As the theatre program at Scripps Ranch High School grows, so does the need for space. A scene shop for technical theatre was at the top of the list: a place to design and construct theatre flats, scenery, furniture, or other structures needed for the stage. Previously, the technical theatre program had to use the theatre's loading dock as a makeshift shop, often working outside on the sidewalk next to the building and the parking lot. It wasn't a lot of room for 30+ students - and sometimes nails and screws made their way off the sidewalk, into the parking lot, and into the path of cars, causing flat tires and angry emails.

For years, theatre teacher and director Patrick Garcia has been advocating for a more formal space for technical theatre and working with his administration to find a solution. When he was offered the opportunity to take over a classroom just off the theatre stage, he jumped at the chance. "In all honesty," he says of his reaction to the news, "I was thrilled at the idea and the possibilities with what the students could do with the space."

But a classroom does not a technical theatre shop make. While they had the shop tools, the students needed hardy woodworking tables and workbenches, and cabinets and organizers to store materials and equipment. Technical theatre student Abigail Leader picks up the narrative to tell us about how the technical theatre students worked together last summer to make the scene shop what it is today.

"Over the summer of 2021 some of my fellow students and I worked to organize and prepare our new shop for the coming school year. First we had to transfer our old shop into the new one, which was a long and tedious process. We created a new storage system for our larger pieces of lumber, installed cabinets and, in the new shop, we constructed three new work tables. The tables were made to be mobile so that our shop can have multiple configurations. The tables also included a shelf for storage of various tools and materials. The tables were a hard project that took us a long time.

We would come into work for about six hours once a week for about a month over the summer. It was difficult but fun because we got to work with more long lasting and heavy duty materials than we usually work with and got to learn many new carpentry techniques. We constructed a new lumber cart to replace our old one in which we store our smaller lumber. We also followed plans to make a miter saw station and corresponding table.

Getting to be a part of our theater’s history as the first ones to use the new shop was very gratifying but also a bit stressful, we knew we had to build quality work spaces so that they would last for years to come. Being able to help set up a new shop was difficult at times but incredibly rewarding. Knowing that the things we helped build will be used for many years of technicians after us is really exciting!"

The outcome of those hours of hard work is an organized, well-equipped, professional woodworking space, which was put to work immediately for this year's theatre productions. Congratulations to Patrick Garcia and the technical theatre students at Scripps Ranch High School on their new technical theatre scene shop!