In the final stages of production the preparations made by myself and Anthony, the Stage Manager, were of the upmost importance to contribute towards creating a seamless and professional show. It was our responsibility to make sure all technical elements of When you see it were ready for performance day.
One of the integral features of the production were the images of the cast projected throughout. (They can be found in the gallery section of this blog.) These were realistic representations of the central characters lives along with visual aids for the audience during the ‘Selfie Song’. The images were taken and edited by myself and imputed into videos and into QLab by Anthony. As these images were so important to the piece the composition and location of the pictures were scouted out by myself and Laura and the costume was sourced by Amy to give the most realistic image possible. The filters on these images were also carefully designed to provide context, mood and age to the photographs. It was then decided in the technical rehearsal that the set plan should be redesigned and the TV for the photographs removed in favour for the large projector screen. This decision was made as the photographs were only shown for a brief amount of time but we felt it was important that the audience should see them clearly.
In addition to the photographs, I prepared the Show Information, Audience warning signs and Zing TV presentation for the front of house. As Seabright points out, “The relationship between the producer and venue is the backbone of every production” so my relationship with the Front of House team at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre was very important (2009, 92). Three days prior to the performance I liaised with the Front of House manager, Holly, and met the Duty Manager responsible on the evening of our performance, Adam, to discuss the final details of our production. I checked that they were happy to display our company branded signs, warning the audience of the bright lighting and paper planes, and display the presentation about our show on the Zing TV screens. At this meeting arrangements for this information when the Café opened was made and it was agreed that they were happy to display all our information.
On the night of the performance my responsibility was Assisting Anthony and managing the sound desk. This was something I found challenging as it was a new experience for me and with our extensive use of live voice and instruments it was very important the levels were correct throughout the show: “Sound has the ability to direct and reinforce the audience’s emotional response to the action on stage” (Palmer, 2000, 167). In the dress rehearsals I took advice from one of the resident technicians at LPAC, Shellie, who then allowed me to operate the sound individually in the actual performance. During the technical rehearsal and dress rehearsals the actors brought it to our attention that at times it was hard to hear the sound through the on stage monitors so it was important that I turned the music up for them at these times to make sure the timing of their singing and choreography remained correct.
As the Production Manager of When you see it and Refract Theatre Company I am very proud of what we achieved. Our piece was directly reflective of our manifesto and mission statement, we brought the events that happened on a global scale to a personal level and created characters that the audience engaged with. As a company we worked seamlessly and created a piece we felt was truly reflective of the work we felt was important.
When you see it was described as a production that had a “beautifully judged tone, a lovely concept, an excellently staged production” (Andy Jordan, Senior Lecturer, Lincoln University).
Works Cited
Palmer, S. (2000) Essential guide to Stage Management Lighting and Sound. Bookpoint Ltd: Abingdon.
Seabright, J. (2010) So you want to be a Theatre Producer? Nick Hern Books Limited: London.