Royal Court - Birdland. Week 5 & 6 - Day 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. Tech Week!

This week is the start of Tech week back at the Royal Court. Once I arrived at the Stage Management Office I was given a small list of things for me to do at points throughout the day, as well as helping S. Tryfan and G. Sharman down in the theatre. This included:

- Buy more nectarines.
- Print 8 targets on calligraphy paper - buy from Cowling & Wilcox (Oxford Circus Station).
- Speak to L. Walshaw about costume for suitcase.
- Buy 2 more magnifying glasses and cover all with protective paper.
- Print Ian's masks off of Word.
- Chase lampshade and smoothie cups. To be delivered at Stage Door.
- Varnish Lamp Base down in Sub- Stage.
- Look for Dad chair
- Contact theatre's for 3 x cloche lids and one silver tray.
- Buy 10 bags of pinball sweets for Paul and Nicola scene. 

Throughout the day I was also called down to the theatre to assist in the Tech. This included running errands for the whole of the production team, and stepping in for some of the cast members onstage when they were not available to focus the lighting for particular scenes. 

Tuesday 1st April was spent doing the same jobs. I was also asked by S. Tryfan to sort out all of the petty cash figures and receipts so that we had an understanding of how much money we had spent so far on props, and how much we had left. I couldn't receive more petty cash unless the previous weeks totals had been added up, and the receipts returned. 

I then went to a Nisbets store in Shaftesbury Avenue to collect a cloche lid that I had come across in my research. When I returned back to the office, I started to ring Furniture Charity Shops, Theatre's and Retirement Homes in the hopes of finding a 'Dad' chair for one of the scenes in the play. 

Wednesday 2nd April was the day of the dress rehearsal. The cast had already performed earlier in the day for the Tech rehearsal, so my main responsibility for the rest of the day was to assist G. Sharman in clearing and washing all props so that they were ready to be used again in the dress rehearsal at 19:30pm. I was dismissed from the theatre at 19:00pm, as the Front of House had given clearance to open the House and I had completed all of my jobs. 

Thursday 3rd April - Tuesday 8th April consisted of the same routine up until 19:00pm. If I wasn't needed down in the theatre, I would spend my time up in the Stage Management Office going through the lists that G. Sharman had left me with. During this week I returned props that we had borrowed back to the theatre's we had borrowed from. One of the lists G. Sharman left me with required me to:

- Wash up the dishes that are in the Prep Kitchen and return in a box to Sub-Stage.
- Hot glue the watering can flower (outer two rings only)
- Buy more dark corn syrup.
- Make up a couple of masks.
- Order x 4 rolls of orange barrier tape and pink shopping bags.
-Get credit card from Finance and complete necessary paperwork for purchases.
- Keep a note of totals spent and send to G. Sharman and S. Tryfan. 

Wednesday 9th April was Press Night, and was officially my last day as a Stage Management Intern at the Royal Court. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 3 (Day 5) - Week 4.

This week I was called in on Saturday from 10:00-14:00pm for rehearsals. Myself, S. Tryfan and G. Sharman reconciled and came up with a list of things to do and props to buy for the next commencing week:

Items to be returned:

- Orange Tree Theatre lamp to be returned when the show one arrives. 

- Roller skates to be returned to Royal Court.

- Roller skates to be returned to J. Arden at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

- Take office chairs back to Central and Hampstead Theatre when production chairs arrive.

Items to buy:

- Towels and face cloths.

- Baby oil bottles that we can fill with black oil. Clear bottles.

- Pocket ash tray.

- Food colouring. Blue or black. Has to be drinkable.

- Crushed ice.

- Small jar of decaffe instant coffee.

- OHP plastic sheets for CCTV images. (Ryman's)

- Coloured sweets (Shepherds Bush Market) Tilly's sherbet fruits? Jelly beans? Peardrops?

- More filters/ herbal tobacco/ rizzler papers/ lighters.

- Pair of scissors.

- Lampshade. 80s style. Floral pattern.

