Behind the Scenes at A.C.T.: An Interview with Head Carpenter Miguel Ongpin
By Elspeth Sweatman It’s easy to spot Miguel Ongpin, A.C.T.’s Head Carpenter. Just look for his signature orange baseball cap or listen for his booming laughter. When in doubt, head towards his shrine: a collection of posters—including John Sayles’s Lone Star —that Ongpin brought to liven up his backstage kingdom. Head Carpenter Miguel Ongpin. Photo by Elspeth Sweatman. Before a performance of Battlefield , we sat down with Ongpin to get some insight into the life of a theater’s stagehand and carpenter. How did you get into theater? I had fun doing the productions in high school, whether that was being in them or helping backstage. So I thought, “Oh, that’s a good way to meet people in college.” So I did it in college at UC Berkeley. I acted—ha!—in a couple plays, and then I stage-managed a bunch of plays. The guy who ran the theater told me, “If you really want to make money and do theater, you become the stagehand. At least we always work.” [ laughs ] So after co...