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Richard Burton Company: A Stage Management Perspective

13 January 2022

Filed Under:

Stage Management

The College’s Richard Burton Company brings together its Drama departments, with final year Acting students working alongside Design for Performance, and Stage Management & Technical Theatre students, with sets made by our Scenic Construction students.

This winter’s set of shows brought audiences back to the College to share our performances in person, and some of our Stage Management & Technical Theatre students shared their experiences working on the three productions.

On the stage in front of the set of a pub called The Cricketers Arms, the hero of the play, in an old fashioned tweed suit, clasps his hands together in a forthright stance

One Man Two Guvnors – Richard Burton Company

Pre-Production – Getting the Production Started

Joe Hancock, the stage manager for Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales in the Bute Theatre, explained how the show’s process begins.

‘It’s called the pre-production stage and that’s where you have the rehearsals going on, with the actors learning their lines and working with the director.

On the set of Grimm's Tales, the actors, in old fashioned clothes, group together looking out at the audience.

Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales – Richard Burton Company

As the stage manager I’ll be looking at the budget, managing that, making sure I work closely with the ASMs (Assistant Stage Managers) who’ll be looking at the props, making sure that the director’s happy and that certain health and safety requirements are being met.

A particularly important learning experience for me has been the paperwork and learning how risk assessments work.’

Overseeing the Whole Production

The stage manager liaises between members of the production team.

‘You start to appreciate people in different departments a lot more,’ said Joe.

On the set of Grimm's Tales, a long table with gold tablecloth stretches across the whole of the stage with actors sitting eating their dinner. Above them on a balcony are more actors looking down on them

Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales – Richard Burton Company

‘I have to make sure people are kept in the loop. One of my key roles is looking at the bigger picture and constantly overseeing the production as a whole.

In the best way possible, I’ve never been so tired. It’s like having a one-track mind, being so invested in the show.’

Lighting the Way

Matthew Dean, the lighting designer for One Man, Two Guvnors in the Richard Burton Theatre, explained how this was a new challenge for him. ‘My usual lighting style is dark and dingy with bright flashes, but the whole point of comedy lighting is that you get into the eyes and make people’s faces pop.

One Man Two Guv'nors. Two actors in suits balcnace on the balcony of a pier, with the sea in the background

One Man Two Guvnors – Richard Burton Company

I took my own style and added that element, but bigger, instead of closed down and small, to create the right effect. My advice is – don’t be afraid to be bold!

Comedy is totally different to what I’ve done before, it’s a big contrast. Something new, which I love.’

Lighting and Sound

Emily Foster and James Stevenson, the lighting designer and sound designer for Abigail’s Party in the Caird Studio, are both second years, exploring these specific roles for the first time.

‘I wanted to do lighting design for a while and I was happy to get the opportunity,’ said Emily. ‘It was also my first time working in the Caird. It’s such a unique venue, with a really low ceiling, which makes it hard to light, but I really enjoyed the challenge and I’m really proud of the outcome.’

The set of Abigail's Party, with the lounge in the back half of the stage, and a green carpert with two comfortable chairs in the foreground.

Abigail’s Party – Richard Burton Company

‘The key part of Abigail’s Party is that you’re not actually at the party. Abigail’s party is actually two doors down from where the play is set,’ explained sound designer James.

‘It was a challenge finding good quality rock music from the time and working with the team to analyse what Abigail would have been listening to.

‘One of the highlights for me was using a really lovely record player with its own speakers, and we were able to play music from those. We had the challenge that the actors actually had to put the needle onto the records. I was quite used to using one, so always kept an eye on how they used it.

Abigail's Party, a young woman with long dark hair and a backless dress, dances with her back to us. The set has 70's style orange and brown curtains

Abigail’s Party – Richard Burton Company

‘With this course we have the chance to try out different roles. It’s great that they teach you different pathways as it allows you to decide early in your career what you want to specialize in.’

Bringing it all Together – Tech Week

Lighting designers Emily and Matthew both explained how their highlights came from ‘tech week,’ where all the elements of the production come together.

‘The first time we ran through the lighting states we’d created was a real highlight,’ said Emily. ‘I really struggled to visualise what I was making and wasn’t sure how it would come across, but when I saw it, it actually looked cool!’

The whole cast of One Man Two Guv'nores perched on a chair, some sitting and some standing at the back, in front ot the set of a restaurant.

One Man Two Guvnors – Richard Burton Company

‘My favourite part was probably plotting the lighting,’ explained Matthew, ‘You can play around with the ideas you’ve had in your head for ages and watch them come to life. You have a really nice dialogue between yourself, the designer, the director and your programmer.

‘It always has to be collaborative. I love the collaborative effort and I think that’s what pulls people into this industry.’

Working as Professionals

The stage management students start working on show placements from their first year.

‘Right from the start of first year, especially after Christmas, we are basically treated as professionals,’ Emily explained. ‘This is beneficial, as you have to work things out for yourself.’

‘It nurtures you, but also makes you have to take on the role of trouble-shooter and problem-solver yourself,’ said Matthew, ‘I think that’s really good about what we get here at RWCMD.’

‘The supervisors are really great at guiding you on your placement,’ agreed James.

Two young women and a man in 70's style dress sit on a leatherette couch. Two of them look bored, the other woman is pointing to something as if she's drunk

Abigail’s Party – Richard Burton Company

Getting Out

As the shows came to a close Joe explained that his role now was organising the ‘get out’: ‘You can only plan so far. When you come into the space it’s a different playing field.

Grimm's Tales. A character in an old-fashioned blue long dress is holding a scythe up to the sky, clutching some grass in her other hand. Two other characters look up at her.

Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales – Richard Burton Company

But learning the stage management job is knowing you can only do so much, and not being hard on yourself.

The whole three years at the College doing the course has been a journey in itself. The stage manager role has been a completely different journey, but both have been incredible.’

Find out more about studying Stage Management & Technical Theatre at the College.

Photography by Jorge Lizalde and Kirsten McTernan.

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