- Tressle table with wood top and metal legs.

- Bottle of Macallan.

- Verve Cliquot labels.

- Strawberry bubblegum. 

I was then asked by G. Sharman to source some cloche lids. I called the Almeida Theatre, NYT and ETT. I was given £50 in petty cash to go towards the rental deposit to borrow a cloche lid from ETT. 

The next commencing week (24-28th March) was spent sourcing and buying things from the lists above. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 3 - Days 3 & 4.

Today I got to sit in on rehearsals at the beginning of the day during A. Scott and D. Cerqueira's line run. I receieved an email from I. Andlaw (DSM) the previous evening with the rehearsal notes, particularly for Stage Management. We were asked to source children's bubbles for one of the actress's to use, and were asked if there was any possibility if the colour of the bubbles could be turned black to match the design elements of the show. 

From sitting in on rehearsals, it was A. Scott's request if we could find a step ladder to place upstage of the bus shelter to make it easier and quicker for the actors to climb. It was then announced that the bus shelter would have easily accessible parts for the actors to use to climb when it transfers back to the Royal Court Theatre during Tech week. 

The next day (Thursday 20th March) I attended the production meeting at 09.30am, which meant that I was called for 09:00 to set up for rehearsals that were to begin at 10. The main things that came out of the production meeting were:

- To sort out Mr Scott's costume fitting with H. Waddington and L. Walshaw.
- To look for a gun that's whacky, fun and colourful. (Plastic)
- Intercome speakers.
- To see whether the theatre's flight cases could be used as the wheely tables.
- To find 2 more iPhones. They don't necessarily need to work.
- To source/buy fruit loops and coloured sweets.
- To buy bubblegum or gob-stoppers for Nicola scene.

After the production meeting, I set out to source and buy some Fruit Loop cereal for Mr. Scott and Ms. Kettle which was to be bought back to the rehearsal room immediately as they had not practiced the scene with food before. Once I arrived, I assisted S. Tryfan and G. Sharman in setting up the props table at the back of the rehearsal room.

                                  

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 3 - Day 1 & 2.

Today I went to WAC Arts for 9.30am to set up for rehearsals. Afterwards, myself, S. Hopkins and G. Sharman returned to the Royal Court to prepare for my tutor's visit and a props meeting. We all reconciled with one another and made a list of the props we had been asked to source for that week. Some were those that we hadn't already sourced from the previous week:

- Cardboard fast food containers
- Coloured cereal.
- Tesco/Asda vouchers.
- Drinkable black liquid.
- Skinning up kit - tobacco. 
- Wicker Basket to collect from Central.
-Brightly coloured suitcase for Jenny.
- Books (Props store)
- Toiletries (Props Store)
- Laptops (Props Store)
- Hello Kitty back-pack for Nicola.
- Goldfish bowl/ magnifying glass.
- Cans of soup.
- Album Frames.
- Balloons.
- Large roll of paper for human target.
- 2 x large blue slush puppies.
- Water pistol that can fire gunk.
- 4 x paper masks of A. Scott's face.
- Glitter glue pen.
- Buy more caps for cap gun.
- Black blood bags.
- Show snow.
- 4 iPhones.
- Hotel room service trays. Plates + bowls. 
- Bigger or smaller 16oz brandy glass.
- Confetti - rip up bits of paper to take to rehearsal rooms.
- List of props we have so far to show to Ian.
- Table/ Trolley.

After preparing this, I then made a further list of the items that we could go out and buy. The rest of the day was spent sourcing these items from stores around London. At the end of the day, myself and G. Sharman were introduced to S. Tryfan who was going to replace S. Hopkins as Stage Manager for the rest of the show's duration. 

Tuesday 18th March was spent doing the same jobs.  

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 2 - Day 4 & 5.

Today's task was to carry on searching for the props that I was given in my list from the previous day. Additionally, I was asked to look for intercom speakers for one of the scenes in the play. I created a Microsoft Word Document of the speakers that I had found in my searches. 

