First Year Technical Blog pt.22

The role of sound designer is coming more and more into the limelight in theatre in recent years, and being the first and only specialist Sound Design For The Theatre student at RADA is a huge honour.

Having been successfully inducted and survived the first week, I'm looking into the looming jaws of our first production: Blue Stockings in the Vanbrugh Theatre. I come from a radio/studio background and, having attained a BA (Hons) in Media Production from the University of Lincoln, I've come into theatre as more of a lover of theatre than a maker of it; so getting stuck into our first production is an exciting prospect.

Getting settled into RADA has been easy; as a group of technical students, we range from 17 through to late 30s, from all kinds of backgrounds and with some fantastic experience between us. Amongst the TTSM (Technical Theatre and Stage Management) students are also some specialists in lighting, scenic art, costume/wardrobe, construction, etc. and (most importantly of course!) the most recent addition: sound. It took but a day or two for our motley bunch to become more of a family than a crew; a love for theatre has brought friendships together, and I look forward to how these brilliant relationships will come together when production time is upon us.

As for the sound course itself, the amount of exciting partnerships and collaborations with leading sound companies is beyond promising - some amazing new equipment from Shure and some desks lent by Midas being the main new 'toys' to play with. I have 'Radio Drama' and 'Film Sound' to look forward to in the coming terms, and being able to study such subjects in a venue as prestigious and historic as RADA is a real pleasure. And on that note, I hope to be the first of many sound design specialists to come through RADA's ranks... as long as I can survive the wet and windy commute in the meantime!