LAMDA Rep 4: Lighting on "Journey's End"

June and July 2015 

My final rep at LAMDA was to be a part of the Lighting Crew on "Journey's End" and "The Low Road." As with my Sound rotation, we prepped the hardware for both shows as a team and then I was assigned, with a partner, to operate on "Journey's End". Also, "The Low Road" required Stage LX crew to move practical lights throughout the show, so we ended up working on both shows. 

We began our preparations for the show with a refresher course on electricity via online videos presented by Dave Austin. My Fight Night Flyman joined me on this adventure, and the combination of our very low sleep rating with the brilliance of 80's/90's educational videos was almost too much to take in. When Dave demonstrated the push and pull of electrons, neutrons and protons from within an aquarium, complete with passing fish, we stifled our laughter as best we could until he pulled out a table tennis racket and smashed a proton "through" the glass. Any composure we had remaining was lost! 

This moment will live on as one of my favourite LAMDA memories;
at least our education has been entertaining! 

His methods are different, but Dave Austin managed to teach us a few things...
whether or not I remember any of this is a different issue... ugh. Science. 

Our time with Dave Austin prepared us for the most important part of prep work: cable testing. During Sound, we used a cable tester which ensured that the XLR and Speakon cables were wired correctly, but it does not test for current flow, as speaker cables do not carry power. Lanterns obviously need power, so in Lighting, we perform a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) on each of the 15A/16A power cables. This is a British safety requirement for public spaces and the little green sticker is a common sight throughout Britain. 

PAT Testing the cables consisted of two parts: First, manually opening up each plug and socket to check the wiring is correct and in good condition, as well as checking the overall condition of the cable. Second, plugging the cable to the PAT unit to check resistance etc is within the acceptable range. On the very long cables, 40m+, we often saw confusing results as we didn't have room to completely uncoil the cable for the test! My tutors gave me an explanation as to how a cable could fail one part of the test and pass the other, but I'll be honest, I only remember that it had to do with length. Lighting is basically science, which I was never good at, and added to that, I was trying to wrap my head around it after the insanity of Fight Night. My tutors were very patient with my foggy brain!

In addition to my foggy "Fight Night Brain", I contracted a cold shortly after we got into the venue. Happily, we were at The Greenwood again, where we could fly the onstage light bars down to the floor for rigging. During the focus session, however, we needed to climb up to the lights, in the dark, and point ("focus") them on particular areas of the stage to fine tune the design. I learned that I may actually have a small fear of heights! Actually, it was only on the extension of the Zargess ladder though. I was fine on the Tallescope, so maybe I don't fear heights so much as I need to have greater trust in trigonometry. 

Focus Notes - The lantern, where it is, what colour of gel is on it and where it is pointing. 

My favourite part of working on Lighting was programming on the Lighting Desk. During the plot however, my cold hit full force and I was basically useless. My brain was a fog and I'd lost my voice, which doesn't seem like a big loss for a technician, but it meant that I couldn't shout to my partner during the rig check, and was inaudible over the headsets. . So, my lost voice meant I couldn't be heard from the stage to call out lanterns for the rig check and my foggy brain meant that I was slow to turn them on when they were called to me. See? Useless. 

I armed myself with tissues, cough syrup, lozenges and hand cleanser so that by Tech I felt much better, with a bit of voice. I was happily clicking away at the desk for the rig check, when my tutor came over and said "Well, you're feeling better!" It was great to have the concentration to do the part of the job I really enjoyed. The LD (Lighting Designer) sits between the desk and the director, relaying the creative request into a technical instruction for the programmer. This is when everything starts to come to life; the actors in costume, on a full stage with props, and  Lighting and Sound pulling it all together. Each department brings their best to make theatre magic! (Yep, I said "theatre magic". I like cheese.) 

The set for Journey's End was amazing. The show takes place during WWI and the set creates a series of trenches increasing in height behind a bunkhouse. The main action takes place within the bunkhouse and when the actors leave for the field, we only see the tops of the heads above ground before they disappear into the unknown. This was especially effective during battle scenes, which were never actually seen by the audience. We only hear the shouts and explosions, and see the reactions of the characters left onstage to bear it. Our favourite part as Lighting operators was during 2 large battle scenes, where we discovered the best way to "show" an explosion was not to program a fancy effect, but manually operate a set of lights in time with the explosions created by Sound.  We would listen for the "eeeeeee....BOOM" of particular explosions and flicker the lights on and off appropriately. It was good fun and it also meant that each performance was unique, depending on which Sound operator was throwing the explosions and which Lighting operator was responding. 

http://q2qcomics.com/comic/q2q197/
Our LD had a 15 minute transition that was cut to 5 ... and I still had to check the screen each time. 
We teased him for his "subtle and artistic" vision :-)

Our LD's response to our sass :-) 

Our last day of Technical Rehearsals for Journey was a very special day - my 30th birthday! It feels surreal enough to be 30 years old, but celebrating it in a theatre in London made it even more so. And, the proud Canadian that I am, I made it clearly known that it was an incredibly important day for me AND my country. :) 

Happily for me, I have great friends who humour me, and my LD loves Canada. He made a red and white moving light show effect in my honour. My Fight Night Flyman and fellow LX team-mate even tried out a recipe of Nanaimo bars to give me a Canadian treat. Our LD tried one and said it was the most Canadian treat because it "tastes like kindness." 

