Visit Chiayi Performing Arts Center
Nov. 17th, 2021
This semester I attend one course called Digital Management And Practice In Theatre. Every Wednesday, we take class in a black box theatre in Humanity Department. But this time we visited Chiayi Performing Arts Center’s backstage to see what we cannot see as an audience.
First, we went into experimental theatre. Experimental theatre features its flexibility of performance. The stage was surrounded by rows of seats unlike traditional theatre’s seats were built on the opposite side of the stage. More surprising, the seats could be pulled out of to have more seats. And the guide invited some students work in pairs to pull out the seats. My friend and I immediately raised our hands to volunteer. We held an equipment like a long metal stick to get stuck in the groove under the seats, and then used my all strength to pull it. It was SUPER heavy, but I was strong enough to pull it out of gradually.
Second, we went up to the catwalk which was approximately 3-floor high. (Catwalk is the working space constructed above the stage. Stagehands can set the lights and curtain there.) I felt extremely excited when I walked on the sky aisle, because I could see the downside stage through the holes of the path. Although the guide jumped on the path to prove the safety of the construction, I was still not brave enough to jump on it.
Third, the guide introduced us the loading area. There was an enormous gate for truck to unlock the props. Outside the gate, the ground was lower than the floor in the building. This design made the platform of the truck and the floor on the same level. So, the stagehands could unload and load the props more easily.
Fourth, we moved to the big performance hall to experience the how to lift and descend the curtains. When the curtain was lifting on the sky, we needed to put the irons as heavy as the curtain on the stage to maintain the balance. Therefore, when we wanted to descend the curtain, we needed to pulled the rope so that the irons could fly to the sky. I had to say that lifting and descending the curtain was an extremely tiring work because the irons were so HEAVY. By using whole strength in our body, we pulled and then squatted to descend the curtain.
Finally, our teacher assistance taught us how to light up. We practice operating three kinds of lamps and lighting on the cyclorama. (Cyclorama is the white curtain at the back of the stage) My favorite lamp was LEKO because I could light up in different pattern and different color. For example, if I put an iron sheet with shadow pattern and green colored paper into LEKO, then the green shadow would be reflected on the cyclorama. It was an amusing experience! The visit of Chiayi Performing Arts Center really broadens my horizon of theatre world!
