Introduction to Theatre Making 1

Firstly we were introduced to the three types of theatre house, a receiving house is a theatre that buys in companies to perform, they hae no in house company producing its own work. A producing house is a theatre that does have an internal company that produces work to put on within the theatre. The final option is a Repetory house, there are only two left in the UK and the Mercury theatre in Colchester is one of them, these theatres have an annually paid company contracted to the theatre to produce around 6 shows a year.

Next we covered the roles and occupations within the majority of theatres that have been devided into sections as follows:

Creatives: Artistic/director, set designers, LX and SX (light and sound) Designers, costume designers, choreographers, fight and music directors.

Technical: Technical manager, Cheif LX, LX and SX operators, Master carpenter, Assistant LX, Deputy Cheif LX, Flyman, Dressers, Wardrobe, Stage technicians

SM(stage management): SM, Assistant SM, DSM, Company SM, Production Manager

FOH/Admin: Theatre manager, Box office, Ushers, Bar staff, Caterers, Cleaners, Stage door keeper, Marketing, Theatre Administrator.

We then went through the order in which these people become part of a production.
1st- Director.
2nd-Set Designer.(produces a white card model to scale, specifics, final model box, ground plan)
3rd- Production Manager ( at White card model stage)
4th- Stage manager and all other creatives.

We also went through a typical rehearsal schedual and how certain days work for a technical crew that come in about a week and a half before the performance.

Each day split into 3 sections:Am (9-1), Pm (2-6), Eve (7-10)

Day 1: LX and SX Rig
Day 2: Rig Trap doors, Flying Pieces, Get in & Fit up.
Day 3: Fit up
Day 4: Focus
Day 5: Plot

then in production week

Day 6: Technical Rehearsal
Day 7: Technical Rehearsal
Day 8: Problem Solving, Dress Rehearsal ,Notes
Day 9: Problem Solving, Show Opens

Then between each show notes are given through a DSMs performance report to each department, this includes Run time, Audience reaction, Audience numbers and any problems to be resolved.

The final thing we covered was the communication used within a theatre and the calling terms.
For example a Half call means there is 35 minutes to curtain, the countdown is as follows:
15min call (20)
10min call (15)
5 min call (10)
Begginers (3)

Other forms of communication during the proccess comes through production meetings and the DSM's rehearsal and performance reports.

The assement for this course is a journal reporting everything we do within the class, evidence to show we have seen 3 perfromance, 2 art exhibitions and a dance production complete with reviews and 1 full review of 1500 words.