Month: May 2013

The Stage Manager

As stated in a previous post, a stage manager must be hard-working, dedicated and at the same time sympathetic and kind. Within this post I will discuss the way in which my role of stage manager adapted and grew during the process of this module.

 

Peter Maccoy states in Essentials of Stage Management that ‘A Group of people is like a living organism, adapting and evolving until it can function at its optimum potential’ (2004, p. 26). Maccoy goes on to explain that these groups of people undergo a series of phases before they reach this goal (2004, p. 27). These stages are split into four categories, forming, storming, norming and performing.

 

During the first session of the module, we decided the groups we would be in as theatre companies. Each individual was asked to describe their strengths and weaknesses within the theatre world in order to assign roles to each member of the company. When listening to others comments and sharing each others experiences, straight the way we could see ourselves forming into a theatre company. Some of us had previous experience at either work or other education before university in such things as business and marketing. This allowed members of the company to combine their knowledge from not only the university course but other skills learnt and utilise them within the theatre company. As I have had previous experience with Stage Management, I put myself forward to be the stage manager for our theatre company.

 

I knew from the very beginning that the role of stage manager would be a hard and challenging task, however with the experience I gained from other productions, I was confident that I could apply the relevant skills for the task. As Peter Maccoy goes on to state that a ‘stage manager must keep an open mind and should never try to take sides’ during the forming stage (2004, p. 27). By taking this quote and utilising it, I enabled myself to take each individuals personalities and roles within the company on board, using each of their skills to benefit the production as a whole.

 

As stated in the previous post, a stage manager must be prepared to empathise and encourage each member of the company. In particular, when decisions were made within the ‘forming’ stage, I tried to ensure that each voice was heard, giving individuals the time to express their views and making sure each view was recognised. If any problems occurred during these early stages of production, I made sure that these problems or questions were resolved before continuing with the development of the performance. An example of this would be when the company as a whole decided to use Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber as the starting point for our script writing. Some of the members of the company were concerned with the use of graphic sexual content within the story, worrying that something like this would deter our audiences from watching the show. By bringing this issue up in one of our early meetings, these concerns were quickly erased by the script writers explaining that the use of sexual content within our play would be minimal and tasteful. This allowed the company to come to an agreement upon the direction of the performance, whilst keeping each member of the company happy. This moment within the group may be categorised as Peter Maccoy’s ‘storming’ stage, whereby conflicts occur within the group and boundaries are pushed. The previous relationships that are created during the ‘forming’ stage may be broken down and challenged. This process occurs within theatre companies and disagreements are inevitable. It is therefore up to the stage manager to outline any issues that may arise and keep each member of the company in the loop of the progress of production.

 

During the ‘storming’ stage, Maccoy also expresses the importance of including the director and providing them with comfort. It may sometimes seem that the actors are ‘taking it out’ on the director because of their particular characters traits. It is at this point where the stage manager should be there to offer support to not only the director, but the actors who may be feeling neglected by the director. Within this particular theatre company, a rehearsal had ended and the director became upset. I spent a short time with her explaining that she was not to blame but that each actor was individually becoming stressed with the work-load. At this point I knew I should offer a shoulder to lean on as each member of the company began to give up hope on the production. After talking with the actors and director, I believe this moment of ‘storming’ made the company stronger as a whole, knowing that each individual could share their opinions and move forward in the right direction.

 

After this particular rehearsal, things seemed to progress rapidly, as Maccoy describes the ‘norming’ stage whereby all members of the company begin to look at the bigger picture (2004, p.29). As our rehearsals started to become more frequent, it was obvious that we needed a larger space to rehearse in. I made contact with Lincoln City Football Club, asking if they would donate one of their large function rooms for us to rehearse in. As they agreed it became apparent that each member of the company was willing to participate in helping move chairs, tables and bringing set to the room in order for us to rehearse. Over the three days we were granted this rehearsal space, each member of the company made full use of the time and space, ensuring that the donated space was not wasted. This conveyed to both myself and the supervisor at Lincoln City Football Club that Progeny Theatre Company were a team of young individuals, striving for the same goal and working together to reach it.

