Newbury Production Week

For the last two weeks I have been travelling down to Newbury to help with the get in for the show at the corn exchange. During this time I finally saw the set I had been helping to build, in the warehouse in Lewes, finally start to come together. As well as assisting in the assembly of the set on stage I also helped make a number of props that were used to dress the set and add to the style and setting of the play.

One of my first jobs was very simple, painting matchboxes so they looked more aged and in keeping with the time frame of the play.

As well as this I was sent out to buy a number of things that were needed for the set, such as a bottle of red wine with a cork not screw top and something the actors could put their cigarettes out in on stage without their being any chance of the stubs remaining lit. I was recommended to get some sort of cream from boots or a supermarket, etc to be put in the bottom of an ash tray, but as anything I found was either quite expensive or not flame resistant I suggested just using tooth paste as its much cheaper and would do the job just as well. Which we did.

As some of the set was still under construction I helped finish off cutting out the plywood shelves for one of the three book cases. As we were running out of time it was crucial I worked quickly and accurately so we could complete the set for the following days run. As well as cutting out the shelves for the book case I also had to secure them in place on the frame with wood adhesive and a staple gun. This type of work, although more stressful then painting or shopping, was much more rewarding in terms of developing my skills. Having worked with wood alot before I was much more confident in working quickly without being concerned that my accuracy was slipping. I also enjoyed it far more and was satisfied at the end of the day as I felt I had made a more important contribution to the show as a whole.

For my next job I spent a morning cutting out the middle of pages from books. As the book would open during the show and reveal silhouettes of unborn babies lit by small lights hidden inside the books. As can be seen below.

The pages removed from the book leaving just their outer border.

The book neatened up.

The baby sculpture added inside with the light concealed within.

 As well as constructing these books I also made a number of 'mock' books that would simply fill up the shelves to make the room look more full and like a collection that has been added to over the years.

I was given a number of empty book shelves or covers that I first padded out with polystrene to hold the shape of the book as can be seen here.

Having constructed the frame of the book I used masking tape torn into strips to give the impression of pages from the books. As they were quite far away from the audience the detail wasn't crucial.

Once completed and stacked together I was happy with the overall look of the books that would be fine from the audience's view point and fit in well with the rest of the set. As some of them were placed on the top platform of the set this also made them alot safer, say should one of them fall off the book case and hit someone, as unlikely as that was.

This completed my time working on the show. Looking back on it now I feel extremely fortunate to have been involved. I learnt a great deal about the process of bringing a professional show to the stage, dealing with unexpected problems and resolving them quickly and efficiently as well as gaining a better idea of what sort of areas I am interested in exploring in the future. I am extremely thankful to Turtle Key Arts, who threw me in at the deep end and trusted me to contribute on their show to a level where I felt I made a real difference and wasn't just given the dull jobs to keep me busy. My time spent at the warehouse in Lewes was extremely important in my development as a theatre technician and although daunting at first, I feel as though I gained a huge amount in a short space of time by working long days and never letting the standard of work slip during my time there. The whole process of seeing a set being assembled from scratch to transporting it to the theatre venue and completing the dressing of the stage was fantastic and I hope I will be able to develop this knowledge and practice on the future shows I work on. Be them inside or outside of uni.