I came home to a little pile of gifts from my amazing flat-mates, including a set of "Emergency Moustaches", from the roomie who said "If I know anyone who would actually need these, it's you!"  A friend from church said she went out to buy a cupcake for me and was surprised to find the perfect one! 

I'm very grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life. This is not at all where I expected to be at 30. I've always wanted to live overseas; I never imagined it would happen like this. It has been a great way to start my 30s. I'm excited to see what adventures I find in the next 10 years! 

My roles for 2nd year: 

Rep 1: Production Carpenter

Rep 2: Deputy Stage Manager

Rep 3: Production Sound Engineer 

Rep 4: Placement 1 

Rep 5: Production Manager 

Rep 6: Placement 2 

My home away from home - hopefully we'll be back next year!

LAMDA Rep 3: Sound on "Her Naked Skin"

April and May 2015

After "Cat's Eye" & "Merchant", we had a one week break for Easter. During this time, two major things happened. First I went to the Harry Potter Studios Tour!! It was amazing and I completely geeked out. Here I am at Hogwarts!

However, the many White Card Models on display reminded me of my other task: my model box. The project was due in June, but I knew I'd thank myself for doing it over the break rather than trying to fit it in during shows!

When I returned from "Hogwarts", my world revolved around blue and silver paint. My flatmates were very forgiving of my monopolizing the coffee table. I was able to finish it over the break and my future self did thank me for it! More on the finished project later... :-)

 

 
Back from the break, I took on my next rep: Sound. Yikes!

I came to LAMDA knowing that Sound would be my biggest challenge. It's a tricky thing, because I like it when I understand it, but understanding it does not come naturally to me. Plus, when Sound goes wrong, you can't hide it. I'd learned in Film that Sound can make or break a project. People can tolerate a grainy image and good sound, but not a good image and poor sound. And of course, the best take would have a sound issue. It's the worst. I know how important sound is, so I was eager to face that challenge in theatre and conquer it.

The two shows for this rep were "When the Rain Stops Falling" and "Her Naked Skin". There were two Production Sound Engineers from the second year and three of us first years as Sound Assistants. Myself and another were assigned to the more "sound heavy" show, "Her Naked Skin", and the other assisted on "Rain". The two PSE's worked together to design a sound rig that would work for both shows, selecting speakers and amps that were appropriate, and laying out a plan for their locations, as well as cable runs etc.

 

While the SM2s designed the rig, we Sound Assistants sourced and prepared the sound effects for the shows. This included rifling through LAMDA's Sound Effects collection on CD and Vinyl, as well as their digital database from the BBC. (I listened to so many clock ticks and clock chimes, I was hearing them in my sleep....)  In some cases, we recorded live sound effects. For example, "Rain" went out to record actual rain, and we made a studio recording of our actresses singing the suffragette song from the play, as well as the actors shouting as MPs. The shouts were played in between live dialogue as cues, and we edited the song into a ghostly reverb to be played at the end of the show.

Though the Sound Assistants sourced for their individual shows, we all worked as a team to prepare the hardware for both. We gathered the appropriate cables, as listed by our PSE's and tested each one before packing it. The time spent testing is always worthwhile and is much preferred to fault finding once the cable is installed in the venue! I liked the cheeky reminder on our cable tester :-)

 

Before we packed everything for the theatre, we set up our sound system in the Linbury Studio at LAMDA to be sure everything was working correctly, and to familiarize ourselves with the cable runs. The PSE's created a rig plan on paper, but putting it all together at LAMDA would make a huge difference when we got to the theatre. We then packed up our flight cases and were ready to go to The Greenwood Theatre! 

The Get In is always an exciting time. I've really come to look forward to this insanity and The Greenwood Theatre was a fun new venue. It's a "flying" theatre, which means that it has counter weighted flying bars in the grid which can be "flown" down to the floor of the theatre, where lights, speakers or set can be rigged, and then flown back out. It was a great opportunity to learn and work with this system. For me, working in these various venues is one of the many benefits of being at LAMDA. It'll be great when they have their own theatre again, but I quite enjoy working out in the city.

The first two days of the Get In are reserved for Lighting and Sound to hang all of the lights and speakers. Then the set is brought over from the workshop and everything starts to take shape. As a Sound team, we then carry out the Sound Balance. This is a few hours for us to focus the speakers in the right direction and adjust levels to ensure the correct "surround sound" effect. It was really interesting to go through this process and discover how little tweaks change the effect. And how we all heard it just a little differently! That's the beauty of Sound - and theatre in general - it's all subjective!

