A Page from Back Stage Jon Coursen

01 July 2017

"We learned. We discovered"

I had the opportunity to work with a team of students for six weeks under the direction of Mr. Rose.  As an intern in Mr. Rose’s workshop, I learned a lot: how to cut with a jigsaw, how to shape foam with a hot knife, how to dry brush a tree, and more. These are the gifts each intern was given: tools to use and time to learn. With these two things, anything was possible. True, at times we had no clue what we were doing. But, that was the point. We learned. We discovered. When we brought problems to Mr. Rose he would say, “There are no problems, only solutions.” This Yoda-like proverb sums up the biggest lesson I learned. If we had known everything, we would have learned nothing.

We designed stuff for Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Into the Woods. My favorite project was the snake, Nag, which was originally supposed to be six to seven feet tall. Our prototype now stands ten feet in the air and, when completed, will stretch further across the stage. Repairing foam trees was one of our main tasks. We filled in the broken parts--adding new roots and knots. We used saws, a rasp, and some sandpaper-like mesh. Next year these trees will be part of a beautiful garden where Rikki and Nag fight. But, until then, the trees wait for Courtyard’s actors to go Into the Woods.     

I’m sad the summer internship has officially ended, but I’m excited about future opportunities. We’ll go back to work on Courtyard Theater sets this fall during rehearsals.  I’m sure we’ll learn even more!