YouTheatre

Tuesday 23^rd – Thursday 25^th October

Tuesday through Thursday were all about helping out on the tech, production and operation for the various YouTheatre productions at Matthew Boulton Campus.
Anthony and the Alex’s had already set up most of the lighting and sound equipment required for the tree days, so rather than have to do individual get ins and get outs each day most of the time it would just mean basic adjustments and changes between shows.

Tuesday the show was from Showstoppers an Improv troupe from Seabright Productions.
Once we had finished helping them set up their wide range of props and radio mics. We were given basic instructions for light operation: the only fixed rule was that when the troupe’s writer/director stood up we were to turn on the spot over him and turn it off when he sat down again. This caused quite a lot of fun in the control booth as he was seated in a blind spot from the lighting control board so we had to relay the orders and we had quite a few false starts and stops on his spot because he kept half getting up and then sitting back down again.
Apart from this one rule we were given freedom to operate the lights as we wished. So we ourselves were very much part of the improvisation of the show. I somehow found myself completely in control of the lighting, as much of the show referenced pop culture and other elements that Alex W. had no knowledge of, so he was in charge of watching the writer/director for his light cue and also checking how my own light colour selections were working and that I was making the transitions properly (at first I was moving the sliders too quickly and the changes were too abrupt and clunky).
Who would have known that my being a total TV and Pop Culture nerd would come in handy in this way? But it all seemed to work and by the time we finished the company indicated us for applause.

Wednesday was all about ‘Get-In’, ‘Get-Out’, set building and tech adjustment. The show named ‘Time for the Good Looking Boy’ was brought to us by Half Moon Productions. Although it is a one man show it was one of the most involved shows when it came to crew. The set came in sections which had to be carried in by at least two people to a section, due to them being constructed in heavy wood covered in sheet metal.
We carefully laid out the different sections bolted them together and then set them up, this process involved a lot of coordination and steel toe caps but good team work prevailed and finally it was all set up. Then we observed as Anthony spent an increasingly long time going up and down ladders adjusting all the lighting to the lighting/sound director's orders.
There was a lengthy tech session with the actor going back and forth between cues till all of the light, sound and smoke effects were perfect. Whilst observing the tech session we noticed that the actor was having trouble picking up his lines, which we might have worried about till after the performance during the Q&A when the actor explained how he keeps such a complicated script straight in his head to not forget any of the lines: he learnt the whole of the script in performance order, so therefore he finds tech sessions confusing as when he has to jump backwards and forwards in the script he gets everything mixed up.
Anyway running in proper order he had no trouble at all and the show was a delight to watch, probably more so because we knew how much work and effort and technical process goes into every performance.
One might think that knowing all the ins and outs of what goes into a production might detract from a show, removing some of the magic so to speak but strangely enough for me it just adds to it.

Thursday was time for the young performers to put on their own show using all of the techniques they had learnt in the workshops held in the mornings during the week. We tecked each piece individually and all of the kids were incredibly patient about the stopping and starting of the process.
Some of the pieces were quite simple with easy lighting and simple sound, whilst the final piece involved a lot of different cues for lighting, sound and video. We helped organise everything, helped the actors around the space during blocking and even had one young lad tag along with us as he has a special interest in production arts so we were very happy to show him the ropes.
Again all the performance pieces came off without a hitch and once everyone had left we set to, clearing up, removing the lights and packing away all the gear that had been loaned to us by the REP.

The Wind in the Willows: M&G and 1st Run Through

Monday 22^nd October

Whilst Anthony, Alex W. and Alex N. were at MB helping on the ‘Get-In’ for YouTheatre; Ruth and I met at SGC for the Meet & Greet and 1^st run-through for Wind In The Willows, the REP’s big Christmas show this year.
As usual I arrived bright and early and lent a hand to set up the various snacks, drinks and seating areas ready for when everybody showed up.
The cast and crew all arrived on time and most had already come over and introduced themselves by the time the director suggested that formal introductions would be for everyone to stand and individually say their name and their role on the production.

Once everyone was acquainted, one of the crew guided us around the building and all the office spaces and explained how all the rehearsal areas work, this included directing us through the ‘up-and-over’ and the ‘down-and-under’ routes used to avoided walking through certain areas when rehearsals are in progress, and of course these routes meant I was holding everyone up as they involved a heck of a lot of going up and down flights of stairs.
By the time we’d all finished the tour it was lunch time, so I popped to the shops to grab some food and then sat and had a chat with the crew.

After lunch we all met up again in the rehearsal space for a look at the wonderful artistic designs for the stage and costumes, the first read-through and to work on the song that is the main theme tune for the show.
The stage Model Box and costume designs were fantastic! And I told Ruth later that in that field I may have discovered my future speciality.