The following companies were those that I had made a list of and contacted in the hopes of finding plastic brandy glasses.

- PoshPlastics

- Alliance Online

- Plastico

- Party Plastics

- The Alternative Glass Company

I had no luck with any of these companies. As a result, I broadened my search to catering companies throughout London which included:

- Smiths Catering London
- Penni Black Catering Services
- Cooks and Partners Ltd
- The London Catering Company

After speaking with the Assistant Director, it was bought to our attention that the roller skates that we need to buy for one of the actress's have to be indoor skates. This is due to the raised and slippery floor in the set. As the skates had to be bought ASAP, my main job that day was to contact the companies I had found and ask if they sold softer wheels and/or if the skates they sell have replaceable wheels. 

On Day 5 (Friday 14th March), I came in to rehearsals for 14:11pm. The day consisted of me completing the tasks from the previous day which included ringing skating and catering companies.

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 2 - Day 3.

Today I was sent straight out of rehearsals to go and buy some protective pads for one of the actress's who is required to roller skate in one of her scenes. I went to Lillywhites in Regent Street, London.

When I returned back to WAC Arts, I was given another list of props to source after G. Sharman's meeting with the set and costume designers. 

- Rollerblades. (Quad Skates) Stick to colour scheme of the costumes.
- Plastic brandy glasses. (I contacted the English National Opera and GET Melamine)
- Herbal smoking kit. Honeyrose. Herbal cigarettes. 
- Tesco/Asda vouchers for peaches.
- Drinkable black liquid.
- To print photos onto acetate paper.
- To fill blood bags with black ink that can explode. Ink must be washable. 
- Pipet to be used as the pen in Louis scene. 
- Contact plastic companies. 
- Find CCTV images of couples in hotels. From a height. In a hotel, lobby, room, corridor. 
- Foam ball to replace peaches at the beginning of the play. 

I created a Microsoft Word Document for all of the props that I had found in my internet searching that day. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 2 - Day 2.

Today I was in charge of setting up the rehearsal room before the cast, the director and the assistant director arrived. This included preparing a basic lay out of tea/coffee/water and snacks. This was a job that I was asked to be responsible for for the rest of the rehearsal process. 

Once the rehearsals had begun, myself, S. Hopkins and G. Sharman stepped outside and collaborated on the props that we were going to be looking for that day. I was given my own list of things to find, which included:

- 2 x polycarbonate brandy glasses (1 small & 1 big)
- to carry on looking for companies that sold swivel chair bases with brakes for the shell chairs that the production team had ordered. 
- range of iPhones for Louie scene.
- Joke ink pen.
- to buy some peaches for the opening scene.

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 2 - Day 1. WAC Arts, Belsize Park.

Today I got to WAC Arts for 9am so that myself and the rest of the Stage Management team could unpack the flight cases from Friday evening. 

When everything was unpacked, I sat in on rehearsals. Afterwards, myself G. Sharman and S. Hopkins went to Hampstead Theatre to collect 3 office style chairs that S. Hopkins had arranged to pick up. We now had the correct amount of rehearsal chairs. 

After rehearsals finished, the Stage Management team stayed on to mark up the rehearsal room with the measurements of the Royal Court Theatre in order for the cast and director to get an idea of how much space they have when its transferred back during Tech week. The following images were photos that I took throughout the mark up.

   

On Tuesday I reconciled with S. Hopkins and G. Sharman for a props meeting. The rest of the week consisted of us sourcing the props that we hadn't already found, so that we had something to present to the director and set designer at the end of the week. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 1 - Day 5.

After my university lecture I met the ASM at Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage at around 3pm to pick up two office style chairs that he had previously arranged for us to borrow as rehearsal props. We took these, as well as one other chair that we had found at the Royal Court into the rehearsal room for the cast to start practising with. We required 3 more chairs so that each cast member had their own chair to use.  

Upon our arrival back at the Royal Court, we continued to look for cereals. We progressively started to pack up what we needed to take with us to WAC Arts from the office. Rehearsals finished at 6pm; S. Hopkins, G. Sharman, and myself went to the rehearsal room to begin packing up.

