An Act of God: A Technical Direction Analysis

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre in partnership with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln selected An Act of God to open its 50th Season during the 2018-2019 school year. Artistic Director Andy Park chose 2nd year graduate student Jill Hibbard as the production’s scenic designer. The show opened in the Johnny Carson Studio Theatre which is located in the Lied Center on September 26, 2018 and closed on October 14 after 14 performances. Graduate faculty named me technical director for this production, to fulfil the duties commonly associated with this position. The responsibilities of a technical director consist of communicating with the majority of individuals involved with a production, engineering scenery, producing build drawings, budgeting and ordering materials, maintaining an efficient build schedule, producing G-Codes for CNC [Computer Numeric Control] operators, creating a safe working environment, maintaining the scenic designer’s visual aesthetic, creating plans for the installation and removal of all scenic pieces to be assembled in a location not connected with the shop in which those pieces were produced, and lastly to develop a collaborative personality to ensure the successful creation of a production. This thesis will analyze the execution of my process as the technical director for the production from conception through closing while negotiating the confinements of time, quality and budgets. Most topics throughout the thesis will discussed as goals: whether they were achieved or not, and how efforts to achieve such can be improved. Immediately following the conclusion of this thesis is the photo documentation of paperwork that will support information presented within the thesis. Advisor: Mitchell L. Crite