PROFILE
Lights, Stage, Action! Students are the fuel that keeps Anne Simley Theatre running. Words by: Hanna Bubser Photos by: Sophie Warrick Once you pass through the main doors of Anne Simley Theatre, you are transported to an area with so many working gears that it seems to live and breathe as a being entirely of its own. As impressive as it is, this theatre can’t run itself. There is an entire group of dedicated individuals who keep this machine running. Who are the great majority of these individuals? None other than a skilled group of Hamline students. Anne Simley Theatre is under-appreciated by the general population of Hamline, and it shouldn’t be. The work these students are doing is not only important, but also pretty spectacular. What is the best way to shed some light on all of this? By going directly to the source (or, should I say, the sources): the shop managers. Through their enthusiastic leadership, they help fuel the energy that allows the theatre to keep producing shows year after year. Shop managers are easily some of the busiest students on campus. They schedule work hours for staff as well as train and hire new team members. They also consistently attend meetings for the theatre department
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and above all supervise the students who work in the theatre. The managers become specialists in their field. Shop managers (with the help of department staff and faculty) are in charge of many areas including costuming, lighting, the scene shop (set construction), props, archives, media, and the box office. Senior Holly Hepp is the Prop Shop manager. Her job requires a keen attention to detail. “Often the set designer or director will be very hands-off in dictating what the finished props for the production will look like” she said. “I will be provided with lists of props a production needs and concept images as inspiration but from there the design of the props is usually largely up to me.” As a business student, Hepp is a great example of the variety of majors that can be found working in the theatre department. You do not have to be a theatre major to have a work study job there, help with a production, or even act in the plays and musicals. For people like Hepp, the theatre life is a welcome change from their studies.
