Tech Team Trials and Tribulations

In October, tryouts were held for St. Ambrose's tech team, and thus, Team Redbeard was assembled. Returning members senior Kendall McKasson and sophomore Anthony Duckett were joined by junior Mel Maylum, first-year Sam Lange, and alternate sophomore Morgan Reilly.

Since then, they've spent countless late nights and early mornings preparing to defend their title and reclaim the coveted Golden C-Wrench while bonding as a tech team family.

"My favorite part about the process was getting to spend time with our team, learning new things and getting to bond over our shared passion for technical theatre," Maylum said.
This year, the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The tech team traveled alongside 17 other students who represented St. Ambrose University in various aspects of the festival. With a mix of tech team veterans and first-time competitors, there were a lot of mixed feelings going into the competition.

"Going into the competition for the first time was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating," Maylum said. "I was nervous because I just wanted to perform my tasks well and as fast as possible. At the same time, being in the competition with the other tech teams was exciting, and it just made me want to show off our team's amazing skills even more."

The Stage Crew Showdown consisted of five relay-style events featuring knot tying, lighting instrument hang and focus, prop placement and strike, curtain border hang and costume quick change.

This year, the competition was overseen by Patrick Immel. Since it was his first year, he decided to continue with the same events that have been featured in the competition for years but did so with a few new twists of his own.

"The first thing that sticks out to me is that the audience was in a different spot, which threw us off a little," Duckett said. "I also remember that the props placement event had significant changes that we didn't know about in that they completely took out a big part of the event. Another change was that it seemed a lot less prepared and professional than it has in the past."

Overall, the team felt like they were able to leave it all on the stage. Though there were minor setbacks, they still managed to have fun while doing something they loved. They also made some new friends who shared their love of technical theatre.