the throes her own tech week reads “It’s only been three hours and I’ve already had two lattes with extra espresso shots. I normally don’t even drink tea. Help.”
2) Eat From The Giant Candy Bowl. The giant candy bowl not only provides a sugar rush – and, therefore, an energy rush – but also the joyful memories of childhood trick-or-treating that accompanies the consumption of fun-sized Snickers bars (okay, this might just be me). The only downside to the giant candy bowl is when all the good candy is gone and you’re left with no choice but grape-flavored Jolly Ranchers.
3) Play The Adjective Game. Fellow A.R.T. Institute dramaturgy student Alexandra Juckno told me about this one: 1) Find a partner (or a couple partners). 2) Pick a noun, any noun. 3) Switching back and forth, and going in alphabetical order, each player must describe the noun with an adjective that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Agile lily. Awesome lily. Adept lily. Simple, mentally stimulating, and promises several minutes (hours?) of fun.
4) Watch Funny Cat Videos. A newer development in tech-week survival techniques, watching funny cat videos (of which there are thousands – thank you, strange cultural obsession with silly animals!) immediately relieves stress. Whether you prefer “Henri le Chat” or the classic “Keyboard Cat,” there is a cat video out there that is guaranteed to make you laugh. And laughter makes rehearsal a brighter, happier place.
5) Sleep. Who am I kidding? There’s no sleeping during tech week.
But, at the end of this home stretch of 12-hour workdays and sleepless nights, is a magnificent and one-of-a-kind show. The Lily’s Revenge is shaping up to be an unmissable event.