Unit 6

Unit 6 - Performance Skills & Context

Context

For our Unit 6 each of us had the job of Technical Director for either Dance/Musical Theatre or Acting. Although one of us had the most control, we were allowed to help each other and certainly did so. We had the choice of either being TD for two performances of Little Shop of Horrors, performed by the first years of the Dance/Musical Theatre course or three performances of Macbeth, performed by the first years of the Level 3 Acting course. From the start on we knew that the Acting course would need our help more as their teacher had been replaced due to personal reasons.
Originally I decided to be the TD for the Acting class but realized quite early on in the process that I would not be able to do it all on my own because of the amount of work that needed to be done within the timeframe. Luckily my classmate stepped up to the plate and helped me out where I needed it. We also needed to show what we had learned during our Unit 5 and apply this through the process of creating a show.

Another aspect that was part of our Unit 6 was to take control of either lighting, sound or stage management for one show. My general interest still lies within stage management, which made me go for that area during one of the pieces. Although I did stage management for my own piece, I decided that it would be interesting and useful for me to do sound as well, as I had not done this on a bigger scale before. Therefor I did sound for the Dance/Musical Theatre piece.
As well as doing sound, I wanted to do backstage support as well to see a different side of backstage work other than the technical part. This also gave other people the opportunity to do stage management as I had done it on all previous shows. This is not because I claimed the stage manager's position but because no one else had wanted to do it besides myself.

Research

The research period for these pieces were limited due to time constrictions. I managed to get a script and character list for Macbeth fairly early in the process so I would be able to read along during rehearsals and take notes. Because the group was divided into three smaller groups; blue, black and pink, we needed to have three different production meetings to discuss the views of each group. Each of them had fairly different ideas which made our research process difficult but quite interesting as well. The blue group wanted a modern setting, the black group wanted to keep it like the original play and the setting of the pink group was dystopian. The best way to research all these different ideas was to tackle them one by one. This is the same approach that I used during my research for Unit 5. This worked very well for me during that research process, so I figured that it would work again for this one. As we did in Unit 5, we received a directors vision and based our ideas off of that. By having a directors vision we know which direction we need to go in in terms of costumes, props, lighting and sound.

The Blue Group - Modern

As I have stated before, the blue group wanted their interpretation of Macbeth to be set in modern times. During production meetings they had talked about wearing mostly suits and body con dresses apposed from the capes and dresses from the 11th century. They even suggested to put the play into an office setting with harsh LEDs for lighting. As production arts students we told them that this would be possible but it wouldn't look the best. We really wanted to work with them to make their play look as good as possible which includes being honest about ideas, and sometimes saying no to them. We decided to keep the lighting fairly simple with some splashes of colour here and there to bring some more life into the play. The group also was vey particular about the music that they wanted to use. All of these songs would classify as modern songs as they were created within the last ten years. 

The Black Group - Classic

The black group decided that they wanted to stay as true to the original piece as possible and keep it classic. During the production meetings they had talked about getting costumes that felt true to the time but unfortunately we didn't have the budget for that. Another thing that they had mentioned was the idea of getting real swords for the fight scenes but due to health and safety regulations as well as the budget, we weren't able to execute that either. Their lighting plan was similar to the pink group as the black group didn't have any specific ideas for lighting. For sound and sound effects they wanted it to have a major resemblance to what people would have used during the 11th century. 

The Pink Group - Dystopian

Although it started as a silly suggestion, the pink group decided to with a dystopian setting to differentiate itself from the other two groups. This was the most interesting concept for me as there are a lot of different ways that you could go with this. Because no one really knows what a dystopian future looks like, a lot of things are possible especially for the props and costumes. During the production meetings the group had talked about the characters wearing camouflage when they were in the battlefield instead of classic armor. They also suggested the use of guns instead of swords but due to the fact that we don't have those available in our prop department and with a lack of time to make them, we had to scrap the idea. The lighting plan for this group was the same as for the black group. The pink group made it very clear that they wanted red in certain scenes to show the transitions of the characters during the story as well as to bring more drama during the fight scenes and monologues. As for sound they wanted a mixture of classic sounds, like trumpets for when the king enters, and more modern ones like an air siren instead of a classic alarm bell. 

Little Shop of Horrors

Our main research for Little Shop of Horror was done during our lessons with the Dance/Musical Theatre teacher. Together with her we looked at the lighting plans that the Dance/Musical Theatre students had created and how we would be able to make this happen. We also looked at bits and pieces of the original film and the best way to translate the scenes in film to something that would look presentable on a stage. After discussing that we went on to watch some clips from the musical adaptation of the film. We talked about how the set and props looked and how we would recreate that if we had the possibility. It made us aware of how much time and effort would go into making a full functioning plant and that we would not be able to do this on our own. Luckily we didn't have to as the scenes that the class were going to perform only included the smaller version of the plant. One of the students had already made this and took photos of the process so we could see how she did it. We compared her version to the one that they had in the official musical. Both of them were some form of glove that you could put in and make the plant move by using your fingers to open and close the 'flytrap' plant. It was very interesting to see how they approached the research and creating of this prop as we had done this before in preparation for our Unit 5. 

