Behind the scenes of the Niles West Theatre productions, freshman, Violet Gilbert, is part of the production crew here at West. Despite being nervous about the start of her high school career, Gilbert knew that theatre was something that she wanted to give a shot.

Gilbert quickly adjusted to high school and found herself enjoying the freedom and responsibility that came along with it.

“I really like how high school is freer than middle school, like there are more decisions I can make for myself. It makes me feel more in control of myself,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert is following her older sister’s footsteps by joining theatre at Niles West. Her older sister, Lila Gilbert, who graduated from West in 2014, was very dedicated about theater which Violet admired.

“I understand why she loved it [theatre] because it really is a family of accepting and nice people; People you really want to be around,” Gilbert said.

The audience sees nothing but the final product of the production where everything is polished and put together, but they don’t see the hard work that took place to perfect it. Without the production crew, the shows wouldn’t run as smoothly as they do.

“It’s also really cool being on production crew for the shows because I get to see things I helped make being performed for an audience,” Gilbert said.

In production crew, everyone is assigned something to help out with, such as:  moving heavy things, painting, drilling, or anything that’s essential to complete the set.

Gilbert took part in both productions so far- A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. She is also set on continuing theatre for the rest of her years at Niles West.

“Being a part of these shows is really time-consuming and it definitely is a lot of work, but it’s all worth it when you know that a show went really well,” Gilbert said.