 

The final stage within a theatre company as Maccoy describes is ‘performing’. At this point the actors know their roles and lines, so ‘can begin to spark off one another’ (2004 p. 29). This point within the process occurs towards the end of the rehearsal process after the first couple of full runs of the performance. Members of the company can now look at the production as a whole and begin to develop their characters deeper. This also allows the director to begin to concentrate on the over all image of the piece, stating for instance how they would like their lighting and set to look. It is the responsibility of the stage manager to take this visions and create them within the theatre. As expected, some of the directors ‘dreams’ may not be able to come to reality however, the stage manager must attempt to create these ‘dreams’ as best they can. During this stage I scheduled a meeting with the director to discuss each scene and the images that emerged from them. I encouraged her to ‘dream big’ as I wanted her to express her passion towards each scene. In the case that something was not possible, at least I could ensure that the same amount of passion would be expressed by offering an alternative staging idea or lighting state.

 

By studying these four stages the reasoning behind them became clear to me, each individual has their own concepts and ideas about a production and the way it looks. It is therefore the stage managers responsibility to preconceive these stages and prepare a way in which they can ensure a successful transition from one to the next, resulting in the agreement and satisfaction of each member of the company. A stage manager should always remember that ‘A theatre company is a complex group, or series of groups, of individuals involved in a creative endeavour’ (2004, p. 30).

 

Word count: 1293

 

Alex Urbanczyk

 

Works Cited:

 

Maccoy, Peter. (2004). Essentials of Stage Management. London: A&C Black Publishers Limited.

Post-Show Evaluation

A Gothic Tale was a challenging performance to complete as it was very technically demanding. Our aim with this performance was to create a visual spectacle which captivated its audience using elaborate technical elements; however we were very cautious of not overwhelming the performance with tech. Technology should be used to enhance the performance rather than distract from the story itself.

I feel that we succeeded with this aim, as feedback for the show was extremely positive, one audience member even commenting on how our tech was comparable with that of professional productions. The get-in on performance day went very smoothly and, although it lasted longer than predicted, we had planned in advance for such an occurrence and were able to adapt our schedule respectively. The technical documentation produced also succeeded in assisting with the get-in process, ensuring that the company had enough time for a detailed cue-to-cue and a dress rehearsal. The set we constructed functioned very well, although an emergency trip to B&Q was required to buy more cord as bungee cord was not doing the job. However, because money had been left in the budget for such an emergency and enough technical staff were at the venue, this was not a problem.

We also managed to save time having already programmed a QLab file which operated both the lights and sound. This also meant that when one of the sound files became corrupted shortly before the show began, we were well organised and able to correct this problem quickly.

I believe I played a vital role in producing this performance and am happy with the way I organised and managed the production team. All technical elements of the production came together very well and I succeeded in ensuring that every part of the production (set, costume and props) came in either on or under budget and that all documentation, designs and construction was completed in plenty of time. My organisation of the team and production, along with the commitment of the production crew, meant that this tech-heavy show went ahead with few problems and was successful in creating a visually stimulating performance.

Kate Dawson

Word Count: 357

Conclusion.

This module has been, by far, the most difficult I have ever had to undertake in my three years of University. We kept with our original idea from the start and began to devise a script from scratch. Doing this left us behind compared to the other theatre company groups who bought the rights for a well known play. On reflection, I am glad we devised our own play despite the added stress we all succumb to. The final script the scriptwriters produced, I believe, was of a high standard and I am proud to be apart of the process.

The character I played was arduous to perform with believability, and from the feedback I received from my peers after the performance I believe I succeeded in performing my character to a satisfying standard. Learning to play the piano while performing blind was also problematic due to the fact that I have no prier experience playing the musical instrument. I was unable to learn an impressive tune to play in such a short space of time, but tried to perfect a simple melody I could play on stage that was enjoyable to listen to. If I had more time, I would of liked to of learnt a more intricate tune to play on the performance day.