As I've said, Sound can be a frustrating beast, and it wasn't long before the inevitable issues reared their ugly head. However, we pressed on with good humour and decorated our Sound desk accordingly. We even got ourselves a little Smurf mascot!

 Our Production Sound Engineer did the programming with the Director during Technical Rehearsals and operated on the first Dress and Opening Night. We split the other shows between us two assistants. The Mixing desk is an intimidating one and I was nervous that my first time ever operating a show would be on this beast. 

The dress went fine and, as such, I was feeling OK about my first public show, which I knew was not a good sign. With my PSE, I tested the system and the backup before the house opened. We then muted the system so I couldn't accidentally turn anything on while people were coming in. She asked how my nerves were and if I had any questions and then went to the green room to be show cover. The show begins and I hit GO on my first cue, which is a low rumble. I can't hear it, so I pull my headset away to listen and double check my screen. It's playing, but I still can't hear it. My next cue is called and I hit GO. A very distinct song should be playing and it's not. Something is definitely wrong. I realize that the system is still on Mute. I press the button and the song plays. I pray it ends at the right time and I haven't messed it up in my panic. It's fine and I make many apologies to my DSM. But that wasn't all. Later, an alarm sounds as it should, but the cue to stop it doesn't work. The scene change ends, the actors are settled to start speaking, the alarm is still going and I don't know why. Giving up, I hit ESC which stops all of the sound effects, apologizing that the clock tick that should be now be going is not. I realize immediately after that I could have selected it on screen and stopped it individually from everything else. Investigating later, we discover it was a programming issue. So, one was my fault and I reacted poorly to the second. But, I have learned two very important lessons! Ah, the beauty of live theatre :-)

Despite Sound being my most intimidating field at LAMDA, I think that I enjoyed it most of all. My PSE's/SM2s were great HoD's (Head of Department) and my tutors were helpful, patient and good humoured. My fellow SM1s were fun to laugh with as we made mistakes, learned together and helped each other.

It's summer now and I know that I'll be a Production Sound Engineer in my second year. When my tutor said he'd be happy to have me back as an HoD, I said that his confidence that I could do it was enough for me. It seems I'm still on my way to conquering this mountain and I'm excited to see what mistakes I learn from next year!

LAMDA Rep 2: ASM on "Cat's Eye"

March & April 2015

Cat's Eye is a novel by Margaret Atwood and was adapted for the stage by Lisa Evans. The play takes place in Toronto, Ontario in the 1980s, with flashbacks to the 50s and 60s. I was surprised to be placed on a show set in Canada, but happy that my research for props and furniture would be made a little easier!

Our first task as a Stage Management team (1 Stage Manager, 1 Deputy Stage Manager and 2 Assistant Stage Managers) was to gather our scale rulers, ground plan, LX tape and some trigonometry to lay a mark up of the set onto the rehearsal room floor. The set for Cat's Eye consisted of 4 Oversize frames which the actors would interact with. To substitute this, we brought scaff poles from LAMDA and rigged up 2 H frames that the actors could sit and stand on. Our rehearsal room was in a church at Earl's Court, so we had a twice daily pilgrimage to and from LAMDA to set up and take down as well as check in with the director.

The play's design was minimalistic, which meant that our Prop and Furniture List was relatively short. However, this being our first run as ASMs, we still felt we had a lot to do.  Our first furniture find was the ladder. LAMDA keeps a small selection of furniture in which we were able to find a suitable ladder that we could modify. We switched the lower rope hinge for a higher metal brace, which would keep the ladder safe, but allow room for the performers to duck underneath it. In the theatre, we painted it white to match the hanging picture frames of the set and installed padding on the feet to prevent scraping on the floor when it was dragged across stage. 

The fun thing about ASM work is getting out into the city to find things, and the best bit is when you find something you weren't even looking for. I went on a hunt to Shepherd's Bush Market and Portobello Road, hoping to find an 80s SLR camera and a few other odds and ends. I walked behind a luggage stall and saw the perfect trunk tucked away. We even got a bit of a deal on a scratched one, happily knowing it would be covered up when we painted it to match the ladder and frames. I took it to the workshop to reinforce the lid, for standing on, and prime it for painting. I soon discovered that I am happiest as an ASM when modifying or making something.

In the play, the 4 girls play "Eaton Catalogue Ladies" where they make collages from cutout dresses and household items in the Eaton's Catalogue and imagine their future homes. It was funny to discover that in my Stage Manager's initial research, he struggled to find anything because Eaton was occasionally spelled as Eton in the script, constantly leading him to Eton College! I enjoyed scouring the internet for catalogue covers and learning more about this Canadian icon that sat fuzzily in my memory.

