Black box deepens theater experience at Westminster Christian students

It takes just three hours for Elgin's Westminster Presbyterian Church to undergo a metamorphosis.

The church's sanctuary, complete with organ pipes, choir pews, a lectern and a large suspended cross, turns into a professional black box theater with the help of a few able-bodied students.

Theater students from Westminster Christian School, which adjoins the church, have long used the sanctuary space to perform.

Despite a wide range in their repertoire, the backdrop was limiting, according to Deborah Benson, Westminster Christian's middle-school principal and its fine arts director.

"Our problem with that was that for a backdrop to all our productions we had a cross hanging from the ceilings, a lectern, organ pipes and a piano. Beautiful as that is, it was hard to design a set around," Benson said.

Aiming to give the school's theater program a more professional performance atmosphere, the school rented theater space at Judson College during the 2006-07 school year.

"Because the atmosphere was different, the whole response to our plays and musicals was different," Benson said. "You could tell the audience was taking the performances much more seriously."

During the 2006-07 school year, Benson said, she began looking for ways to hold productions at the school.

"The idea of a black-box theater seemed like a perfect fit," she said. The simple black, three-walled theater design easily lends a sense of "anyplace."

Benson contacted Chicago-based Grand Stage Co., which builds made-to-measure black-box theaters.

For $7,000, the company constructed an 18-foot by 24-foot-wide black-box theater for the school.

Consisting of two main components, a 24-foot valance hangs from a system of hooks and grommets on one of the beams in the sanctuary.

That valance hangs from the highest beam in the sanctuary down to about 9 feet off the stage floor. A system of aluminum pipes and drapes connects to the sides of the valance, forming a three-sided box.

There is also space behind the walls for a backstage area, Benson said.

The black-box theater is simple to assemble, Benson said. "The timely part of the job is not putting up the box, but moving the choir risers, the lectern, etc., out of the way."

Last weekend, the school performed "Oklahoma!" using the black box.

Westminster students, Benson said, are "just thrilled" to use the new theater space.

"We usually put the black box up the week before productions. The kids just can't wait for that," Benson said.