Technologies Applicable to Theater

While looking for topics to focus on for project number three I am discovering that there isn't much technology available for the poor theater student. There aren't many technologies that are available to theater in general, but the software programs that do exist are usually more expensive than a car. Some of the things that I have found are: Google Sketchup, VectorWorks, a slew of lighting design programs, and Microsoft Excel. I think out of all of these Google Sketchup will be the one that I focus on for the project. Mostly for the fact that it's free, but also because it seems more specific to a theatrical setting than something like Excel. Excel would be great for theatre organization, but it's mostly just for organization in general. However, I think that there any stage manager would be eternally grateful to know the ins and outs of Excel.