In the art of theatre one of the most important elements is the stage. It is the canvas for the show’s art, a slate where the actors display their talents, and most importantly it is the final factor in bringing any production together.

In the height of the pandemic, the theatre world took a huge hit. The dangers of the pandemic left performers unable to get on those stages and paint the stories of the scripts for audiences live. Beyond the thespians of the night, there was another group that took an even bigger hit: Technical Theatre. However, when left unable to build for performances left postponed, these talented builders went to pursue other projects, and within the walls of OCSA, our technical theatre program spent their year making projects they had never gotten the chance to make before. The most iconic of which is OCSA’s favorite beast, Arthur the troll.

Arthur the troll is a large statue-like figure who sits outside at the bus loop. Throughout the year he shifts forms, his position and facial expressions changing as time goes by. With the absence of shows, he was built by the technical theatre department just last year as a passion project of the program.

He is an article of fascination among students of OCSA, with students and staff. When asked about the troll, senior Roxxian Martinez had this to say, “I think Arthur the OCSA troll is a very interesting figure to observe and decorates the school’s personality very well. Not only is it a well-constructed and impressive feature, but it’s also very fun paying attention to his facial expressions and gestures and watch them change every so often.”

On the ground next to Arthur lays a 3D pentagonal ball-like figure and a sign, showing the inspiration for the large beast. On the sign it states, “This is a work inspired by the art of Thomas Dambo, and created by tech theatre students. Mr. Dambo creates his trolls out of recycled materials, and has trolls all over the world.”

With his legacy in mind, the tech students used recycled materials to make the troll. When asked what the process of making the troll was like tech major Nolan Janicki responded with, “It was a lot of fun making him, especially because we used ourselves as a reference model for him.”

OCSA’s troll is an exciting member of the school’s rich culture, and his life like expressions will forever make him a memorable piece of OCSA’s history.