I was lent a copy of the script and sat to one side of the room to observe how the professional process works. The majority of the cast are also experienced musicians who will play instruments on stage during the show, so arranging the song was incredibly easy and quick. And the quality of the singing just a couple of hours later when they finished was incredible.

The read-through was equally easy going and fun. I was amazed at how many of the cast were already working off-script and when certain characters hadn’t been allocated yet, actors just jumped straight in and picked up the lines without pause or argument.
The full run came in at just under two hours and without a single hitch. All in all it was a lovely experience for me, to see how a professional company goes about starting a big show like this. Granted everyone may have been on their very best behaviour, it being the first day and all, but I hope that this hasn’t spoilt me for when I get back to classes, in that I hope that I won’t automatically expect the same standard from amateur/student cast and crew.

RISK Performance and Snow Queen Production

Thursday 18^th October

My first ever time working tech on a performance.

The day started early, I was at the MAC by 08:30 (always ‘first in, last out’), to meet up with all the actors and make sure everyone got placed properly. Ellie handed over the card keys and props (hand held LED lights for the ‘Club Risk’ piece), and it was down to me to make sure everyone was in their various preparation rooms and that the props were well looked after.

Once I had done this I adjourned back to my own ‘Risk’ performance group who had decided to use a quiet hall way in the basement to go over lines, block out movements, etc. Alex N. joined us for a time as he would be in charge of operating the sound/light for nearly all the groups. Leon provided us with print outs of the script so we could go through with them and mark up the various tech cues for the performance.
I also took opportunity of this time to use my laptop and the MAC’s Wi-Fi to go in search of an appropriate metallic clang sound effect to simulate the bars of the cage going up.
I ended up on the website: http://www.freesound.org/ which Anthony had recommended. It has a huge selection of sound effects and such that can be downloaded and used for free.
The tag search for ‘metallic clang’ came up with a huge amount of results, so I set to checking the descriptions and selecting those sounds that I thought would be suitable. Then I checked the ones I had selected and whittled them down to about half a dozen options which I played to the cast till we finally found the clang that sounded the best. Alex N then took a copy of that sound and the music that we would be using and moved on to the next group he would be operating for.
By this time I was starting to feel a tad nervous and also being in a cramped space underground full of people all talking at once and moving (stomping) about was making me feel a bit queasy. So I decided to move on to make sure all the other groups were happy and had everything they needed and also get some air.
On my travels between groups I was told that Anthony had arrived, had a briefing from management about using the Hexagon Theatre space and us techies could go in and get ourselves properly acquainted with the space and set up in the control booth. So I went and collected my equipment from the basement and went to the booth.
Whilst we were setting up our lap tops, cds etc. I noticed how stuffy the booth was getting after just a few minutes of there being only 4 people in there. Then I noticed the radiator! Whose clever idea was it to have a radiator in a tiny room full of electronic equipment which at times will also be occupied by a number of highly strung techies?!? We tried to turn off the radiator but the best we could do was turn it down a little bit.
Later on I would have to time getting out of the booth to get some fresh air, unfortunately it meant missing a few of the performance pieces as to get to the booth I had to climb through the audience seating, which of course meant constantly dealing with my nemesis: ‘odd shaped flights of stairs’.

By the time we’d got set up performance time had rolled around and we went straight to work.
My own ‘Risk’ group, now officially named ‘Caged Bird’ was one of the first to go. So with much trepidation I made sure that my script and video were completely set up and ready to go. It was at this point that I realised how incredibly nervous I was. Pre-performance nerves are not something I had encountered for quite some time. Having competed in sports for so many years you get used to it and metallise yourself to the point that you no longer feel the typical butterflies in stomach and anxieties associated with such things. But, of course, production arts are still very new and alien to me. So as my group took their places and the piece started I saw how my hands were shaking and I felt quite wobbly as I made sure that I hit the video cues on time. The anxiety didn’t let up until quite some time after we’d finished but in the end it all worked out ok and it came off without too many hitches.
Afterwards I stayed in the booth to observe Alex N. and Alex W. working. Again all those buttons and movement had me quite confused but I’m sure that very soon I will begin to understand perfectly what everything does.

Once all the performances had finished it was our turn to clear up, I had to make sure that all of the rehearsal spaces had been tidied up and that all the props etc. were returned to Ellie in the state she had provided them in.
Such is the lot of the production staff that even when all the actors had finished and left there we were still making sure everything was neat and tidy.