Learning sound and light design was an interesting experience. Instead of listening to a piece of music and thinking “this sounds nice”, I had to listen and decide what fitted into the performance to enhance the stage image Stephanie Doe wanted to create. Our directed knew what she wanted when it came to music and it was my job to present her with samples of music that fitted with her vision. In some cases she knew exactly what song she wanted to be played, for example, she knew she wanted the song Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Emily Browning and it was my job to edit the song to fit into the performance. When I came to lighting design I had a lot more freedom into what the final product looked like and I was able to creatively experiment.

This module has taught me a lot when it comes to what a theatre company must do when it comes to the internal and external administrative outputs, and the different ways a theatre company can achieve this. This module may be one of the most difficult I have had to do, but also one of the most rewarding. As a theatre company we spent countless of hours rehearsing, and the same amount of hours on our documentation in order to create industry standard technical documents. I understand how marketing works and how a marketing team collates data, and how by using that data they create leaflets and advertisements that will appeal to a target audience. I understand lighting design more thoroughly, being Progeny Theatre’s lighting designer I understand how lights can create moods within the performance, and how they can be used to enhance a performance.

*Appendices Character Development Scenes

Ex-Wife Character Development Scene

‘Twinkle Twinkle’

Centre Stage is completely blank, no angels, no bed, piano (to the side but not in position and out of view).

Stage Blackout, 20 seconds of music playing before anything begins, sound escalating (Twinkle Twinkle Bioshock song) When the glitches in the music are heard this is when the strobe light should come on in sync with the music.

A Loud Scream from the EX WIFE in darkness

During the strobe light sequences we will see the EX WIFE being thrown into the Bloody Chamber with other bodies around her, all masked and in different positions. We will see the count throw her in, a brief glimpse of his silhouette also (as a recurring image).

There should be 5 sequences of strobe lighting and the actors positions should be as follows

Strobe 1: dead bodies in the chamber

Strobe 2: dead bodies in the chamber and the silhouette of the count

Strobe 3: Scream from the EX WIFE and the COUNT dragging her through the chamber

Strobe 4: EX WIFE alone with the bodies, beginning to mumble to herself, agitated, hands in head trying to avoid looking at the bodies surrounding her.

Strobe 5: EX WIFE laying Downstage Centre, eyes wide open staring into the audience.

The final strobe position leaves it ambiguous to the audience on whether she is alive or not, allowing suspense for her later return in SCENE 3

Housekeeper Character Development Scene

‘A Fairytale is Made’

Classic Fairytale opening music (see notes for track), is played throughout the theatre straight after the dark opening to create a stark contrast.

The HOUSEKEEPER enters in fine dress with nicely styled hair. This scene is meant to be seen as your classic fairytale setting, and the audience physically see the set being created and bought on just the way the HOUSEKEEPER wants it. In her eyes everything should be perfectly positioned.

The Angels come on first and we are not hiding the fact that we are using stage hands, as it adds to the liminal effect of two worlds and the physical creation that we have made.

‘We are not pretending that we are not pretending.’

The bed then follows.

Followed by fairy tale props e.g. hairbrushes, mirrors etc

Whilst this is happening the HOUSEKEEPER is acting as almost a conductor to the stage hands who are moving in sequence, almost mechanical. Reflective of your classic fairytale scenes such as Cinderella having her dress made by animals working in sync.

As we begin to see the set come together, the mood starts to change when the stage hands start bringing on dead plants, bramble, broken mirrors, wonky pictures, broken china … ruining the image of the fairy tale that the housekeeper has tried so hard to create.

The HOUSEKEEPER is frantically trying to fix everything and put things right – whilst this is happening the stage hands start to tear at her clothes and ruin her hair. We see from this how the HOUSEKEEPER came to be.

The scene will end at the end of the song with just the housekeeper DS Centre surrounded by a decayed and corrupted set.

Blackout – signalling the end of the fairy tale world.

Countess’s Character Development Scene

‘A Dream’

The COUNTESS at the end of Scene 3 is still in the woods heading back to the castle.

There will be a huge shift in action during this scene from a bleak setting to a dream sequence. This is signalled to the audience through the beginning of ‘Mr. Sandman’ playing, it will seem so out of place it is almost comical. This is reverting back to a glimpse of a fairy tale setting, where the trees/statues will come alive, moving together with a pleasant atmosphere.

