{"id":149683,"date":"2024-04-24T08:48:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T12:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=149683"},"modified":"2024-11-07T13:57:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T18:57:18","slug":"setting-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2024\/04\/24\/setting-the-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting the stage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Design and technology student Anna Hunter works behind the scenes designing sets, making props and managing the stage during Wright State theatre productions.<\/p><\/div>\n

Students in Wright State University\u2019s theatre program are often associated with acting, singing and dancing. But for them to put on a show, they need students like Anna Hunter.<\/p>\n

Hunter is one of those who work behind the scenes, designing and building sets, procuring and making props, and managing the actors\u2019 entrances and exits. She will graduate at the end of Spring Semester, but not before leaving behind a legacy beyond that of most of her peers.<\/p>\n

Hunter will graduate on April 27 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in theatre design and technology<\/a>, with concentrations in stage management, props and set designs, and a minor in German.<\/p>\n

Hunter was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her parents are Wright State alumni who moved to Colorado in 2000: Jill (Tonkin) Simpson received a bachelor\u2019s degree in education in 1992 and Joseph Hunter received a bachelor\u2019s degree in material science and engineering in 1993.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn high school, I had no interests beyond theater,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cIt was the first activity I did that I connected with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her interest was not as a performer but in the props used on stage to help tell the story. When it came time for college trips, she visited Colorado schools but none of them were quite what she wanted.<\/p>\n

Then she joined her mother on a trip to visit family in Dayton in summer 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted to take a walk down memory lane,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

After taking a campus tour of Wright State, Hunter returned later that summer to attend a Wright State open house and learn more about the theatre program.<\/p>\n

What made the open house noteworthy was the attention she received.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t been to a campus yet that paid that much attention to every single student,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was the most individual attention I\u2019ve received at any other university.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also was impressed by the attention to props in the theatre program. Witnessing an exchange among those in a theatre production crew, she said, \u201cThey were looking for a wheelchair, and the question was asked, \u2018Modern or vintage?\u2019 They wanted vintage. \u2018Good or bad condition?\u2019 I was impressed by the attention to detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a first-year student at Wright State, she was required to take acting and dance classes but then shifted to design and technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very, very lucky that in high school we had a student-run theater, and we did pretty much all the work \u2013 set building, props crafting, handling budgets and painting. I got a lot of hands-on experience in high school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That experience came in handy for Hunter, who served as a stage manager and prop master and designed the sets for \u201cKelly the Destroyer,\u201d \u201cA Doll\u2019s House\u201d and \u201cA Doll\u2019s House, Part Two.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love set design,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are all these qualifications you have to meet, entrances and exits, times of day and the positions the actors have to be in, and make an interesting space for them to be in and making it visually good for the audience. I enjoy the elements that go into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

For the last three years, Anna Hunter has helped plan and produce ArtsGala, the College of Liberal Arts\u2019 annual scholarship fundraiser for fine and performing arts students.<\/p><\/div>\n

Designing and building a set is like producing a 3D picture, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sculpture. It\u2019s construction. It\u2019s drawing. It\u2019s painting \u2014 a lot of different art forms,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

Hunter also developed a distinction unique among her classmates. She has been the only student involved in planning and producing the three past ArtsGalas<\/a>, the College of Liberal Arts\u2019 annual scholarship fundraiser for fine and performing arts students. Other students volunteer and perform the night of the gala, but Hunter\u2019s involvement starts months before.<\/p>\n

Her duties have included organizing student volunteers, contacting everyone by email to let them know details and the dress code, and coordinating rehearsal schedules.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day itself is fairly stressful and there are fires to put out,\u201d Hunter said, \u201cbut it\u2019s worth it when patrons come out of a performance and they\u2019re oohing and aahing and have huge smiles. It\u2019s a great sense of accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Hunter will graduate in April, her academic career is not quite over. She is going to Germany next month in a student Ambassador Program. She minors in German, as a nod to her mother, who has been a longtime teacher of German.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s valuable to know another language,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

Her theatrical summit is linked to her German studies, with Wright State’s 2023 production of \u201cCabaret<\/a>,\u201d in which she was a prop designer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI built the toy box and the fruit stand, and backstage I managed the props crew and made sure things were where they needed to be,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a beautiful production. I\u2019m really proud to have been a part of that team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The musical is about the rise of the Nazi party in Germany leading up to World War II. The end featured an American flag with a swastika, which left some audiences silent. The message is about a rise in hatred.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne reason we did \u2018Cabaret\u2019 is that (its message) still is applicable,\u201d Hunter said, \u201cand it\u2019s important to continue telling these stories while we have the ability to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from \u201cCabaret,\u201d Hunter said she will also remember the independence students had while working on projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we were told to build it or paint it or fix it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe learned through doing, which personally is my learning style. To have the ability to sort of mess up and create things even if they came out wrong was a big thing in my education. All the professors are good at allowing space for learning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Design and technology student Anna Hunter works behind the scenes designing sets, making props and managing the stage during Wright State theatre productions. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":149703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2037,4312,4859,747,715,4855,4298,4295,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-arts-scene","category-artsgala","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-social-sciences-and-international-studies","category-student-profile","category-study-abroad","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149683"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149709,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149683\/revisions\/149709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}