Sweeny Todd Marathon

It has been an incredibly busy the last couple of weeks surprise surprise!  Foolishly after Feathers I thought things might go back to normal but I have come to the conclusion being busy, a bit stressed and constantly doing things is normal.  When Marion and I came up with the concept for the costumes for Sweeny Todd we knew it was going to be a challenge I don’t think we knew what we were really getting ourselves into. Automatically we were behind at the beginning as there was problem with the budget and we didn’t get our money for ages therefore as we were making the costumes all from scratch we couldn’t buy the materials.  Slowly but surely things have been finished but not without sacrifice due to our busy uni schedules the only time we have had to work are early in the mornings. Getting up bright and early to get to Marion’s for half six and heading to uni for ten. Pulling all nighters trying to get things done. In a way it has been great for me that we were behind as it meant that I couldn’t be afraid of the difficult sewing I had to go straight into it. It’s been amazing and incredibly challenging and I have learnt so much. For example making shirts, doing cuffs on sleeves, making trousers, understading how to fit things and make adjustments, using elastic all sorts. Finally everything was done and we had the first night last night and it went incredibly well. It was a very different experience for me as all the costumes were made from scratch therefore; the chance of people   ripping or damaging them was likely certain things happened meaning quick action had to take place so I now know I can sew in the dark and under pressure. I can’t wait to hear the feedback from people about the show and I am looking forward to the next three nights!

New and exciting work!

This year Al gave me a very good contact and introduced me to a Producer called Flavier Fraser Cannon.  I have been trying most of 3rd year so far to work with her but everything always clashes!  Producing is something that has always been very interesting to me as  its not something we look at much in university.
I went to see Favier a couple of weeks ago to have a coffee.Here we talked about what she does and how she does it. I managed to get a day where I would be able to go in and just give her a hand for the day learning about all the projects she has and has coming up. I had a look at some contracts from theatres one of them for the Edinburgh festival and I could not believe how in depth they are they cover absolutely everything!!!!! 
The really good news is that Flavier has just lost her intern and she has now offered the job to me! So once a week, sometimes more I will be going up to London to help her out. I’m going to be doing this for two months and then we shall see how it goes.

Good Bye Feathers!

It is always the case that after any show you feel slightly shocked. You have spent all your time focusing on that show and then suddenly it is over. The past week has been a very intense week. It started on Monday the 7^th of March with the get in at the Etcetera theatre. Now doing a get in in this type of theatre was an experience in itself. I had never been to the etcetera before Feathers. I was aware that it was a small space but I don’t think I was quite ready for how small. The nice thing about it was with the nature of the play it was ideal. The size of the space makes the performance intimate and helps draw the audience in. Sarah and I did the get in together. Working with the lights and equipment provided I realised how lucky we were at university and how amazing the facilities are that we actually have. It was a very hard rig and focus as we had limited lights. Also most of the lights were in dire need of repair as light was escaping out of the back. The barn doors of some wouldn’t stay on. Even the ladder we were using was a bit rickety and you were scared to hold onto the rig as if you did it wobbled! However, we got the lights up, focused and as it was such a small space we were able to do a mini plot at the same time as rigging and focusing. The main plot went smoothly I was a bit annoyed as we were not able to get the sound plot done that day but it would only be a small  sound plot as I had worked out most of my cues in rehearsal times. The 8^th was a very long day and it was the one I was dreading the most. I was really nervous as I had never done sound operating before and I was cuing at the same time. We had to finish the sound and the last two lighting cues do a Q to Q and get in two dress runs. I was a bit worried about this as it is a very long day for the actors. They needed to be in shape for that evening as they had their first performance. The aim was to get through the technical as quickly as possible to give the actors a good lunch break ready to do two runs and then a longer break before the show. I am so used to tech days not going according to schedule this however, did. Once the Q to Q was done we did not need a tech which was great we went straight into the dresses and there were no major problems minus a couple of sound level adjustments. Whilst the actors were on their break I took this as an opportunity to get everything ready and set for the actors. Sarah and I just did some final adjustments on the boxes re writing cues in the book, making sure everything was ready for the show that night.

The show was performed for 6 nights. This was a new experience for me as I am only used to doing 4 nights tops.  Each night cueing the show got easier and more enjoyable. I found being in the box  in the Etcetera interesting as u have very limited visibility to see the stage and it had a very low ceiling therefore, you could not stand up straight. You only really looked at the stage when the cues coming up.  What I found interesting is by just listening to the show you could tell if it was a good night or not some nights the actors pace just went down their voices weren’t as energetic the pace was lost. One thing I found really hard was at the end of each night the director would change the lighting cues or sound cues. This became very confusing and after a while it was hard to work out what her final decision was for those cues. This is defiantly something I am going to have to work around. I need to find a way of dealing with it so it does not become confusing and over whelming.

