Amici - Tightrope in Brighton

Last thursday I travelled down to Brighton to help with the get in for Amici's show Tightrope at the Theatre Royal, round the back of Brighton Pavillion. As I had worked on the show at the Lyric in Hammersmith last year I knew how the show worked and could get on more easily with setting everything up, without enquiring too much about it. This was benefitial to the crew, who had plenty to be gettting on with, without me drilling them questions all day. I think my recent work on professional shows has also massively helped me feel more comfortable and confident with working in theatres outside uni.

My first job was to unload all the props and costumes, which had been in storage for some time. As they had been packed quite tightly together I decided to go through them all and check for any breaks and damage that may have occured. A number of hats had been damaged during storage so I set up a separate table for repairs with a glue gun to repair any joins, as is shown below.

A broken mallet and circus hat on the repairs table I set up.

As I unloaded the props I found all the circus poster boards I had painted last year when I had been employed as a scenic artist. During their time in storage they had become a little battered and scratched. Instead of re-painting them I decided to leave them untouched as the aged look they had gained made them look more realistic and seemed to suit the idea of a travelling circus troupe.

Having organised all the props and checked they were all in a suitable condition, my next job was to help construct the set. For the Lyric we had painted a large yellow circle in the middle of the stage. However, as the theatre in Brighton had a dance mat down, we had to construct a circle out of hardboard. The first thing we did was to unload the hardboard from the delivery truck, and lay it ou in the space behind the stage.

Once we hadd laid the hardboard out we realised it had warped quite considerably. This was due to it being left outside at the timber merchants and made working with it slightly more difficult. After alot of brain storming it was decided the wood would be taped together and then secured down to the floor. As the stage had a dance mat down it wouldn't have been an option to secure it down, so taping it seemed the most feesible option.

The first thing to do wa find the centre point and down it out from there. I was then given the job of cutting each shhet of hard board out, as the most experienced with a jigsaw. Having used a jigsaw often in my recent placements I felt more confident having the responsibility for making sure each piece was cut accurately, as the pieces wouldn't line up otherwise. Once this was completed the pieces were reassembled in the spacee and checked for accuracy. Despite the sheets having warped the wood had been acurately drawn out and so lined up fine, as is shown below.

As no paint had been bought yet this gave us time to prepare the wood. Using bing bags, sheets of plastic and off cuts of wood, we laid the sheets out so that no paint would get on the floor. Whislt waiting for the paint to arrive I got involved in any odd jobs that were going. This included assembling the steel decks on stage and rigging the Tightrope banner.

View of the stage area from the backstage where we asssembled the props, costumes and prepared the set.

View of the stage being assembled in front of the seating ranks.

Although I was only in Brighton for the day it was a great experinece to be involved in the show again. Not only to see all the posters and the sign I had painted but also how I've changed as a technician since last year. It gave me an idea of how far I've improved since last year and how much more confident I have become working on a professional show, and the routine/process of a get in for a show.