First Year Technical Blog pt.24

Being in stagecraft rotation means that you do get a chance to work in every venue at some point which is marvellous as its intriguing to see how each performance space differs from one another. They all look phenomenal; I’m working on the Vanbrugh production but cannot wait to see the Gielgud and GBS in-house matinees.

Harry Potter. That’s what our scene change mission is in the Vanbrugh. We want everything (flies and trucks and pulley systems) to move with perfect timing and perfect speed just like the synchronised staircase move in Harry Potter. We spent today trying to get our movement right during the scene changes in correlation to everyone else around us and, I honestly believe, that the audience will be impressed by the smoothness and slickness of the piece. Fingers crossed. (*cue frantic checking of set and hanging plots to make sure that the above statement will come true.)

One of my main tasks earlier this week was to install a water system in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre so that water lightly dripping through 3 different holes in the set would substantiate rain leaking through a roof. Sounded pretty straight forward. Or so we thought. After several hours spent in RADA shower cubicle with a hose pipe, numerous connectors, gaffer tape and some PVA glue, a fellow TTSM Student and myself were forced to rethink our initial thought. But we preserved and finally we completed the mission and ready to start installing our handiwork in the venue.

Getting used to the long hours was much easier than I thought. Although scene change and technical rehearsals have started in all venues and the amount of hours required to work have increased, the days go by, if possible, even faster than before because there’s so much going on. One’s things for sure; there’s never a dull moment at RADA!