I had lots of feedback from friends and family that went to see the show and most of the comments were it was a brilliant show! This I was very happy with as it had been a hard and long process. After working with outside professionals I have realised how professional most actors can be. After my bad experience with the actors on shape of clouds I had sort of lost faith in them but the actors I worked with listened when they needed to. They had fun but also took things very seriously. Working with Jen as a director was great. She defiantly gave me enough to work with that it kept me on my toes and it made it an awesome challenge. Even though I am glad it is over so I can work on Sweeny and my dissertation I am defiantly going to miss it and its going to be hard to get used to not rushing up to London every morning!

Saturday the 5th of march

We are finally there, next Monday Feathers is in the Etcetera theatre! I have found the last couple of weeks very trying as I have been doing more jobs then I banked on. It has been a very different process to what I am used to as there are two of us in the tech team. For the last week we have been in the last week of rehearsals this is where everything has to come together. I have spent this week making sure that the book is complete and that the actors have had as many props as possible. We have had an interesting time with props as one of the props is a vase a vase that must break in one of the actor’s hands. In the original performance at the Edinburgh festival they used two china bowls one that was already broken and one that was intact. I was really worried about doing this as when the vase broke in the actors hands there is a chance that is would break in the wrong way in the actors hands, causing injury. Using plain china or glass I decided that it was not an option I wasn’t going to risk a accident like that putting the actor at risk. This meant I needed to find an alternative. Talking to lecturers at uni it came to the surface that sugar glass could be used and this seemed like a better option to me. Doing some research into it though it became apparent that this would be a very costly option and would not be feasible. Jennifer our director came up with the simple idea that maybe we could use paper mache so Sarah who is doing the making has been able to return to her childhood and do some making. We haven’t been able to use them in rehearsal but I am confident that it will work and once they are painted it will look great.  I have a couple of things I still need to do before we go into the plot and tech. I need to finalise the lighting design that Sarah and I came up with the director, complete my safety report and go over all my notes making sure I have everything that is needed.
It is going to be difficult on Monday as Sarah and I haven’t used the space in the etcetera and from what I hear the lighting desk isn't like the one at uni. So there is going to be some very quick learning for us both! I can't wait to get to Monday and see the show on the road on tuesday!

feathers continued

Friday 18^th Feb

So the process of Feathers has been going on now for the last two weeks. It is proving to be a very different experience in stage managing in comparison to other shows that I have worked on. The Director has a very interesting way of working spending most of the rehearsal time exploring different ways of doing things focusing on a lot of character development. The reason it is different for me is the fact I will have to put the book together in a week which is something I have never had to do as the script is still in the final stages of being cut and edited. We don't get to work in the theatre space that we will be performing in either as the producers have rented the Etcetera Theatre in Camden Town. Sarah and I will have to come up with a clever lighting design as there is a very limited number of lights only allowing you to create some hot and colds general cover and a very limited amount of specials. But everyone loves a challenge! We had some bad luck as our lighting designer, and the general designer dropped out. Therefore, I had to find help. Luckily Sarah Wroblewska has answered my prayers and together we are going to take on these roles. At the moment the struggle is finding wood to make stools at good price. I am baffled at how much wood can cost!
We are teching in two weeks and there is a hell of a lot to do. I was worried about the limitations of time but now I have Sarah on board and we can both give it 100% commitment I think it will be fine.

Shopping for Todd!

I have found a new love for shopping when it comes to costuming for a show! Usually with the budgets we get in the drama society and the types of plays that we put on we are restricted to shops like Primark, cheap and modern. However, with Todd Marion and I decided that we would go to boot fairs. We have been to two so far last week we went to the Wimbledon. It was a good boot fair with a bit of a strange atmosphere but we managed to buy so much for so little. It was actually enjoyable, something shopping in Primark does not make you feel. Today we went to the Battersea boot fair we did not find as much as there were  not many stalls there. However, we found some great buys, £10 for a set of massive curtains providing us with so much material for the costumes Jackets, belts lace so much usable material. I’m looking forward to getting on with the making now :)

new project!

Yesterday afternoon I had a meeting with a director named Jennifer Tang. This was in regards to helping out with a show that she is directing. It was through  Shape of Clouds that I got this as the media designer for our show has a production company and he mentioned that they were putting on the play 'feathers' and they may need a stage manager. The play was taken to Edinburgh festival in 2010 and received mixed reviews. Some good, some bad. The play is a story based on the tales and myths of Ovid. Reading the specific tale the play is based on I am looking forward to receiving the script!
This is going to be a very challenging project as it is out of my comfort zone what with it being out of university, and not working with people that I am used to. There may even be a chance for me to work on some costume and shadow the lighting designer! Giving me some practice in for the third year final PT show!