Anyone who knows the world of theatre understands that it takes a community of people, with a wide range of talents, to put on a show. One of the most critical components of the theatre experience, the sets that make the environment of a play real for both the actors and the audience, is the responsibility of the Master Carpenter. The Oswego Players have had the great fortune to work with Ken Snow in this capacity for eight of the last 12 years, during which time he has built a staggering 60-80 different sets.
Snow has been with the Players in various functions, from acting and backstage work to assisting with set construction, for twenty-four years. The secret to Snow’s longevity with the Players is his positivity and good nature.
“He’s always happy to see people, always willing to pitch in and help out where he can, and always takes care of his family and friends,” said Oswego Players Producer Bill Cowham. “This upbeat, compassionate nature has made Ken’s remarkable carpentry skills all the more impressive over the years.”
As Snow relies on a team of often untrained volunteers to help assemble the sets he designs, his willingness and ability to help guide people, some of whom have never worked with power-tools before, with patience and a smile has been crucial to the Players’ success with building sets in the relatively small space that the Francis Marion Brown Theatre stage provides. The longest-serving of these volunteers is Sonia Lough-Berlin, whose husband, “Big Norm”, was the primary set-builder for the Players in the early 2000s.
Snow’s longtime knowledge of the FMB stage, with all of its charms and its challenges, enables him to help realize the vision of every Players Director, regardless of the genre and scale of the plays being staged, while keeping the required sets realistic, achievable, and above all, safe for everyone who uses them within the available space.
“This often requires incredible creativity on Ken’s part, not to mention precise communication skills in conveying what needs to be done to whichever volunteers are available from production to production,” added Cowham. “Something Ken has learned over the years is that, as long as the structure the actors have to maneuver around is safe, and solid enough to withstand the inevitable bumps that come from them moving around in the dark behind it, it only has to look good from the audience 30 feet away. Its lifespan is a few weeks at most; as he says, it’s set-making, not cabinet-making.”
After so much time working in the space, and knowing what kinds of materials work best to achieve the directors’ goals for the set, Snow has the process down to a science. On average, depending on its complexity and the availability of volunteers, it only takes two days to build a set and one day to break it down after each production has wrapped. Great care is taken, both in the construction and teardown, to ensure that as much lumber and hardware as possible can be reused for future productions with minimal wastage. Built components like staircases, platforms, and flats, for example, which have been tailor-made to fit well and look good in the available space, are often preserved whole to save time and money down the road.
With “Unnecessary Farce”, Snow has had to bring all of his creativity and expertise to bear in order to make Director Tom Briggs’ vision come to life.
The setting and rapid pace of this comedy requires eight doors of varying sizes not only to fit into the stage space, but to reliably open and close for the actors on cue, whether stealthily to avoid detection by other characters, or with significant slams for dramatic effect.
Another challenge Snow has to contend with is ensuring that with so many doors, and actors moving about them so quickly at times, as much of the action is visible to as much of the audience as possible at all times. No matter how skilled a craftsman Ken is for the FMB theatre, little things have to be adjusted on-the-fly during construction to make sure that each door is angled properly, not only for maximum visibility, but for real-time practical functionality in relation to one another. Doors can’t block each other from opening, for example, and the actors need adequate room to maneuver from one to another, even when the play requires them to move past each other.
Without the skill and dedication of people like Master Carpenter Ken Snow, the Oswego Players could never have maintained their 87-year tradition as “the little theatre by the water,” added Cowham. And with a play like “Unnecessary Farce”, involving two cops, three crooks, and eight doors in a 25’ x 20’ stage space, we are more grateful than ever to have him.
The Players would welcome anyone interested in volunteering and learning how to build sets. Anyone interested should contact opsecretarymetz@gmail.com.
Performance times and dates for “Unnecessary Farce” are 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday July 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th and 2pm Sunday July 13th and 20th. Tickets are $17 for adults, $13 for seniors and $12 for students. Tickets are currently on sale now at oswegoplayers.org/productions, or by calling the theatre’s box office at (315) 343-5138.
“Unnecessary Farce” is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection (www.dramatists.com).
This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
For more information and ticket sales please go to https://oswegoplayers.org/ or for phone reservations please call the Box Office at 315-343-5138.
Master Carpenter Ken Snow is busy constructing the set for the Oswego Players’ upcoming production of “Unnecessary Farce.” For the past 12 years Snow has built dozens of sets for the Oswego Players stage. Looking on is longtime volunteer and Oswego Players Board Member Sonia Berlin. Performance times and dates for “Unnecessary Farce” are 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday July 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th and 2pm Sunday July 13th and 20th. Tickets are currently on sale now at oswegoplayers.org/productions or by calling the theatre’s box office at (315) 343-5138.