Into the belly of Sage
Bizarre in the basement; dolls and lobsters; a haunting promise
Mary Petrides
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Focus
Past the gate, down cement steps, through a latched door, and partially hidden under a bloodied muslin cloth, lies a corpse.
David Griffiths, theater department technical director sat surprised in his office two floors above.
"I thought we cannibalized the dead body a few years ago," Griffiths said.
Everywhere is storage in the basement of the Sage Center for the Arts, from the props room to the cavernous costume closet, making it one of the most colorful places on campus.
Props used for low-budget sets hide behind the stairs, elaborate set pieces and sofas line the hallways, and masks grin from the counters of the dressing room.
Stage lights are stacked in military formation, and across the way doors slouch in a pile against the wall.
Theater people tend to be pack rats, Griffiths said, saving anything that could conceivably or inconceivably be reused. He estimates half the items in the props room appeared in multiple performances.
"I don't know when, if ever, we're going to use cubist animals again," he said.
A trap door on the stage in Markel Auditorium opens into the props room, a tightly packed space filled with objects that have accumulated over the years. Rubber lobsters, dishes, musical instruments, dolls, a ship's steering wheel, a severed head, and medical supplies sit shelved along the walls. The dead body also rests in the props room.
Andrew Jones '06 created the corpse with chicken bones, chicken wire, latex and plaster casts for a 2004 production of "Phaedra." Junior Natalie Scarlett became responsible for the body, and organizing the room, last year.
"We're lucky enough to have a big enough space to keep almost everything we have," she said.
One of the few empty spaces in the basement is the green room, where actors hang out during shows when they're not on stage, senior Zach Hendrickson said.
The walls of the green room recently received a fresh coat of paint: more green. The newest color is an improvement to the shade it previously wore, Hendrickson said.
The walls are mostly bare, except for a framed photograph of a Hillsdale alumnus Andy Weiss '00 dressed as a clown.
"If you're wondering if there's any significance to [the photograph], the answer is no," said George Angell, director and professor of theater. "It's just a funny picture."
Framed posters from past shows dating from 1985 are the only windows in the basement. Windows into the past, not the outdoors.
They hang in no particular order and some of the older ones aren't up yet, Angell said.
"I have frames for them," he said. "I just haven't gotten around to doing it."
Officially, there are no ghosts in the building, but Griffiths said an old department chairman may be haunting it.
"He said he would," Griffiths said.
David Griffiths, theater department technical director sat surprised in his office two floors above.
"I thought we cannibalized the dead body a few years ago," Griffiths said.
Everywhere is storage in the basement of the Sage Center for the Arts, from the props room to the cavernous costume closet, making it one of the most colorful places on campus.
Props used for low-budget sets hide behind the stairs, elaborate set pieces and sofas line the hallways, and masks grin from the counters of the dressing room.
Stage lights are stacked in military formation, and across the way doors slouch in a pile against the wall.
Theater people tend to be pack rats, Griffiths said, saving anything that could conceivably or inconceivably be reused. He estimates half the items in the props room appeared in multiple performances.
"I don't know when, if ever, we're going to use cubist animals again," he said.
A trap door on the stage in Markel Auditorium opens into the props room, a tightly packed space filled with objects that have accumulated over the years. Rubber lobsters, dishes, musical instruments, dolls, a ship's steering wheel, a severed head, and medical supplies sit shelved along the walls. The dead body also rests in the props room.
Andrew Jones '06 created the corpse with chicken bones, chicken wire, latex and plaster casts for a 2004 production of "Phaedra." Junior Natalie Scarlett became responsible for the body, and organizing the room, last year.
"We're lucky enough to have a big enough space to keep almost everything we have," she said.
One of the few empty spaces in the basement is the green room, where actors hang out during shows when they're not on stage, senior Zach Hendrickson said.
The walls of the green room recently received a fresh coat of paint: more green. The newest color is an improvement to the shade it previously wore, Hendrickson said.
The walls are mostly bare, except for a framed photograph of a Hillsdale alumnus Andy Weiss '00 dressed as a clown.
"If you're wondering if there's any significance to [the photograph], the answer is no," said George Angell, director and professor of theater. "It's just a funny picture."
Framed posters from past shows dating from 1985 are the only windows in the basement. Windows into the past, not the outdoors.
They hang in no particular order and some of the older ones aren't up yet, Angell said.
"I have frames for them," he said. "I just haven't gotten around to doing it."
Officially, there are no ghosts in the building, but Griffiths said an old department chairman may be haunting it.
"He said he would," Griffiths said.
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