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 

Not The Average Student Life

Hello, and welcome back to my Blog. I hope you like the new look. It's a new phase of my life, so it seemed a good time for a face lift. I've made more space for big photos so I don't have to write as much when LAMDA takes over all of my free time!

Whew, I've made it through 3 weeks of drama school!  The first few weeks have been really fun and exciting. There are 24 first year Stage Management students, who are known as SM1s. We are then divided into groups of 6, which will change periodically. Most of our class time is spent in these small groups to allow better one-on-one instruction. The small groups are also nice for getting to know people, and changing them up allows us to get to know everyone. 

2014-2016 Stage Management and Technical Theatre Students
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I had prepared myself for many aspects of LAMDA, but what I really should have remembered is that it is first and foremost, a DRAMA school. Our first full school assembly was held a week after my first day, which was also the day that the actors showed up. We technicians were expecting a basic assembly of introductions etc, which is what happened of course, but it could only end with spontaneous musical number, declaring LAMDA to be "where all your dreams come true" amidst a waving LAMDA flag and handfuls of glitter. I wish I had taken a picture. Instead, here is the tutors' view of our little mad mass of students. I'm hiding in the mid right somewhere. 

All of LAMDA's Actors and Stage Technicians

The one thing I must say about LAMDA is that I'm constantly giddy about the building in which I get to learn. It is strange to walk into "my" school and see a congratulatory sign with a photograph of Rory Kinnear holding his recent BAFTA award and then go down to my locker and pass the photo of him as a student playing Romeo in a LAMDA production. Even forgetting the impressive alumni photographs throughout the building, I love the building itself. It's a complete mish mash of various architecture. Each wing is from a different age, which will only gain contrast with the new West Wing going up next year. I'm sure most of the British students just think it's old and rickety, but I love it! We spent our very first day in a long Victorian rehearsal room which is covered in old prop shields and houses the Library and the Armoury. It is aptly nicknamed "Hogwarts." I've not been in there much since, but it is by far my favourite! 

Yes, I do go to Hogwarts

The first week was a lot of general information and orientation, but now we're well into the "hands-on" learning. In only our second sound class, I was happy to see boxes of cables awaiting us. I had been wondering if we would get to use equipment as early I had been given to believe. I'm happy to say that the majority of our learning is incredibly practical. This can also be very intimidating, but overall it is a lot of fun!

Sound Mixer 

Learning about sound isn't just knowing how to put a sound system together, it is knowing how to repair it. So, naturally we've been soldering our own cables together! Thankfully, "photo notes" are encouraged which helps me to remember what I just did, with the added bonus of being able to show off what I've learned!

Male XLR Cable

1/4" Jack (Headphone) This one is very tricky... 

Female XLR to 1/4" Jack adapter cable. I made this! 

The skills of a theatre technician are not only limited to technical implements. We've also spent time with the Wardrobe ladies, who have taught us the basics of stitching. My Mom, bless her, has tried to teach me many times over, but I could never be bothered to really pay attention. We'll be learning the sewing machines later on, but the hand stitches are very important for last minute amendments before a show, or more importantly, repairs DURING the show! I'm told we'll be making tool aprons for ourselves when we learn the sewing machines, so I'm really excited for that. My flat mate keeps telling me I should have a "Utility Belt" like Batman. Better than that, I'll be making my own!

I have been most excited about going to LAMDA's workshop, which is in a set of rail arches out by London Bridge. It is a bit of a trek from the school, but it is accurate to real theatre life. It is rare that a theatre will have its own workshop, so it'll be good to be accustomed to moving set from workshop to venue and back. Plus, it has a great view of The Shard! After one orientation class, we've already build a stage flat each! Ok, so it's a 1m x 1m piece of ply stuck to 5 pieces of wood, but it goes together in a very particular way and we had a lot of fun making it. Stage flats will soon become a staple in everything we build. I believe the next project will be painting these and possibly piecing them together to become something GREAT! 

LAMDA is definitely not your "average" school. At least not how a University would imagine it. The photo below shows the corridor outside of LAMDA's Linbury Studio. Normally, this space is filled with nice squishy chairs for the public to sit on while they wait for a performance. This is what it looks like on an average school day while the technicians are prepping for the next run of shows! 

Just a regular school corridor at LAMDA. 

In addition to our practical instruction, we've also been given assigned to go on some great outings. FIELD TRIP! This is in preparation for the inevitable research that we will be doing when we need to create sets and props for period plays. So far, we have been to The British Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum, and The Geffrye Museum. 

Gift shop of The British Museum

Getting into character at The Victoria & Albert Museum

My favourite outing thus far has to be the West End Walkabout. We spent an entire afternoon with the Head of Technical Training, who led us around the West End and told us all about the different theatre venues. This included any work he had done there and of course, which venues have LAMDA grads (actors or technicians) working right now. 

Student: "Are there any theatres without a LAMDA grad working?" 

Tutor: "No! Well, there might be.......No." 

LAMDA  SM1As and SM1Bs take over the West End

This wasn't a regular walking tour though; every 15 theatres or so, we'd be stopped and quizzed on what we had seen. This culminated in a final quizzing at the end of the afternoon where we recapped all 42 venues we'd been to and what is playing there. The problem with this is that my theatre wish list is even longer than it was before school began! Must save all my pennies... it's research, right? 

Pit Stop at The National Gallery with our Fearless Leader.
(He loves Tweeting about us. He's so proud!)