We stripped the rehearsal room and packed the flight cases up with:
 -  2 x bags of costume
 -  costume rails
 -  props (standard lamp, mirror, cereals)
 -  tea/coffee/biscuits/kettle/plastic cups/mugs
 -  design print outs
 -  timeline of the show
 -  printer

The chairs were kept separate. I labelled them with numbers and the name of the theatre or drama school we borrowed them from to avoid confusion when we have to return them. It took us just over an hour to pack everything up. Everything was to stay in the rehearsal room over the weekend. It was then going to be loaded into a van and transferred to Belsize Park first thing Monday morning for myself, G. Sharman, and S. Hopkins to unload and unpack into our new rehearsal room. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 1 - Day 3/4.

Week 1. Day 3/4. 

Today I was called in for 9.15am to set up for the Production Meeting that was scheduled to start at 9.30am. Staff from Stage Management, Lighting, Sound, and Production attended as well as the Director, and the General Manager. 

Myself, G. Sharman and S. Hopkins raised the questions that we had gathered together from our discussions in the office. As of next week, the rehearsals will be based at WAC Arts in Belsize Park. Therefore, the main priority for us by the end of the week was to make sure that everything required for rehearsals was to be packed up into the flight cases provided, ready to be moved to Belsize Park the following Monday.

At around 10am, myself and G. Sharman left the theatre to go and pick up the standard lamp from the Orange Tree in Richmond. 

When I returned back to the office, I started researching for Russian supermarket brands/ cereals. I. MacNeil, the set designer, showed us a box of Trix cereal that he had collected from the USA which we were to use as our guide. We were looking for branding that was eccentric and colourful.

I made a list of Russian supermarkets in Central London and went to visit them during the day. These included shops in Baywswater, South Ealing, Brick Lane, and East Finchley. I was out researching for the majority of the day. Unfortunately, I had no luck in finding any cereal matching the brief I was given. For rehearsal use, I went to Partidges in Sloane Square and bought a box of Fruit Loop Cereal as it was the closest thing I could find that could be used as a rehearsal prop for the time being. It prices at £6.99 a box, so I am going to have to find a cheaper alternative for the rest of the rehearsal period.

Day 4 (Thursday 6th March) consisted of me sourcing the same props. 

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 1 - Day 2.

Today I was called to the theatre again for 9am. I reconciled with the ASM and we went over the props list that we had both gathered from the read through and speaking to the Director and Set Designer. The following is a copy up of the props I noted down with the ASM for that week:

- 6 x shell chairs with swivel bases.
- Russian food packaging - cereal packets. Froot Loops? Partridges £7.99?
- Practical black firing gun.
- Brandy Glasses (Plastic) One small, one big. 
- Champagne Flutes - plain glass.
- Black shots of sambuca.
- Buzzer for hotel scene. Panic button type for the journalist scene.
- Standard 80s style lamp. (Patterned)
- Watering can. Same style as the one in the office.

Director's Wishlist

- Keyboard. Small. In rehearsal room by the end of this week. 
- Skinning up kit. Roll up cigarettes.
- Photo shoot umbrella.
- Professional camera with flash.

- Crockery/ Cutlery.
- Fountain Pen.

From this list I began to contact theatres and drama schools in London to see if any had the props we required. We asked to borrow them for a couple of weeks for rehearsal use. The following theatres were the ones that I contacted throughout the day:

- The Young Vic.
- Hampstead Theatre.
- The Almeida Theatre.
- The Tricycle Theatre.
- Central.
- The Bush Theatre.
- Regents Open Air Theatre.
- ETT.
- RADA.
- LAMDA.
- Guildhall.
- The Donmar Warehouse.

The following image is a picture of the type of chair that we were looking through in our search:

I received emails from those that I had contacted regarding borrowing props, however, no one had what we needed. Fortunately, the ASM managed to find a standard lamp at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. We both arranged to go and pick this up the following day

Royal Court - Birdland. Week 1 - Day 1.