Planning

Macbeth

The stage and prop table

The one thing that I always begin with is having a production meeting with the director. We managed to do this quite early on in the process. We sat down with each individual group to discuss their ideas (as explained previously) and inform them about the limitations of our theatre. During these discussions I managed to get a script so I could start marking where in the play the sound ques were and where they needed props.
After these production meetings we planned for us to be at some of the rehearsals so we could see how the groups interpreted the script. Another reason why attending the rehearsals was helpful was because the actors and director could tell us their visions for each individual scene as they were rehearsing it. This was especially helpful during the rehearsals of the fight scenes as the fight director had some ideas how to light the scenes that he had choreographed as well. We also thought about using fake blood capsules for the death scenes but eventually decided to cut this after taking a closer look at the fighting scenes. We realized that the capsules wouldn't add anything because the effect is quite small. Another factor that came to our consideration is that the actors would have to do the entire fight scene with the capsules in their mouth, this could make the capsules burst too early an ruin the effect as well as the risk of having a chocking hazard.
As the actual performance came nearer, we planned a tech day. During this day we were supposed to do the lighting and sound for all three groups. We had made a time table so it would be clear when which group would have their tech time. During this tech time I mark up the script(s) so I know exactly where which que goes. The markings that I have made previously help with clarifying where most of the sound ques need to go as this isn't always explained as much as the lighting. As I write down the ques I work together with the lighting and sound technicians to make sure they have the ques in the right order as well.

A flip through of my script:

Performance of the Pink Group:

Little Shop of Horrors

On the day of the show we had time to meet with the Dance/Musical Theatre students to discuss their lighting plans for each scene. We sat down with them so they could explain their vision as well as tell us where in the script they wanted to light/sound to change. During this I managed to get a script so I could mark the cues. Because the teacher had already prepared all the props and the costumes we didn't need to plan time for this anymore. The only thing that needed to be done in terms of staging was putting together the cue built. This only took us about 20 minutes. During this time the actors were preparing themselves for the tech run-through that was the next thing on our planning. We went through the entire performance and recorded all the cues as well as downloading the songs that they needed.

This was fairly easy as we had already discussed the lighting plans that the students designed. We only needed to add a simple spot for their individual singing pieces that came before and after their Little Shop of Horrors piece. Following the technical rehearsal we did a dress rehearsal which went smoothly. The actors were very professional and willing to work with us on the technical aspects of their show.
Later in the afternoon we ran the matinee show. We decided that I would do the sound and my other classmate would do the lighting. The show went well as all the cues were started on time and the actors were really on their game.
We did another show in the evening for the parents and friends to watch. Due to an appointment I missed the beginners call but I made it back in time to resume my role as sound technician. This show went even better as the actors were less nervous and they had a possibility to talk to us before the show started about things that they wanted to be tweaked. These were minor things that were easily changed but made the actors feel more confident.

The dress rehearsal:

The matinee show:

Problem solving

During the period that we were working on these productions, I ran into a few issues. The first problem that occurred was that the Acting teacher had to leave due to personal reasons. This made the students fall behind on schedule which created problems later on in the process. It was arranged for them to get a new teacher but this took a while. The next problem that we ran into was the fact that the original teacher wanted to do the play in the round, as the technical crew we knew that this would not be possible due to how the theatre is build and how the lights are rigged. It would be a big task to re-rig all the light just for a few shows and then having to put them back to their original state. We explained this to our teacher, the new acting teacher and the students so they could focus on re-blocking the play as they had started blocking with the idea of doing it in a round in mind. Another thing that we experienced was a lack of budget for the amount of ideas that the students had. Some ideas involved getting smoke machines and other expensive props and/or costumes. As TD I had to tell the groups that this unfortunately wasn't possible because it was a smaller show.
Something else that I struggled with personally, was the fact that most of the students had a lack of theatre etiquette. When I step into a theatre space I expect for people to have mutual respect for each other. I struggled with the fact that students that were not supposed to be in at that time showed up and slowed the process of teching the show down by talking to the actors and having their phones go of. This really tested my patience up to the point that I walked away because I wasn't able to do my work in that environment. I talked to the teacher/director about it and told her that I needed some time to calm down. My fellow classmate took over as TD for the rest of the afternoon which I was very grateful for. The following week I came back to do the show as I felt that I owed it to the two groups that did make the effort previously. During the weekend I reflected on the situation and realized that there was a lot of tension coming from both sides due to the pressure that we were all under. As I still was the TD for the show, I did attend them all but placed myself into different roles. For the Blue Group I did stage management, for the Pink Group backstage support and for the Black Group I sat in the audience and evaluated the performance. 

Evaluation

Although we managed to get all the performances done in time, there were a lot of things that could have been improved. A big part of this was my patience, or a lack of it. As the performances came closer and the stress started to build, my patience dropped. Maybe this was because I expected more from the actors than I should have in terms of preparation. Still working with scripts a week before the performance aggravated me because I realized that we wouldn't be able to focus as much on the technical side because not everyone knew their lines yet. This resulted in the fact that the time that we had to tech the show almost turned into another rehearsal until we (the tech team) took over in a way. Looking back on it I should have taken the teacher/director aside and consider trying a different approach so we would be able to do what we needed to get done that day. This is definitely something I would do the next time as I feel like it would make the process of teching quicker and smoother. Another thing that I would try to arrange the next time is to have multiple tech days, especially if we have multiple groups that want different lighting and sound. This gives us less stress because we know that there is another day and we can actually take the time do discuss ideas and issues. Overall I think it would have been nice if the actors had more rehearsals in the theatre instead of a dance studio as the space is bigger in the theatre. This would save a bunch of time because we wouldn't have to go over their blocking again and we could just focus on the technical side. Another thing that I think would be beneficial is to have a one on one with the director to discuss the lighting and maybe even showing them some lighting states in advance so we could tech quicker.