 

Originally, we made the catalogues by adding a printed cover to newspapers and gluing in a few pages for the girls to cut out. However, it was too bulky to be believable. We started again, this time to create a book from scratch. This required more pages, but it was difficult to find interior pages from Eaton's. My North American knowledge finally became useful when I suggested searching for images from Sears as well. From there we printed the pages double sided and carefully bound them with thin strips of double sided tape. We were all very proud of the result!

As I put my Photoshop skills to use in making a cover for the two Bibles, the others channeled their inner child to make the scrapbook pages and Eaton collages. I'm tempted to say that they had far too much fun with this, but it is these kind of projects that make theatre great! 

Another prop to make was an art gallery catalogue to feature the work of the main character, which was to be similar to surrealist Leonora Carrington. Our SM donated a museum catalogue and I searched out some of Carrington's images that would suit some of the themes within the play and pasted them in. I made up a cover in Photoshop, with a white frame to match the set, and voila!

 "Cat's Eye" was performed in "rep" (repertory/rotation) with "The Merchant of Venice" at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington. The Pleasance was my first contact with LAMDA when I attended an Open Day there back in November 2013. It is also just a few doors down from my first London office. It was almost surreal to be back there; it felt "full circle."

 

During the run of the show, the ASMs set the props and furniture before each performance and then live backstage to assist with props and quick changes. Before each show, we would set all of the props and furniture, ensuring that everything is in the same place each night. My "favourite" task became setting the dust sheet that draped on the ladder and each show I would curse it for not behaving. It had already been a source of frustration to find a fabric to look like a gallery sheet, but still meet industry flame proof standards, and then fight with the sewing machine to hem it nicely. (Hemming the 1.5m x 3m sheet quickly became a 3 person job...)

"Cat's Eye" was the first show I worked in Rep, so it was also my first set "Turnaround". Turnaround is changing the sets between shows. Eg. Cat's Eye performs an evening and a matinee, then Merchant performs an evening and a matinee and so on. The change into Cat's Eye was usually problem free, however, going into Merchant was always finicky.

Source: www.lamda.org.uk

 The set for Merchant was a Periactoi set, made of 4 large triangular pillars, each side painted with a different scene, which were rotated in unison by the crew to create a new location. To create storage space, one side of each was removed in each turnaround. Thus, hooking the periactoi to their overhead rigging, reattaching the 3rd side and setting the periactoi to be perfectly balanced and lined up became the daily challenge. Also, we had the shiniest and most reflective of black dance floors, so there was a daily line up of SMTTs across the stage, buffing the floor. One day, as I had to leave for other ASM duties, someone set their phone to play "Cinderelly, Cinderelly" while they buffed. Ah, the glamour of theatre!

Source: www.lamda.org.uk

For a girl who hates shopping, the role of Assistant Stage Manger was a challenging one.  At the beginning, I decided to embrace the challenge of hunt in an attempt to keep the frustrations to a minimum. There were frustrations, of course, and I learned a lot about how I deal with that and how I need to communicate better. In the end, of course, it was such a rewarding experience and I'm excited to return to Stage Management next year!

The "Cat's Eye" Stage Management Team 

LAMDA Rep 1: Construction on "Rent"

Whew, it's been a ride. The last 3+ months have been amazing and ridiculous. As I mentioned in my last post, I was assigned to the Construction crew for the musical, "Rent". That's been and gone, and so has my second show, but more on that in another post. First things first: Rent!

I've had this blog in progress since the show closed back in February and now finally have the time to complete it. It's a long one, but there are lots of pictures!
If you already know about building and/or theatre, please forgive some exposition on the topics. If you're not interested in building stuff, it's probably best to just scroll through the fun photos, skip to Show section and remind me how stupidly lucky I am. If you're ready for some technical talk, mixed in with some (hopefully) interesting commentary, read on!  

12 January - 3 February 

The Set Build

One of two rail arches that make up the LAMDA workshop.
Moving platform and rubbish heap with telegraph pole seen in progress. 

Since "Construction" is more in my comfort zone than the other disciplines (Sound, Lighting, Stage Management), I was really excited to take this on as my first official assignment at LAMDA. After a year of office work here in London, I had almost forgotten how much I like making things! 

My first project was to build a door for the moveable platform which would become the corridor to the loft apartment for the main characters. As there was an odd number of people on the crew, this was a task I was given to complete mostly on my own. It was really great to receive the instruction from my tutors and be let loose to build it. The door is made from one piece of 12mm ply with 18mm pieces attached to the front and the back around the edge. The inner detail was made from a piece of scenic batten, which is particular to theatre. It's just a 70mm x 28mm piece of wood, which is really useful for theatre... for some reason. Anyways, I used a router to round off two edges of the batten and then cut that to the 18mm height of the ply and then in half to have two pieces from each batten. I then cut those to a 45º angle on either end and fitted them in like a fillet in a picture frame! 

Creating the details from scratch took me back to my framing days - I really missed my framing chopper!