This week I started at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, as a Stage Management Intern working on the upcoming show, Birdland. 

I was asked to get to the theatre for 9am so that I could meet S. Hopkins, who is going to be my placement mentor for the first two weeks of the rehearsal period and who is also the Stage Manager of the show for the first two weeks. I also got to meet G. Sharman, (ASM), and I. Andlaw, (DSM) who I will be working closely with for the duration of the rehearsals. 

The full cast were called for 10am to 'The Site' (the rehearsal room) for the read through. Myself and the rest of the Stage Management team attended alongside C. Cracknell (director), S. Stephens (writer), V. Featherstone (artistic director), D.Hannan (Assistant Director) and I. MacNeil (Set Designer). 

After the read through we all attended the design meeting to discuss the set and the costume with the designers which proved to be very exciting for me as a student trying to understand the different areas to the business. 

After the design meeting myself, the ASM, and the SM went to the Stage Management office to start trying to source turquoise swivel base chairs, as proposed by the set and production designer. I was told that the budget for props is to be roughly £1000. 

The rest of the day consisted of me doing little jobs for S. Hopkins around the office. This included creating cast head shots on Microsoft Word for the Stage Management team; I also photocopied the costume designs and inspirations from the designers portfolio that were to be stuck up in the rehearsal room:

SMOG - February 24th, 25th, 26th 2014

                       

I was appointed the role of ASM 3 days before the first performance on Monday 24th February as it became clear that the cast needed extra help backstage. I attended the rehearsal on Friday 21st February where a total of three runs were performed for mostly my benefit as I had never seen the show before. It not only helped me gain an understanding of the show from a backstage perspective, but it also helped me realise where abouts I was needed during the show. 

My que sheet was always being added to and edited. Here is a final copy of my que sheet which was used throughout all four performances: 

Here are some images of the jobs I was in charge of as ASM backstage: 

This is a picture of the escalator that I had to push on and offstage after the station scene, SL. 

This is a picture of the mat that I regularly had to help the cast move on and off stage. The size of the wings made it extremely hard for the cast to manoeuvre the mat as it regularly risked the props table and some of the cast members being exposed as the SL curtain would get in the way. Therefore, I made sure that I was always around in the SL corner so that we could prevent this from happening. This wasn't so much of an issue at Jackson's Lane Theatre as there was a lot more space backstage. It made  the scene change a lot quicker and cleaner. 

This is a picture of the trapeze rope, SL, that I had to pull onto the hook screwed into the wall after Miss Fay and Mr Harper's trapeze routines. 

Jackson's Lane Theatre, Highgate.

On Wednesday 26th February, SMOG moved to Jackson's Lane Theatre. I arrived at 11am to start the Get In. 

The director, Mitch Mitchelson, and the cast members were adamant that they wanted to get another run in as they wanted to get used to performing in a new space. Therefore, I was needed backstage during the scenes that needed attention before the evening show. 

I also assisted the Get Out which consisted of packing up the van with the sound and lighting equipment, props, rope, the trapeze and all of the costumes. We had to make sure that all of the dressing rooms had been emptied out, and that the theatre was in the same condition as it was before the Get In that morning. 

Finborough Theatre, Earl's Court. (27th January- 22nd February) - Box Office.

My main job throughout my internship at the Finborough was to run Box Office for either the matinee or evening show alongside the General Manager, and 2 other interns. 

Around an hour and a half before the Box Office opened the General Manager would print off the tickets sheet from online and I would have to use this to fill in the returns sheet. 

This is an example of what the ticket sheet looked like once printed out: 

1.

A similar sheet is printed out in the same format for comps, press and ticket buyers that haven't already paid for their ticket: 

2.

The ticket sheet states the surname and forename of the audience member, how many tickets they have purchased and the price of the ticket. Ticket prices range from around £10-18. Standard tickets are £18 and concession tickets (students and pensioners) are less. 