Smiling and waving to the countess, handing her flowers etc as she walks through the forest. She then finds the COUNT who is also acting out of character and like the traditional prince charming. This is representative of the life she could have had.

As the COUNT and the COUNTESS are waltzing through the forest the music will suddenly start to change, the same song but incredibly slowed down to represent the corruption and unreliability of fairytales. Very carnival. .

The trees/Statues will start to close in on the COUNTESS as the COUNT disappears, circling and enclosing the COUNTESS symbolising her feeling of entrapment. This will escalate until the COUNTESS finds it unbearable and the trees and statues claim her – resulting in the countess herself becoming almost puppet like and a part of the forest, like the previous wife she has met.

Scene ends with the trees back in original SCENE 3 positions, THE EX-WIFE, SNOW CHILD and the COUNTESS are now all part of the forest covered in dead plants and disfigured imagery.

 

Count’s Character Development Scene

‘5 Stages of Grief’

Throughout all of this scene there is a voiceover from a ‘self-help: dealing with grief’ video. Building up through the 5 stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Leading to a resolution in the voiceover.

However, in contrast to this we will need 6 spotlights spread across the stage each representative of a stage of grief, when each stage is mentioned 5 lights will come up in sequence, housing one of the counts dead wives. Representing how the count has dealt with his own personal childhood traumas [SD1] .

Whilst the lights are coming up you will see the silhouette of the count slowly walking behind the bodies – to give the audience the feeling of his presence there.

In the end there should be a final resolving sentence in the speech and the final spotlight will come up on the count in the middle, surrounded by his 5 dead wives representing his five stages of grief. A Paradox is created between what we are hearing and what we are seeing.

The count is staring ahead blankly, almost on the verge of tears, to see a more emotional side of the count – contrasting with the character we are represented with in the play.

Voice over dialogue:

Thank you for choosing a practical guide to overcoming loss and bereavement.

Just take a few moments to breathe deeply and calmly. Feel yourself letting go and relaxing.

The bereavement experience includes the concept of grief, as pain and suffering must be experienced in order to heal and resolve the loss event.

Loss is an integral part of life. It is not something that happens to us as we live; rather, it is life itself. In our view any events that involve change is a loss that necessitates the process of grief and transition. A loss event requires that some part of the individual be left behind and grieve before the process of transition and rebuilding can occur.

-The first assessment starts with a request from the client seeking counselling services. A pre counselling intake form is used. An initial assessment in necessary to determine if the statement is within the normal grief experience or if there is a level of lethality to the suicidal ideation.

– Guilt is the other very strong emotion that the grieving feel. Some guilt will be justified or appropriate, for most of us will be aware of times when we hurt someone we loved and are aware that we can no longer repair or heal the hurt.

Denial of all feelings may lead to persistent depression.

-Trauma can also be experienced through violent acts such as murder, rape, war, hijackings, and varied forms of attack and destruction.

– Moreover, counsellors need to know when a client’s issues are beyond their professional scope and a referral is indicated. Despite disagreement in some areas there is general agreement that unresolved grief which becomes diagnosable as a syndrome or as a mental or physical disorder can have social, psychological, and medical implications for the larger society, and warrants intensive professional intervention.

– Eventually you will get to the point where you know deep down that you have to do something to regain a sense of control in your life. Regaining a sense of control will help your waves of grief lessen in intensity and frequency.

-The pain, experience, and resolution of grief takes place on two levels: within oneself and within one’s environment. It involves many changes and reflects many dimensions. The process of grieving is healthy and adaptive. It gives you the time and space to adjust to the many changes that result from the death of your loved one, both at a physical and emotional level. Even though you may never ‘get over’ the death of your loved one, it is possible to learn to live without them physically in your life and to find meaning again.

 

 

[SD1]Possible to get some audio on dealing with childhood trauma?

 

Piano Tuner Character Development Scene

“Bright Lights”

Stage is filled with bright almost blinding lights that slowly fade down, as this is happening the piano tuner is seated on a chair DS Centre staring straight ahead, we only see him for a passing second as the lights continue to fade into black and the audience are left in a complete stage blackout.