The door frame was actually a bit trickier than I expected. Really, it's just 3 pieces of batten and a door jam, but there is always "more" to a simple project than you think! I needed to allow room in the width for the hinge and room in the height for the floor. That done, we screwed a board to the floor to attach the frame to, in order to hang the door temporarily. Then, I had to get it perfectly square so that it would open properly and not scrape on the floor. I cut down some batten to 15mm x 15mm to create the door jam, leaving just a sandpaper thickness on the hinge side for clearance.  It was fun to work my way through it, asking questions or for a helping hand when I needed to. 

My door and door frame ready to be attached the the platform and painted.
I am overly proud of this door :-) 

My next project was to make steel rings to be a part of the detailing on the railings of the small stairs. To do this, I was given a 10mm thick steel rod, a vice, some homemade "bending columns", a hammer and a hacksaw. We cut out a template of the ring on the Computer Navigated Cutter (CNC) that I compared to as I went along. I thought for sure some kind of heat would be involved, but it was really all about leverage and getting just the right angle. 

The trickiest part was making the final curve; getting the perfect radius on the curve, while at the same time keeping the excess steel at the correct angle to line up with the opposite side, in order to give a good overlap to weld from. This was where I would inevitably get frustrated, bending, straightening and re-bending to get it right. And the more that I re-bent it, the more difficult it became to work with. My tutor was so patient and helpful in giving me tips on how to work the steel, but balancing that with time left for me to figure it out on my own. 

Once the steel was bent correctly, I used a hacksaw to cut the excess steel from the ring. (My tutor later introduced me to the Sabre/Reciprocating saw, which became my best friend.) I then welded the cut ends together and used a grinder to smooth the welds. After many failed attempts, I had 4 big rings and 4 small ones, made from two halves rather than a single bend. Looking at my pile of "rejects", I joked that I'd missed my calling in life as a farrier! Whenever I'm feeling a little weak now, I just remind myself that I can bend steel with my bare hands! Ok, gloved hands. It's still amazing. 

Metalwork has been the biggest surprise for me at LAMDA.  I had tried welding once before, but didn't like it at the time. I didn't like that I couldn't see what I was doing through the welding mask until the arc actually made contact. It seemed like "guess and check", which I didn't like at all while handing electricity and metal! 

However, LAMDA has these amazing welding masks that can sense light, so you can see through them and then it goes dark when the weld connects. This has completely changed welding for me! It seems like such a little thing, but it removed that little bit of fear and allowed me to focus on the actual task. 

 After making the rings, I then went on to cut steel for the railings and begin welding it all together.  Using a template cut from the CNC machine, I could lay out all of the pieces and make a few measurements to ensure accuracy. 

One of my classmates helped with finishing the welds and grinding down 4 of the rings for the angled section of the rails.  We then attached the rings with their very stubborn little straights in between. Each time we welded one on, the pressure of placing a weld in such a small area would shift the steel ever so slightly to be out of line. We would then pull it off and start again. It was frustrating, but we pushed through and, eventually, we had two sets railings ready for the stairs! 

(Shout out to my buddy who was eternally patient and so helpful as I got more and more frustrated with those stupid rings that I'd been fighting with for so long! Love you!)

My Production Carpenter's sneaky photo of me grinding down some rings for the rails.

Welding the railings to the stairs was another adventure of its own. It took some strategic clamping (helped by our tutor) to get the rails where they needed to be, but then we were back on our own as an awesome welding team. We then passed them to another team to attach the wooden steps, which they'd been working on. After that, onwards to the scenic painter to "make 'em pretty"!  

After the railings were finished, I built a dolly to hold a car door that would roll out, pretending to be a full car during the show. It was pretty straightforward, except for the 2º cut on the top halves to accommodate the curve of the door, that I kept second guessing which way to attach because it was so small. Then, because this was my easiest project so far, I made the silliest mistake and attached the last leg to the outside of the bottom bar instead of the inside. I didn't notice this until I went to attach the wheels and didn't have enough surface area to attach to! Live and learn :-)

After I had the dolly finished, one of the guys helped to attach it to the car door, which was as straightforward as clamp, drill, bolt. Or rather, it was that simple on one side, minus the bit about getting your arms trapped while trying to tighten the nut. And on the other side, we had to cut one of the welds and bend the arm back to correctly align with the door, then weld it solid again. Nothing is ever straightforward.

To counteract the weight of the car door on the dolly, we created the most ingenious counterweight ever: I found some cable ties and we strapped a stage weight to it. Job done. :-)

It turns out that the only photo I have of the completed door was full of background people,
so I had to a quick Photoshop edit!

