Essential to a great theater production are the actors and an enthusiastic director. The one thing the audience is looking at the whole time, that the actors use to help create magic on stage, is what the costume and stage designers work so rigorously on.

The scenic director and play director Melinda Wilson Ramey has had ideas and a model set up since early January for upcoming play “Twilight Los Angeles.” It is technical director Daniel Neelane’s job to project that image onto the stage.

“If it goes on stage, and it doesn’t have to eat, it’s my job to make sure it gets there,” said Neelane. “If it’s not an actor and not lights then it’s me.”

For this particular play, Neelane said there are not any technical tricks or platforms needed, it is mainly putting together furniture and painting the scenery.

“Twilight Los Angeles,” is a play more focused on the acting and what the people in the play have to say, which makes Neelane’s job easier but creates a challenge for the costume designers.

“The designer really needs to read the play repeatedly to get all the various clues about the temperament of the characters and what they would wear, and we do a lot of research as well, especially if it’s a play that doesn’t take place in a current time period,” said assistant professor, costume designer and makeup artist Jan Johnston.

Along with having to play multiple characters, the actors also play both genders and at least two different races from their own.

Johnston said a lot of the character identification comes from the acting, and they have to transition into characters on stage by changing their accents, mannerisms and adding and subtracting clothing on stage.

“The most challenging part is finding exactly the right piece [of clothing] for each person’s character,” said Johnston. “Every piece I pick has to be just right for that character.”

Audrey Walker is the costume shop manager who is also working on the clothes for “Twilight Los Angeles.”

Walker and Johnston both agree that most of the audience does not think about how much time goes into making one character’s look, from the hats and glasses to modifying outfits to fit each actor perfectly. Walker said the best costumes are the ones that go unnoticed.

“It’s not about the actual what that person will wear, but to represent that person and their emotions and what they’re going through,” said Walker.

With the challenge of representing over 30 characters in the play and making costumes for seven actors, Walker and Johnston look forward to rehearsals, when everything starts coming together and costumes help change actors into the real people they are portraying on stage.

“All of a sudden it comes together and to see that blossom is very rewarding, and you don’t notice they are putting on a hat or a women’s shirt or whatever, you just see that person,” Walker said.

Tech week is the week where everything from lights, sounds, props and costumes get put together on stage, and is a crucial time for everybody involved in the play. Tech week, as well as dress rehearsals, gives actors, and everybody working with them behind the scenes, a chance to see what they’ve created come together and change what needs to be modified.

“Timing, logistics, how to get everything out on stage we can see, safely, quickly and so they [actors] don’t run into each other, that’s really the most difficult part and we spend a lot of time in rehearsals making sure things can move on and off safely and effectively,” said Neelane.

Neelane, Johnston and Walker all create the tools actors need to be successful on stage, and fully develop into who they are trying to portray.

“They become that person, and that’s when you feel successful, when you can help them become that person,” said Johnston.

To view live acting, costumes and stage set-ups all come together, “Twilight Los Angeles,” opens March 11 and continues through March 22 at Sac State.