Dressed in black from head to toe, 9-year-old Joie Cook hoisted the duke’s ”throne” Tuesday afternoon and carried it offstage, while other Highland Magnet School students in Bend whisked away tall Greek columns.

And while a cast of about two dozen second- and third-graders portrayed fairies, love-struck Greeks and laborers in the school’s production of ”A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a crew just as large kept the show running.

The play – performed once in the afternoon, for students at the Bend school, and once in the evening for parents – was the culmination of lessons for two blended second- and third-grade classes based on the theme of a theater troupe.

Students designed costumes, painted backdrops for the set, ran sound effects and did other behind-the-scenes work while their classmates in the cast memorized lines. Teachers Marieka Peterson and Misha Therrian acted as directors.

Crew members said they hardly minded staying offstage. Students were assigned to the cast or crew after picking their top three choices.

”I just kind of like being backstage,” 8-year-old Sean Hebert said. Sean was part of the props crew, making sure the cast had the props like the requisite donkey head.

”Me, too,” Joie said.

Costume designer Lila Reinecke, 8, said it was exciting to see cast members dressed in the pieces that she and other designers dreamed up.

”You feel happy, like you did a good job,” she said. ”That’s how I pictured them.”

She said the designers didn’t actually get to make the costumes, which was a bit of a disappointment, but it was fun to try to decide how each character should look.

Fellow costume designer Johanna Houska, 8, agreed.

”We thought about it really hard, because Titania and Oberon live in the forest,” she said.

The designers also helped actors into their costumes before the show. Lindsay Taylor, 7, said she had to find plenty of pins for dress rehearsal.

Lila said she had never really thought about the work that went into costumes for a play, even though she likes reality design shows.

”It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be,” she said.

Johanna said it was also more work.

”I thought it’d just be, draw a costume and you’re done,” she said.

Many students involved in behind-the-scenes work said their tasks made them understand how much work is necessary to put on a play.

”There’s a lot of stuff,” 8-year-old Isabelle Selman said. Isabelle was a producer’s assistant, part of the group that created posters, programs and tickets for the play.

Nick Morris, 7, also a producer’s assistant, said he thought the students were just going to study a play, not actually put on a production.

”We got to draw and do cool stuff,” Nick said. The best part, though, was making new friends on the crew.

Isabelle agreed.

”All of us have made new friends,” she said.

At the end of the show, the crew joined the cast on stage to enjoy the audience’s applause.

”The actors and everybody has put their hearts and souls into this play,” Isabelle said. ”It’s really cool and really awesome.”