As we were finishing the car door, the Designer came to the workshop for a visit. I walked by at the end of the conversation she was having with one of my tutors say and heard him say "Ok. I'll break the news to Megan." I saw them looking at the railings, already under one coat of paint, and knew what was happening. She was really great about it, saying how good they looked and that it wasn't my "fault", just that, now that she'd seen them, the rings on the railing were "too pretty for our world", so we'd need to cut them off. This is something that happens all of the time; Directors and Designers have every right to cut  and change anything, right up to opening night, and they often do. It doesn't matter how much time or money has been spent on the project. Knowing that didn't lessen the sting by much though. Later, when our other tutor heard the news, (the tutor that had taught me how to make the rings), he gave her a hard time for cutting them, but laughed about it. He later said that it's too bad, but it doesn't take away from what I learned while making them. He's right, of course, and after lunch we set about cutting the darn things off. 

We took one last parting photo of the railings in all their "prettiness" and armed ourselves with grinders and hammers. Turns out, we'd done a really good job of welding them together because one of the tutors had to bring over the "super-sized" grinder to get the bottom welds apart before we could even begin to prize them from their place. Soon enough, the two guys on our crew couldn't bear to see us girls having all the fun, so they joined in the destruction. We were happy to have them - it took all of us SM1s to get those silly rings off! 
Don't worry though, I've kept some as a little memento. 

My final project was to figure out how to attach a pay phone to the railings. Or rather, get it onto a board that would then attach to the railings. 

Problem #1: No easy way to get a proper bolt into any of the existing hanging points. 

Problem #2: Phone weighs at least 50lbs.  

Problem #3: No keys for the phone to open it up and gut it. 

Problem #4: Googling "How to Break into an American pay phone" makes me look like a criminal. 

I actually did look up how to break into a phone, and it was both entertaining and fruitless. In the end, a tutor and I brainstormed some ideas and eventually decided to modify a tee nut to fit our purposes. We bent down the four prongs and then ground off two sides to be left with 2 "wings" which we could twist under the narrow space in the holes on the back of the phone. I filled it up with Car Filler to hold it in place and bolted it all together. Voila! 

Our last day in the workshop was great. First of all, it SNOWED!!!! Just a dusting, but it made me a very happy Canadian! My team was lovely and humoured my enthusiasm, even at 8am. It was my first snowfall in England and the first time I'd seen any snow in over a year! 

We're pretty sure we set a LAMDA record by actually finishing the set build early. Our tutor had promised to bring his dog in if we finished on time, so our time spent giving the workshop a good clean was also dotted with a bit of puppy play time. We had also built a storage box for the drum screen we'd made and decided to make a fun cut out on the CNC machine to give it a little extra flair for the Sound team. I love working on the CNC machine. It reminds me of the Computer Mat Cutter that I used in framing, so it is fun to play with the same principles in 3D. I traced the monkey from a clip art that our Sound tutor loves to use and the others traded off making text and the music staff. 

Through out the rep, our tutors had been working on a mezzanine to give some added storage and workspace in the break-room. On the final day, we all pitched in to put it together. I had helped with some of the welding on the stairs and am proud to say that I reached a point where I could no longer tell which welds I had done and which the tutors had done! 

My awesome welding skills - Yes, I'm ridiculously proud of this..... 

I learned so much on this rep, not just tool skills, but how to approach a task and how I personally work best. The tutors were wonderful in their evaluations; there are grading sheets, but they don't care much about the numbers! I found it to be more of a discussion about my career path and how to achieve my goals. For example, they said that my attention to detail is very good, but that I need to be more aware of time constraints and worry only about what will be visible to the audience. I'm so used to working on picture frames where the small details are more noticeable! I can be more aware of this by asking more questions about the project before I begin, so I can make better judgements on what is important to fix and what to let go.

The tutors were also very patient, helping everyone to feel confident in their work, while at the same time pushing us to work things out on our own and not be afraid to make mistakes. They know I have previous workshop and woodworking experience, and were really great at showing me different ways of doing things, or introducing new tools to build on what I already know, while at the same time affording the same respect to the others who were beginning with different experience. 

My team of fellow SM1s were amazing. I couldn't have asked for better colleagues. We had a great time laughing at our mistakes and sharing our frustrations. Each person was a valued team member; we knew who to call on for help, whether it was a knot or sewing, a hug or a joke. Sometimes, a problem would arise and a collective shrug would go around the group, but we'd figure it out together. This rep has been amazing, but beyond my personal accomplishments, what I treasure most will be the memories I have with my team; that incredible feeling of knowing that not one of us could have done it alone, and those many conversations without words. 

SM1 Construction Crew

I truly felt that we were all colleagues; tutors and students alike. I remember when I was little, I would help my dad with many of his projects, or just sit and watch. His most common response to "Why are you doing that" or "What does this do?", was "To make little girls ask questions," but after that, it was "What/why do YOU think?" This question has followed me to England. The tutors really encourage the discussion and thought process to come from us, and not just directions from them. I am so grateful for this method of teaching. I love that it feels like, and IS, a collaboration. 

