Norm Abrahamson has no desire to be an actor.
“Can you imagine memorizing all those lines?” he asks.
The well-known Renton volunteer gets his kicks behind the scenes.
Behind the scenes of Valley Community Players. During the past 10 years, Abrahamson, 74, has built a set a year for the downtown Renton theater.
“Bus Stop,” “How the Other Half Loves,” and “Spider’s Web,” to name a few. Each play has a different story and a different setting. But many of those sets are built from the same wood flats — most 8-by-10 pieces of wood stored among the doors, props, costumes and posters in the VCP rehearsal and storage space on Main Avenue South.
“We reuse them, we rebuild them, we remodel them,” Abrahamson says.
“We’re a really low-budget operation,” he adds. “I don’t think I spent any money on the set this year. And what I spent was out of my pocket.”
That set was for “The Unexpected Guest” by Agatha Christie, playing at Carco Theatre until Feb. 15.
Ten days, or about 60 hours, is how long it took Abrahamson to build that set. He spent $20 — on molding.
“You could spend $200 to $300, but that would be the limit,” Abrahamson said of VCP’s set budget.
He might have spent near that limit on his first set for the theater group. Abrahamson says the guy who designed that set — an architect — was new to set-design and created detailed plans that required lots of new construction materials.
“It was quite expensive,” Abrahamson says. “But we’ve evolved.”
He worked with that same set designer, Stewart Shusterman, on “The Unexpected Guest” set.
When not in use, VCP sets must fit behind the curtain at Carco Theatre. That means most VCP plays have only one set.
Each set has not only a set builder and a set designer, but a props person and a set decorator.
“We all have to work together on it to come up with something that works,” he says.
For “The Unexpected Guest” that meant elephant tusks and a mountain goat body mounted on the walls, bookshelves, couches and draperies, plus the usual “bright, gaudy colors” of theater.
Like all of his sets, Abrahamson used a lot of masking tape on the Agatha Christie set.
“Up close if you look at the set these things don’t fit together really well,” Abrahamson says.
But that doesn’t matter.
“The philosophy is if you can’t see it from the front row it doesn’t matter,” he says.
He learned that philosophy in his early days, while helping his former friend Carl Kehret build a set a year for VCP. Kehret died in 2004, and Abrahamson continued the work alone, with help from friends and relatives.
Abrahamson still builds only a set a year. Four other volunteers build the remaining three sets for the theater each year.
Abrahamson is grateful for that help.
“I’m not sure I would have the enthusiasm to build four sets a year.”
Not that he doesn’t like the work.
“I like to build stuff,” says the retired Boeing mechanical design engineer.
TICKETS FOR THE SHOW
• The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie runs through Feb. 15. Shows are Friday through Sunday at Carco Theatre at 1717 Maple Valley Highway. Friday and Saturday’s shows are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday’s at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $14 for seniors and students. For tickets, call 425-226-5190.
VCP NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
Valley Community Players is always seeking volunteers. For more information about the organization, call 425-226-5190, e-mail vcplayers@hotmail.com or visit www.valleycommunityplayers.org. The office is at 231 1/2 Main Ave. S.
