Meet Our Team: Lights, Sound, Projections, Set, Props.

Lights! Camera! Action!

Or in theatre:   Lights, go. Sound, go. Projections, go.

Meet our Set and Props Designer, Nicole Janisch, Sound and Lights Designer, Geneva Perkins, and Projections Designer, Noel Funk.

Aren't they majestic?

Nicole Janisch, Geneva Perkins, Noel Funk. Photograph by Kirstin Shale. 

Nicole is an English Major/Theatre Extended Minor student graduating this June. Nicole is designing the set and props, which means Nicole is is creating the physical world of the play. She says,

"For this, I chose to focus on a few key set pieces and use them to create the multiple locations needed, as well as using those pieces for multiple purposes."

Beautiful chairs.
Photograph by Nicole Janisch

Because we are only sixteen people, Nicole not only designed the set and props, but built them as well (With the wonderful help of other Ensemble students.) Her biggest challenge has been doing it all in a short amount of time. 

"This is the tightest timeline I’ve ever worked with, but I’m glad for the opportunity. With the build, there was a short time available for us to be in the shop and make all our pieces. Thanks to the incredibly wonderful staff and volunteers, the set was completed exactly as envisioned."

These set pieces play many different parts.
Photograph by Nicole Janisch. 

Nicole Janisch is excited about creating a show that is up to us. We have the freedom to design and create this show anyway we want, but without the budget.

"With this, we’ve really had to focus on the essentials needed for the show, and have had to make sure that everything that goes onstage exists for a reason. During the design process it made me revise and revise until we had a cohesive design that would work within the parameters of our budget."

Nicole encourages fellow and future students to become involved and gain experience is as many ares of theatre as you can. Everything helps. 

Geneva Perkins is hoping to graduate this semester with an English Major - Drama Concentration, and a Theatre Extended Minor. Geneva is responsible for the lights and sound of this production.

"I worked with the directors and my other classmates to create the overall look and feel of the show. Light and sound play a huge part in establishing the mood of the play."

The most exciting thing for Geneva has been combining both tech elements. 

"I get to combine both areas of my design, light and sound, [and] create exciting theatrical moments."

She has never designed lights or sound before, and Geneva finds this her biggest challenge, as every step is new to her. She's thankful to have experienced students and staff for support.

Her advice to students is simple,

"Get your pre-req’s and talk to an academic advisor. Just do it." 

That's advice I could have used a few years ago.

Noel Funk helping out with set build.
Photograph by Nicole Janisch

Noel Funk is an upper level Theatre student working as our Projections Designer. This is his second time working with projections, but his fist time working with projections he didn't create himself.

Noel's biggest challenge with the project was working with space:

"I can only project inside the space that the machine can hit. What I can put in that space, however, is nearly infinite. What a projection designer does is enhance the rest of the design elements.

"My goal with this design was to enhance the theatre as much as possible in order to bring the space, time, and location of the show to life. To do this I took the most simple route and built separate projections for each location. This way the audience (that’s you!) has an easier time of knowing what location the characters have traveled to."

I can't wait to see this stage come to life.



A challenge for all of us has been time management, something we all know well. We juggle this production, the other two department shows, our classes, work, community theatre, home life, and some of us even attempt social lives, it's amazing we get anything accomplished.

What's that old saying? When you rest you rust.

We only have one more area of the production for you to meet, Publicity/House Management team, and that's where I come in.

-JI Milliken