After that we all adjourned to the MAC cafeteria area for a production meeting for the Snow Queen.
Alex N. and I shared note taking duties for the meeting. We spoke with Ellie about the set, props and costumes.
We finally decided on the dimensions of the cave/platform which would be the centre piece for the set.
We went through the costumes and what sorts of styles Ellie had in mind for each character so I could then write up a properly detailed costume list for the whole team to investigate, research and source, much the same as the props list.
Anthony provided a perfect idea for the magic mirror that the Snow Queen breaks at the start of the show: We make up a mirror that is pre-broken into two pieces. These pieces slot together and then before each performance it is covered in a large piece of tin foil which holds it together but then tears as the Devils pull the pieces apart. Quite ingenious really.
There was a great deal of debate over a lot of the set, costumes and props with everyone interjecting with ideas and such. In general a great group ‘brain storming’ session.

Production

Tuesday 16^th October 

In the morning we visited The Rep. Theatre at St. George’s Court (SGC) to sit in on rehearsals for ‘The Wounded’, (a war story with a twist).

Ruth showed us around the rehearsal space, it was fascinating to see how this process works at the top level of the business and I appreciated how very organised everything was.
The stage area had been set out exactly to the size and shape of the space being used at the TA Centre in Kings Heath where the show will be performed. All the props and set were set out in an organised fashion and to as close a standard as will be used in the performance.

It was then that I was re-introduced to an old friend (and sometimes enemy) of mine: the LA85 assault rifle, (aka the SA80), the standard issue British Armed Forces rifle, albeit in air-soft replica form and therefore about a third of its real weight.

We also noticed that posted around the room on the walls were a series of diagrams, Ruth explained that these were character bios that the cast had drawn up during the first rehearsals, describing certain aspects of their characters that weren’t necessarily brought up during the actual show but helped to add to characterisation and make more realistic ‘3D’ people on stage.

We then moved on to the stage management office to speak to Ruth about course work and our jobs on Snow Queen, whilst the Alex’s took turns sitting in on The Wounded rehearsal session.
Ruth explained how I should go about the SQ paperwork, how ‘The Book’ should be set out, how rehearsal notes should look etc. She then provided me with copies of examples from previous Rep Shows. That will be a great help to me to get it all set out straight.
By the time midday rolled around I hadn’t had an opportunity to sit in on The Wounded but Alex N. and I had to leave to get over to MB campus for the SQ rehearsal that afternoon.

Ref. - The Wounded at The Rep. :
http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/event/wounded/

Production

Friday 12^th October

Production session was concentrating on Personal protective equipment (PPE). So I wore my steel toe capped safety boots for the day. It turned out to be quite a big mistake on my part as even though they are lighter than some of the safety boots on the market they are still rather heavy and drag on my bad leg and after walking around in them all day, when I got home in the evening, my knee had swollen up and was extremely painful. So I have now stored them in the control booth at Matthew Boulton so I only need to wear them when necessary.
We spoke for a while on Health and Safety issues in our job and what we should look out for. In my opinion it’s mainly about keeping your wits about you and always using common sense. I realise that in my case I will have to do a lot of self-assessment for certain jobs due to my disability i.e. I cannot climb ladders, and must be careful when lifting heavy items as I cannot squat/lift with my knees.

Afterwards Anthony showed us all QLab a great piece of software specifically designed for creating multimedia set-ups for live performance and installations.
It enables you to design, edit and control audio and video playback with MIDI integration and also live playback options.
Unfortunately it is only available for Apple Mac. Computers so for the moment is unobtainable to me, otherwise I would have already downloaded the free version and would be having a good play with it, as that is always the best way to learn with this kind of software. But any way it was good to get to see how it works and how it can be a very useful tool to us in the future. (We will probably be using it on Snow Queen).
 

Afterwards we went down to the hall to have a look around and get a feel for the space where Snow Queen will be performed. Whilst we were debating the size and placement of the platform/cave structure that will be an integral part of the set Ruth told us our assigned production team roles for the show: Alex N. is Stage Manager (SM) and Props/Costume master; I am Deputy Stage Manager (DSM) and Sound Operator and Alex W. is Lighting Operator.
It turns out that the role of DSM is quite a big one as I have to attend all rehearsals, take notes, keep the ‘Book’ (the bible so to speak of the show containing all, script changes, adjustments, and guides of all lighting and sound cues.)
As the threat of ‘paper-work’ has always had an adverse effect on me, ranging from ‘mild nausea’ to ‘abject terror’ it was with some trepidation that I accepted my role. But then again, I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge and will always try to do my best no matter what, but isn’t that the point of entering Higher Education? To be challenged and taken out of my comfort zone and to expand my work capabilities?

Ref. QLab by Figure 53 :  http://figure53.com/qlab/