4 February - 10 February

The Get In 

The "Get In" is just what it says. It's the time period where we get everything into the venue for the play. Sound and Lighting (LX) have the first days to rig all of their equipment and then Construction brings in the set. So, we met at the workshop in the morning to load the truck and the set off for the theatre. Or rather, I got a paint box dropped on my foot, just below the steel cap, of course, and got to ride with the lorry driver to the theatre! It was definitely a new view of London for me! It gave me a bit more time to ice my foot (which I did have checked at A&E later) rather than riding on the train, and had the added benefit of my giving directions to the driver. This became especially valuable when I explained that the theatre is down a narrow medieval road. I said it would be best to back down if he could and he quickly had an arm out the window to give a wave to the busy traffic on New Bridge Street as he pulled the lorry across four lanes to angle the trailer! From my perch in the cab, I watched amazed as he steadily navigated back, following directions from a hi-vis'ed tutor. It took a few attempts to get around the bend, but somehow that thing made it to the loading door! 

As most of our pieces are mobile, I didn't think we'd have too much to do after we'd put all the pieces back together, but there are some things you can't work on in the shop. We'd built a new trap door in the shop, but we then had to install it and that came with its own challenges. We moved the stairs around on that trap door and built a new set for the other one. The stationary platform was attached to the floor and we then attached two sheets of ply to the back of it to give the actors a small changing space. Locks and hooks were added to the door on the moving platform. The trapeze needed to be installed. The snow drop needed to be rigged. Everything was tested in the space and fine tuned. Just when you think you're done, something else would need work! 

11 February - 18 February 
The Rehearsals

As Construction crew, we were now transferred to performance crew to move all of our set pieces about during the show. At LAMDA, we have something special, something rare, something that even the West End rarely does: the Scene Change Rehearsal. I don't knwo why it's so rare, because I think it's amazing and everyone should do it! Instead of going straight to the Technical Rehearsal, which is strictly for Technical issues, we are given time specifically for the scene changes, and on this show, it made all the difference in the Tech. All of those mobile pieces we had made now needed to move around, quickly and cohesively. Our Stage Manager, a second year SMTT student, had made provisional cue sheets for us and over the course of the rehearsals, these cues were practised and refined with the Director. This was also the first time that the technical crew were able to see how the show would work. 

This is also a great time to work out the unexpected and unknown. When "Maureen" enters the stage from the trap door to sing her protest song, she throws the door open and lets it crash to the floor. The Director and SM discussed how best to get the door closed, as it would look weird for her to pick it up and close it, after she'd just crashed through. They decided it would be funny for me to just follow her out and pull it shut behind her. We did one run, which went well and everyone thought it was hilarious. The Director laughed and said I should follow more closely behind her, so we did it again. As I followed her out, we found the "unexpected" as the actress accidentally kicked me in the face with her massive 90's platform shoes when she stepped out of the trap! My glasses fell off and I stopped to get my hands on them and evaluate how injured I was. When I didn't pop my head out the trap, everyone was immediately concerned, but I quickly assured them I was OK, just needed to find my glasses! I came out of the trap and the Director was quickly apologizing and checking my face, happy that I was OK. The small bit of skin that connects the top gum to the lip was a bit torn, but other than that, no real damage. In the following days, cast and crew would ask how I was and I would say "I can't eat apples and it hurts to smile, but it's all good." Inevitably, something would be said or done to make me smile and apologies would follow. :-)


A day later, I was footing the moving platform, with actors sitting on top. The Director came over and asked an actor to swing his legs over the edge "but don't kick Megan in the face, even though we know she goes for that." I was leaning my head on the  SR side of the platform, with the actor facing downstage. Minutes later, he turned and put his legs over the SR side. Before I could even respond, the Director exclaimed "Watch her head!" I wasn't hurt, but looked up and questioned mockingly, "Why do you all hate my face?!" 


When it came time for the Technical Rehearsal, we knew our cues and could quickly go in to make the Scene Change happen in the proper timing for Lighting and Sound to practice their cues. It does begin to feel a bit like "Groundhog Day" as scenes are repeated over and over again, but it is also good fun and everyone is working to make the show amazing. Next, we moved into the Dress Rehearsals; running the show without stopping 4 times, twice for each of the two casts and we were ready for Opening Night! 

18 February - 25 February 

The Show

www.sbf.org.uk

The Bridewell Theatre is an amazing space. It's just off of Fleet Street in Central London and was its first swimming pool. The pool still exists under the stage floor and makes for a very interesting sub-stage! This stage area is over the shallow end of the pool with the viewing gallery kept as a balcony. The deep end of the pool now sits below the audience and the whole venue makes for a very unique performance space! 

The performance area has a series of black curtains under the balcony to give some backstage space, but we removed all of the curtains and the whole area was both performance and "backstage" space. Actors and onstage crew members would sit inconspicuously about in the background when not performing. This layout was interesting; it erased the divide between actors and crew as we were all onstage together, often teaming up to move set pieces around. It was definitely a unique way to experience my first LAMDA show! 