After a couple of seconds have past, there will be an exploration of the heightened senses The PIANO TUNER experiences in not being able to see.

Sound – Crashing Doors (i.e. the Bloody Chamber shutting), faint screams, stone being scraped across the floor. Moving on to more intricate sounds, the COUNTESS’s footsteps, a jangling of keys, breathing, dusting, branches breaking final sound of a body being dragged across the stage.

Touch – “May I see you?” is repeated symbolising the previous scene in which he touches the COUNTESS’s face. The sound of scratching linen, or any other fabric – to create the sense of material.

Smell – EX WIFE muttering … “smell of flesh.”

All of this is happening simultaneously in the dark to represent what the Piano Tuner experiences. Ends with the final sound of a body being dragged (probably the snow child) into the Bloody Chamber and the door shutting.

 

Snow Child Character Development Scene

‘Final Resting Place’

Sweet Dreams Music is playing. (Emily)

Single Spot Light Centre Stage.

Snow Child slowly walks into the spotlight, blood dripping down her legs and stares straight ahead at the audience, no movement just a blank, dead stare.

A faint light comes up on the Bloody Chamber Up Stage Centre. The Angel in front of the stairs arms come down (from previously being a statue in SCENE 3 and 7) slowly comes down from guarding the entrance to the Bloody Chamber, Angel moves to the side and stares at the SNOW CHILD.

The SNOW CHILD slowly turns around and begins walking towards the entrance. Spot Light fades out as her silhouette forms behind her as she ascends the stairs.

Material Angel lifts and she goes through. Material Angel comes back down and the stone Angel resumes its place back on the stairs, eyes covered in the ‘weeping angel’ position.

Song ends with the just the image of the Angel and the entrance to the Bloody Chamber, as if nothing has happened. Signalling the end of the SNOW CHILDS short life.

 

The Benefit of Rehearsal Notes.

Rehearsal Notes Reflection

The documentation and delivery of rehearsal notes is something that I really struggled with achieving the right balance between. On the one hand I did not want to overwhelm the actors with vigorous notes straight after an intense rehearsal however, I did feel this was necessary in order for the actors to go away and think about the notes I had provided.

The rehearsal process was long and I found it important to document the whole process from its initial conception to the final few days. It is interesting looking at my original posts (see character development workshop) to see what the actors and director were doing whilst waiting on the finalisation of the script. I thought it was important to keep momentum and to not simply wait for a script to be handed to us, as it is devised we needed to create back stories to the character which is why I produced the document with my initial ideas that the actor’s could then go away and develop, I even made sure to include questions they should be able to provide answers for in our next workshop. Those who embraced this task produced an excellent character profile that you can tell really helped them with their role in A Gothic Tale. (See blogs of particular characters)

Overall if I am honest I believe the rehearsal notes worked for some of the actors, and perhaps not others.  I initially started working one on one with a few characters on any particular scenes they were having trouble with, or struggling to find their characterisation in. This also happened on rehearsal days where perhaps not all actors had arrived or were absent, one example would be the monologues of the Ex Wife and the Countess, these were especially difficult to stage and required more time and dedication from the actors and director when taking these from page to stage. The Ex Wife’s monologue for example  required intense movement and planning that obviously with a completely new script, had no stage directions. I found that when working one on one with a character in a more calm environment the actor really found their characterisation and from then on performed wonderfully in every rehearsal with clear intention throughout, this in turn spurred other actors on to do just the same.

There were a few occasions where the rehearsal would be not be as productive and i had to decide quickly how to deal with this. I then decided to post rehearsal notes on the blog with out any editing to show the amount of times people came out of character, were on their phones or just generally talking off stage and disrupting the rehearsal process (*Appendices Rehearsal Notes 17/05/2013 Studio X).

Overall the notes I have taken were for both actors and the tech team, they were a time saving technique in those rehearsals where we had run out of time and the efficiency of the tech and set design team especially was noticed when they would come to the next days rehearsal with answers to any questions I had asked. They are also there as a reminder to actors to look back over when they are feeling confused or have any questions when I am not available to answer straight away.

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