The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-08-08
THE LOST COLONY
Success Story Number Three
1.-THE MEN IN BLUE

From the title, you might think
that this is to be a war story; in
sense it is, for it is about a group
who continuously battle against
time. They are the men who,
dressed in dark blue jeans and
shirts, set the scenes and strike
the sets for THE LOST COLONY,
now in its eighteenth season in
The Waterside Theatre on Roa-
noke Island. Since no scene change
can take over one and a half min
utes, and since the stage must be
in absolute darkness during these
changes, one wonders how this
small miracle is accomplished.
These men in blue are aware of
the Importance of their job, and
they take pride in doing it well, in
being alert, in having their part of
the production run smoothly. Only
a very few times in the past twen-
ty-one years has any piece of
scenery been late in getting off
stage, and fewer times has any
technician been caught on stage.
One night, one was trapped in the
chapel because a prop couldn't be
loosened from a nail; he knew the
lights were going to catch him, so
turning his face to the wall and
standing absolutely still, he passed
unnoticed in the shadows of that
corner. He came off at the end of
that scene vowing he'd rather be
technician any day than an actor.
One purpose of the dark clothing
is to enable a technician to work
unseen in the darkness of the
stage, but it also helps lot when.
such emergencies as this occur
during a scene.
Who are these MEN IN BLUE
who, moving silently and efficient
ly behind and through the produc-
ton, keep it going? Well, this
summer there are eighteen of
them, thirteen from Roanoke Is
land and its environs, five off
island, and, under the supervision
of the Technical Director, William
/. Long, these work as a team,
drawn together by the knowledge
that, in this job as in any other,
for one man to fail in his particu-
lar duty is for the entire group to
fail.
l asked many questions of these
men-what did they enjoy doing in
their regular" time; where they
went to school; what were their
plans, how they felt about the
show. l discovered that their in
terests ranged from astronomy,
chess playing and painting to
hunting deer, geese and ducks.
Football, baseball and track led in
the sports field, and one of the
men will be a senior at East Caro-
lima College next year, majoring
in History and Health Education
with a view to coaching football
and track after graduation.
Now, after talking to these
eighteen technicians and hearing
their. unanimous attitude of APP
prevail of the way their part of the
show is running, l thought it would
be interesting to talk to Bill Long
who is responsible for the techni-
cal aspects of THE LOST COLO
NY-the man who, since 1947, has
planned so carefully every single
move of scenery and individual du-
ty of every technician. William 1.
Long, during the winter months, is
director of Drama at Winthrop
College, Rock Hill, S. c., but be-
fore that he was Technical Direct
or at the University of North Car
DINA after having taught drama
tics in the public schools of North
Carolina. He spends much time
each evening watching the techni-
cal parts of THE LOST COLONY
and he catches faults, of course,
and corrects them. If a technician
does something without being told,
such as running quickly to hold
down a piece of scenery in a wind
emergency, Mr.. Long compliments
him on his resourcefulness. And
the men in blue respond by keep
ing alert and aggressive.
The charts play big part in the
efficiency of the backstage work.
There is one big chart showing
everything technical in the show.
At a rough estimate there are a
possible 1000 mistakes which could
be made, and only one of these
could wreck the production. This
show has more scenery than most
outdoor dramas, for the main fort
has to be first covered up and
then scenes set in front of it. BY
"peeling" layers of scenery, the
coordination of shifts with histori-
ans speeches and chants is facili-
tated.
| In striking the Ouaen,s Cardan