Applebaum teaches unsung side of theater
Backstage legerdemain
For those who have
always been intrigued by the
hidden world of arts and
drama, Clackamas Communi­
ty College is offering a design
and stagecraft theater se­
quence for the ’83-84 year.
The year long course is
taught by Steve Applebaum,
a part-time instructor for the
College. The first quarter of
the course is dedicated to
stagecraft. The students learn
the craft of building scenery
and how to direct the lighting
on it, so that the scenery can
be seen by the actors and au­
dience. The class is spending
some time working on the up­
coming play, “The Hollow.”
The second quarter has to
do with the designing.
“Designing has to do with tak­
ing the idea of what the
scenery should look like and
how it should be built and
what it will look like when
finished,” Applebaum said.
The third quarter is
“facade.” The students learn
to paint scenery to look like
marble and other skills such as
building imitation rocks. The
course is an art class, but Ap­
plebaum said, “it’s a practical
art class because you’re having
to put your knowledge and
skill to work.”
Besides the field trips
which are part of the class,
there is a design contest in
which all the students in the
class will participate.
students will design a set for
the spring play and then the
most interesting design will be
chosen the winner and used
for the play.
In the spring the class will
help in building the set. “This
way the students will get to see
how a design is picked—what
goes into it. They’ll be part of
it. They can see how a design
goes from its abstract thinking
to having a picture or model of
it to actually building it,” Ap­
plebaum said.
This is the first year Ap­
plebaum has taught this course
at Clackamas. “Until recently
I directed. Then I started
observing directors who were
incapable of talking in­
telligently with their designers.
The director would say
something like, ‘I want a red
set,’ and the designer would
think that meant fuchsia when
the director was thinking of
fire engine red,” Applebaum
I started observing
directors who were incapable of
talking intelligently with their
designers.9 9
Applebaum decided he
would learn enough about
stagecraft and the various arts
involved so that he could con­
verse correctly with his
designers. “Then I realized
that stagecraft and designing
Story by
were fun,” he said.
“From taking this class
Charlene Jensen
you could design and build
scenery that would be quite
useful for small theater and do
Photos by Joel Miller
the project on your own. This
&
level of instruction is what you
Russ McMillen
need to put on a college
show,” Applebaum said.
The fact of lighting the
stage is also discussed over the
year. “In simplest terms the
class will learn to put light
where they want it and to not
put it where they don’t want
it,” he said. “That way the
people who come to see the
show can see it. We’ll use the
physics of electricity and
understanding how it can help
you. We’ll cover lighting in­
struments and what they do.”
Applebaum said, “I think
my philosophy is that students
get the best education when
they take the most respon­
sibility for it. So that the least
they are told to do and most
they are encouraged to do on
their own, the more they will
get the rewards for it.”
Applebaum, who also
teaches English, has worked
“part-time here and there ”
for three years. “I think
Clackamas Community Col­
lege is a really nice place. All
the places I’ve taught have
APPLEBAUM AND STUDENT Roger Nuffer attempt to been nice, but this is really
nice.”
figure out a gizmo.
Page 6
TWO-BY-FOURS, glue and elbow-grease will become the
garden room of an estate outside London, thanks to the
stagecraft class.
Clackamas Community College