Lucy Kitcher Theatre

As volunteer Stage Manager for this production I have been involved in the tech & dress rehearsals, creating a prop setting list and developing my track for the show. I look forward to assisting ReBels at their Plymouth shows.

Working on this production has been a joy and a challenge. There are a multitude of props to source and make including a dead dog, wooden train set, cardboard planets and props to signify each different character that a multi-roling ensemble take on. The set is deceptively simple with two black flats and 10 small ottoman style boxes to hold props and create set locations- but each ensemble member takes on so many roles that their boxes need to be supplied with all their props and box-formations need to be carefully tracked.

A brilliant hands-on insight into the work of Stage Manager, Deputy Stage Manager and Head of Sound on Wise Children’s current production of “North by Northwest”

I travelled up to the great Hull Truck Theatre to shadow the stage management team during tech & previews. This was an amazing experience for me to see a professional theatre production in it’s last stages of pre-production. I was able to shadow the DSM calling the show, was present for directors working notes, shadowed the ASM’s backstage during the final dress rehearsal, and obtained templates of rehearsal paperwork I hadn’t seen before. I was welcomed in by everyone and had very highly recommend Hull Truck Theatre

I was able to shadow Stage Manager Tom Mclean-Smith in March 2025 while the Mary Poppins Tour was at Theatre Royal Plymouth. This large scale production is incredibly slick and has many moving parts. I was able to follow Tom as he went through his procedures for the show- checking the flies and automation were all secure and safe, putting props, set, cast and crew in the correct places for scenes. I also gained insight into the ‘theatre-magic’ behind moving set pieces that makes Mary Poppins so stunning to audiences.

This Tamaritans production required a lot of organisation on my part as I was filling in for an actor who needed to pull out of the production. With great help from my ASM I was able to put in place all prop setting and set dressing pre-show, in order to focus on my performance during the show.

I enrolled in this short course to further my knowledge of event management and to learn new skill and industry practises. I was able to build on my knowledge of the roles within theatre creative teams and follow a production from the early stages of planning, through budgeting, rehearsals, tech and performance.

Performed at Theatre Royal Plymouth’s Drum stage, this production was incredibly popular with audiences for it’s challenging story and innovative use of moving set pieces. The set choreography led to the creation of many locations within the play and the dynamic movements heightened the sense of urgency and claustrophobia for main character Rachel in her times of distress. Keeping track of the set direction was part of my role as on-stage manager and I worked to keep an upbeat atmosphere in rehearsals.

Part of my work within Filament was to learn to develop and deliver my own events, resulting in the production a family friendly lantern making workshop with nighttime ‘Light Stroll’. Taking a more active role in producing events allowed me to develop my skills in budgeting, marketing, research and development. I took a leading role in project managing the assistants’ team and created a spreadsheet to keep track of budget, task lists, equipment hire, event timetables and contacts. I carefully tracked spending on materials, accommodation, catering and travel to ensure no overspending, and negotiated the purchase orders and box office split with artists to maintain our income targets. I was able to build on my existing excellent administration and research skills, and apply my knowledge of working with databases and spreadsheets. The events were developed with Paignton specifically in mind- bringing new types of theatre to the community and providing a family friendly workshop where there is a lack of family activities.

The best past of all of this was getting stuck in with the kids making their lanterns and seeing how much families enjoyed spending time together having crafty-fun.

https://www.wide-open.uk/past-events/lantern-making-workshop

An audience-led, interactive theatre show exploring gambling, addition and risk – a selection on sealed envelopes guide the show, hidden among them one containing £1000 in prize money, and one that ends the show immediately. It was very exciting to hire Nathan to bring his show down to Paignton, a town that experiences similar levels of deprivation and gambling addiction as the places Nathan based his play on. The show is an interesting study on what constitutes addiction and how we can all gamble with risk in different ways. I was leading the get-in and get-out for the show, setting up lighting and sound rigs, setting the audience seating and arranging refreshments. We experimented with the best ways to use the multi-use arts space we had for audience seating and participation.

https://cptheatre.co.uk/whatson/When-the-Fun-Stops-Try-Again

As Event Assistant on ‘Echoes’ I was involved in the administration and planning aspect of the event and I greatly enjoyed working in this side of the business. ‘Echoes- Paignton in Motion’ was an outdoor mixed media event and saw the project from initial planning to performance. The project was a celebration of the historic Grade II* listed Paignton Picture House featuring work from local artists and archive film material, and used projection mapping and silent disco headsets to create an immersive and visually stunning experience. My role was heavily focused on the administration of the project- I monitored the group timeline spreadsheet and ensured all artists and partners kept to schedule, I researched archive film material and sourced the licensing, I negotiated with the silent disco headset company, and kept records of meeting minutes. In this role, I developed my skills in effective communication with a variety of organisations and individuals, and worked flexibly to adapt to their needs regarding access, research and safety regulations. The role also had a practical aspect- I worked inside the historic building to set it up for the event, installed an exhibition about the project, and managed the box office and ticketing for 900+ people. I learnt how to use ticketsource booking software to create and manage event bookings, using it to send out ticket holder reminders to ensure all participants were informed of event and accessibility information. I applied my creativity to designing a collection of interpretation boards for an exhibition about the event, Paignton Picture House and artist contributors. This job also helped widen my perspective and I found it particularly rewarding as it is focused on bringing arts to areas of deprivation and supporting those areas through culture. I was able to see in person the positive impact of having diverse cultural events in the local area. Being able to work on all stages of event planning and seeing it come together was both demanding and extremely satisfying.

Learned a variety of techniques, including carpentry, mold-making, and
using materials such as thermoplastics and polystyrene and developed
a deeper understanding of prop and set design.

Performed at Theatre Royal Plymouth’s Drum stage, this production was very popular with audiences and gained many excellent review, particularly for our incredible costume design by Pearl Potts. This was my first role with the Tamaritans and I focused mostly on prop making, set design and prop setting and resetting in the theatre. The props I made included clay pipes in the Elizabethan style, they needed to be durable as they were held by cast members while climbing across pieces of furniture. Although the long thin stem is a key part of the clay pipe, I decided to make the stem thicker as I moulded the clay around a chopstick to ensure they stem would not snap when handled. The Title Cards of Blackadder were replaced in this production with signs carried across stage, for this I studied the font used in the Blackadder TV series to recreate this style. The signs had a variety of phrases and asides written on them “Sometime Later”/”Hi Mum” , “1 Dunghill Mansions”/”I See Disaster Ahead” to move the show along and add character to the sign carrier.

A great introduction to the role of Stage Management and the practical work within the role – marking up rehearsal spaces, set plans, script annotation, prop making/sourcing, working with other departments on a production. This gave me a great insight into mix of organisational and practical work, and people skills which are my strengths.

I was part of taking a student show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019 as Stage Manager for the show “Takin’ It Easy 1916”. My role involved managing our get in/get out, the set up for each show and maintaining props and costumes throughout the run. I worked closely to support and manage my peers in the production and engaged with the audience and public when advertising the show on the Mile.