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.