Each crew member had a piece of set that they were assigned to throughout the play. One person would always move the small stairs, another two would stay with the big stairs, etc. I was assigned to the downstage trap door and then "filled in the gaps" wherever needed. It gave me the most varied cues, I think. For example, in Act 1, I collected the car door from stage right, moved a table with an actor SR-SL, moved the table again with crew SL-SR, then the moving platform full of actors SR-CS, helped move the small stairs US-DS, and then went under the stage for the trap door, came back up and moved another table with the SM.

My pre-show view - stage right, waiting for the car :-)

We all had our own little cue journeys mapped out in our heads, and cue sheets disguised as concert flyers in our back pockets, just in case we forgot! We knew when we could afford to hide backstage for a bit and watch the show - my favourite being "Without You". My "trap buddy" and I would close the trap entrance, go sit SR, watch "Angel" die and try not to cry. 

We also found the places onstage where we liked to hide away in between moves, whether it was sitting on a tucked away table, on the floor against the wall, or grouping on the SR stairs during the still moments at the end of the play. The Director didn't care where we were during the show, as long as there wasn't unnecessary movement, especially during quiet moments. We were essentially playing background homeless people. His "directorial instructions" for being onstage were to "find a really interesting piece of floor." 

I found it much less nerve wracking than I thought I would. I've always hated public speaking and being on stage. It has taken me a lot of time and work to get past that, so I was quite nervous at the prospect of being onstage for my first LAMDA show. However, the rehearsals were so well done that it all became routine quite quickly and I even had a few moments of surprise when I heard audience reaction during the public performances and remembered that there even was an audience!

Just hanging out the pool. 

Now, please forgive a slight diversion on cue lights. I spent a fair amount of time under the stage, with the 4 different actors who used the trap door, cueing their entrances. I was with another first year, who was an Assistant Stage Manager on the show. We had a cue light and a headset to be in communication with the Deputy Stage Manager (DSM), who cues the whole show from the Prompt Desk at audience level. The ASM was on the "cans" to listen for the verbal cues and communicate with the DSM as needed. A red flashing light is given to put the actors on standby about 2 script pages before their entrance. I would let them know and when they confirmed they're ready on the stairs, I would relay that to the ASM, who would press the cue light to stop the flashing and confirm verbally with the DSM that we are all ready. The DSM would then activate the green cue light and give a verbal "Go" on the headset, which was relayed to our actors by the ASM. 

My view from the DS Trap Door through the special grated trap we made. 

It is a really important system, because even though the actors know which line they're meant to enter on, only the DSM can see for sure that it is safe and a late entrance is better than an unsafe one. There were actually 2 trap door entrances that were cut because it became too difficult to get the timing right in some dancing scenes and it wasn't worth the risk. So, no pressure. My time in Film and Theatre has taught me so much, not least of which is finding that precious balance between fun and safe. It's no small task to be confident in controlling risky situations and ensure that the actors feel safe enough to do their job. 

Trap Life: LX Crew giving us light and keeping us all safe in the pool :-) 

My last cue was to set a lighted (fake) candle on top of the telegraph pole at the very end of the play, so I would watch the final scenes from the balcony. At the end of every show, "Angel" (who has passed away) is carried up to the front of the stage, set on a swing and throws a handful glitter to the crowd. He did this for the first time only during the last dress rehearsal, so us crew members were not expecting it! I laughed as he blew the glitter from his hands, then I remembered I'd be on clean up duty each night! After each show, we'd be on standby with brooms and sweep down the stage, laughing to each other "So much glitter!"  On the final night, those of us stationed on the balcony for the end of the show, took all the remaining glitter and threw it by the handfuls. There was glitter everywhere, but it was worth it and it was a fantastic way to end the run :-) 

Facebook photo from one my friends who came out to support me! 

La Vie Boheme
www.facebook.com/LAMDAdrama

Tango Maureen
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Without You
www.facebook.com/LAMDAdrama

Santa Fe
www.facebook.com/LAMDAdrama

26 February  - 27 February 

The Get Out 

Six weeks of preparation all came apart in one day! It was bittersweet to take everything down, cut it apart and send it off to Metro Waste for recycling. It's sad to see it go, but it's also good fun to tear everything apart! It's tempting to say that the set should be kept for re-use, but then future students would have nothing to build! They did keep the drum screen that we made, as it was really expensive and not specific to any one play.

After we'd sent everything off for recycling we went about returning the theatre to its original state; putting the curtains back up, replacing the trap door, and repainting the floors and walls, which had been painted as part of the set design. The Deputy Carpenter and I went to the workshop to unload out tools and do a final clean and tidy.  We even had time to help complete flooring on the mezzanine. I thought it was a nice way to finish "full circle", beginning and ending in the workshop. I'm excited to work in Construction next year, to take on a leadership role and to build more stuff!

Up next: Assistant Stage Manager on Cat's Eye!

With my door on the moving loft platform.