[UN]Scene
Having grown up in the performing arts world and leaving it behind to pursue her career goals, Camille Rose finds it difficult to forget her theatrical past. However, through her photographic work, she captures the unseen moments of theatrical life and backstage production and discovers a new role to play within show business. This photographic series pulls back the curtain to reveal the hidden perspectives of theatrical performers and technicians. There are months of work and repetition that go into live performances. Between the first table read to closing night, hundreds of quick decisions and changes are made by people the audience will never see on stage. Costume designers might switch around fabrics, or directors will stage a scene in multiple different ways before settling on a decision. In some unfortunate cases, a prop gets lost, but the audience never knows. Camille Rose’s photographic series offers a window that peers behind the dazzling theatrics on stage. The moments that are [UN]Scene.
"We Don't Need the Hat" portrays Machir Lafkah, the lead costume designer for California Baptist University's production of Joyful Noise, adjusting a hat for Jennifer Palacios, a senior theatre major who plays Kitty Clive in the show. As Lafkah messes with the hat, Palacios looks toward photographer Camille Rose. It is Costume Parade. The night in which the cast gets to try on every outfit for the director and stage manager who have yet to see. Notes are given, pictures are taken and many adjustments are made. This is a short moment that has been happening on repeat throughout the evening with different actors: They come out in costume and then Lafkah comes over and begins pinning and adjusting pieces of the garment. Seconds after the photo is taken, the director yells from across the stage, "We don't need the hat!" It is small changes like this, moments of quick decisions that the audience does not get to see. In fact, Kitty Clive never wears the hat on stage once it is taken off her head.
“We Don’t Need the Hat”
November 10, 2022
Machir Lakofka, costume designer at California Baptist University, works on the lining of a dress that will be worn by Mary Pendarves in “Joyful Noise.”
Machir Lakofka is one of the faces behind the costumes on the Wallace Theatre stage. Her first show as a costume designer at California Baptist University [CBU] was “Life is a Dream” and her most recent being “Cinderella.” She began at CBU thanks to a couple of connections in the department that she had met during her time attending California State University of San Bernadino as a graphic arts major and theatre minor. Lakofka has been the lead costume designer for nearly 17 productions at CBU as of Spring 2023.
One thing Lakofka appreciates about her position at CBU is the ability she has to share her faith alongside her creativity. In the industry, faith is not often seen as important, and it is more about the flashiest design or the most expensive equipment. Lakofka reminds her students that it is not about the hustle or the fame, but rather about the people and the relationships formed.
Alec Abrahams (right), a stagehand for Wallace Theatre’s production of “Joyful Noise,” takes a photo of his tongue to check if it is bleeding while standing behind the curtain on stage right. On stage, Act 2 has just begun. Seth Suguitan, playing Bishop Henry Egerton, presents a sermon, and Justin Magana, playing Charles Jennens, writes at his desk.
Shane Moser, senior theatre major playing George Frederick Handel in CBU Wallace Theatre’s production of “Joyful Noise,” peers on stage through the curtain from the left wing. The photo to the right is page 14 on Moser’s script where he has written notes for one of Handel’s monologues. The majority of these annotations are on proper diction for Handel’s German accent according to Moser.
Kiana Bjur is the other face behind the costumes that grace the Wallace Theatre stage. She is a CBU alumni with two degrees in theatrical performance and technical design. After she graduated in 2016, Bjur was invited back as a guest costume designer. She has worked on six shows as a costume designer at CBU including “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” and most recently, “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Bjur says the challenges and research that goes into costume design are what keep her passionate about the craft.
Bjur still performs and was a co-lead alongside her husband, Taylor, in Much Ado About Nothing during CBU’s Courtyard Shakespeare Festival over the summer. During the school year, she enjoys working with her students and uses her position as a way to mentor her students and give back to the theater program.
“We’re ultimately a university…and a Christian one at that, so we want to put God first, learning second and a good performance third.”
Ethan Park, director of “The Lightning Thief”
Lee Lyons is the CBU Theatre Program Director. He has been in the industry for over 35 years from working on sets in Hollywood to teaching theatre classes at California State University San Bernardino for 20 years before coming to CBU. In a majority of the shows Lyons has worked on, he has worn multiple hats within each one. Whether designing both the lighting and sound or designing a set alongside directing, there is little Lyons has not done regarding the technical side of theatre.
For Lyons, teaching helps prolong the arts. The most rewarding thing for an educator in the arts is to see their students go out and create something on their own. In Lyons’ eyes, watching former students produce a show on their own is what keeps him passionate about teaching.
Grace Lyons, a backstage crew member for Wallace Theatre’s production of “Beauty and the Beast,” attempts to fix the winding key on Cogsworth’s back as Isaiah Torres, Lumière, provides lighting with his candle-hand props. In the end, they were not able to get the winding key back on, and Cogsworth went back on stage without it.
This project started as a simple class assignment that became a passion project. It has provided me with a job that I love doing, and it has given me a purpose in storytelling. Before it was [UN]Scene, this was simply something that allowed me to relive the old days. However, as I watched the hard work put in before the audience took their seats, I realized there was a bigger story to be told than the one on stage.
One very important thing I learned through this experience is that when it comes to documentary work, the most important thing a photographer can do is to put down the camera and spend time with their subjects. The best moments will happen when everyone is relaxed and comfortable enough to be themselves once the camera eventually comes out. Over time, since I have become a repetitive face at the theatre, many of the students and faculty will greet me by name. There was even an instance in which I was invited to dinner with members of the theatre. It has been moments such as these that push my desire to show the audience the students’ and faculties’ dedication to the craft of live theatre.
To everyone at the Wallace Theatre,
thank you.
This project was printed into a zine format as a part of my senior project!
To see that printed version…