This is an example of what the returns sheet looked like once I had finished filling it in: 

3.

At the top of the sheet, I would have to write the name of the production e.g 'Carthage', the day, the date and what type of show it is e.g matinee or evening. I would then fill out the sheet with the surnames of the audience members who had confirmed that they were still attending the performance.

The surname of the ticket buyer is written on the spaces provided. The ticket price is written next to it. For example, 'Laser' purchased 2 tickets; one ticket was £16 and the other was £10. The line underneath is marked with a '-"-' to represent the second ticket. (See above photo) 

I would fill the comp, press and 'to pay' tickets in afterwards. A similar process would happen - the surname of the ticket holder would be written in the space provided, followed by a small C in the corner (comp), a small P (press) and '16' (to pay £16 at box office). 

I would then have to transfer this information onto the actual tickets themselves. Here is an example: 

4.

On the back of the tickets I would write the surname of the ticket buyer and how many tickets they have. For example, 'Adams x 1' (see photo no.4). As you can see from the picture above, all of the tickets are numbered. This number has to match the number next to the surname on the returns sheet. Comp and Press tickets are displayed at the front of the box. 

Myself and another intern would then have to set up Box Office for an hour before the show is scheduled to start. 'Person number 1' deals and speaks with the customers and 'person number 2' gives out tickets and handles the money if ticket buyers purchase programmes. We would have the completed returns sheet, the original ticket sheet, the Box Office float and programmes on display. If someone came to collect their ticket(s) I would circle over the number(s) next to their surname on the returns sheet to show that their ticket(s) had been collected. I would carry on doing this until all ticket numbers were coloured in (see photo no. 3). Every programme that was purched would also have to be coloured in at the bottom of the sheet (see bottom of photo no.3) To show that Comp, Press and To Pay tickets had been collected, I would also have to write a 'C' , 'P' , and 'the amount paid' e.g 16 in the section next to the surname in pen (see photo no. 3) 

Finally, at the end of the show, I would have to calculate the total earnings made that afternoon or evening. 

Finborough Theatre, Earl's Court (27th January-22nd February) - Get In and Get Out of Carthage and Domino Heart.

I was selected alongside several others to become a Production intern at the Finborough Theatre in Earl's Court from the end of January to the end of February. Because there were several interns that were hired at the same time, the days that I was called into placement were categorised into 'shifts' which were 12-5 or 5-finish. If I worked during the 12-5 shift, I would be apart of the box office team for the matinee performance. If I worked during the 5-finish shift, I would work on the evening performance.

I had attended days at the theatre before my shifts had even started to help with the refurbishment of the theatre, which mainly included clearing out the paint cupboard and re painting the inside of it, and helping with the clear out of old props and set from previous shows. I was also present for the Get In and Get Out of the show Carthage which started on the weekend of Saturday 25th January. I was an intern at the Finborough throughout the run of Carthage which ended on Saturday 22nd February.

The following pictures were taken on the day of the Get In for Carthage and Domino Heart as they shared the same set:

 

                                                                                
                                                                                     

My main job was to paint the floor and the side boards yellow which was soon to be part of the set for Carthage and Domino Heart (2nd-18th February) as both shows ran at the same time. Other minor jobs included ensuring the theatre was cleared before and after the Get In. 

On February 22nd 2014 I was present for the Get Out of Carthage. It started at 9.30pm and went on to past midnight. I assisted the lighting team by helping them load the lights and the cables into separate boxes, alongside clearing out the dressing room after the performance. I also helped move and load the set from the theatre, which included tables, bars, lights and chairs down to the vans provided by the director. 

About Me.

I am currently in my third and final year studying Drama and Theatre Arts at St Mary's University, Twickenham. 

This blog will mainly be used as a Technical Portfolio showing a day-to-day update on my experiences in theatre production over the past three years at university, and at off-site technical placements in London Theatre's doing Stage Management. 

I will be posting pictures and videos of all the work I have done over the last year and over the next couple of months. 

Keep track!