RWCMD Takes Over the National
The National Theatre opened its doors over 45 years ago
when Laurence Olivier directed the first ever performance on the
22nd October 1963. There are now over 1,000 performances every year
given to over 600,000 people. The National has achieved the status
as one of the greatest theatres in the world – and it seems RWCMD
graduates are taking over!
Stage management graduates, (left to right)
Anna Hill, Matt Berry, Rob Clarke,
Masha Baird, Chris Howells and Jo Nield are all making their
mark in this prestigious company. Anna, Rob, Chris, Masha and Jo
managed to squeeze us into their hectic schedule for a quick
chat.
What course did you do at RWCMD and when did you
graduate?
AH: I did the three-year Graduate Diploma in Stage
Management and graduated in 1990.
RC: BA Hons Theatre Studies,
Stage Management option. I graduated in 1995.
CH: BA Hons Theatre Studies,
Stage Management, graduated 2001.
MB: Stage Management, graduated 1996.
JN: BA Hons Theatre
Studies, Stage Management option. I graduated in 1997.
What was your most memorable project
at College?
AH: I was Lighting Assistant on Jamie Garven's
production of The Good Person of Szechuan during my first
year. It was particularly memorable because the computerized
lighting board crashed during a performance and I had to operate
the rest of the show on the manual back up, but without being able
to see the stage. It was a challenge but we made it through! I
worked as Deputy Stage Management on Macbeth directed by
Paul Clements during my third year. This was my first experience of
DSMing and I loved it - it is the reason that I am a DSM today.
RC: I loved the trips to
Hungary and Edinburgh. My most memorable production has to be
Look Back in Anger. Dave Bond was directing for the first
time in College – it is still one of the best productions I’ve ever
done.
CH: My most memorable project
was when I was Lighting Designer for The Importance of Being
Earnest which was performed in-the-round in the Bute theatre.
This production had lots of challenges because of the in-the-round
staging but was great fun.
MB: One flew Over the Cuckoo Nest. That was
the moment I realised I wanted to do sound.
JN: Top Girls
was one of my favourites. It was (almost) an all-female cast and
crew which was very interesting and a lot of fun! Also, my final
project was a collaboration with Made In Wales and led to my first
job with them as DSM.
What do you do at the National
Theatre?
AH: I am now a Senior Deputy Stage Manager at the
National Theatre.
RC: I am Lighting Supervisor
in the Cottesloe Theatre (the National’s cutting edge space).
CH: I am a Lighting
Technician and am currently based in the Lyttelton. I have also
spent time with the Cottesloe and Oliver lighting teams. My job
involves daily maintenance and operation of equipment and
production shows.
MB: I’m a Sound Engineer. I open and run shows, and
look after the sound department in the evenings and at weekends. We
run the foyer gigs and cover all the sound requirements for the
building.
JN: I am Assistant
Stage Manager
How and when did you get the
job?
AH: I worked as Assistant Stage Manager on a
short-term contract for the National for a few months in 1998. I
returned in 2003 after a few years working in the West End and for
the RSC. The show I was working on transferred from the
National to the West End and I went with it as DSM. When it
closed in 2004, I went back to the National as DSM on a short-term
contract. After a few months a permanent DSM position became
vacant. I applied for it and was successful.
RC: I started in September
2008 after a vigorous interview procedure.
CH: I applied for the job in
2004 after seeing it advertised. I thought the interview process
would be good experience and an opportunity to refresh my interview
technique. To my delight I was offered the position.
MB: I got the job in
2004. I went in to help out on a
show and have been there ever since!
JN: I did a show here as
part of the Transformation Season in the Lyttleton Theatre with
Trestle Theatre Company. I cheekily slipped my CV to the In-house
Stage Manager. A year later she called me in for a chat and offered
me a job on one show as maternity cover. That was in 2003 - six
years on I now have a permanent position.
How has your training helped to get
you where you are today?
AH: My College training gave me the opportunity to
experience working in a variety of roles. I really enjoyed
the fact that you would be assigned to totally different jobs from
one production to the next. It's very helpful to gain an
insight into all areas of technical theatre – when you go on to
specialise in one area, it gives you more awareness of what your
colleagues in other departments are dealing with.
During my time at RWCMD I gained the
confidence to face new challenges and to push myself into doing
things I hadn't done before - or even thought of doing – like
DSMing. We were very lucky to have two incredibly supportive
Stage Management tutors in David Edwards & Neil
Marcus. Even after I had graduated I would pop into College or
ring them to ask advice about the professional work I was
doing. Their support, both during my time at College and
after graduating, was invaluable.
My training is definitely responsible for the
job I am doing today. I started my course dead set on becoming a
lighting technician and eventually a lighting designer, but I
actually left to become a stage manager. And I'm still doing it
nearly twenty years later!
RC: I agree! I gained an
excellent knowledge of all departments involved in the theatre
process.
CH: My training gave me both
the theoretical and practical knowledge of the industry. A lot of
technical theatre courses don’t cover both aspects. I gained
real-life experiences – I saw the good and bad bits of the industry
and learnt how to survive in it.
MB: I'm still very good at soldering! The
training I received at College was a good overall grounding in the
basics of stage management and technical theatre. I find the
organisational skills that I learnt at College invaluable. I'm a
very organised person and often end up multi-tasking - I attribute
this skill to RWCMD.
JN: My training gave me
an excellent grounding in all things stage management! Every
theatre and company I’ve worked for, and even each show, is very
different but having a basic knowledge that you can adapt and
tailor to each project is invaluable. Doing the project with Made
In Wales was fantastic experience and gave me an understanding of
what would be expected of me in the ‘outside world’. Unlike most
people on my course, I had no prior knowledge or experience of
working in theatre so I learnt all the basics at College.
What has been your most significant
professional project to date?
AH: One of the most significant was Ken Hill's
production of The Invisible Man which was my first West
End show. It transferred from Theatre Royal Stratford East.
It was a huge technical challenge to create the illusion of an
invisible man in front of a live audience, but it was also a lot of
fun. I very much enjoyed working as DSM on the touring productions
of the West End musicals Spend Spend Spend and Return
to the Forbidden Planet. At the National I think my most
significant project has been working as DSM on His Dark
Materials in 2004/05. It was a huge project, incredibly
complicated and technically ambitious.
RC: My most significant
professional project was when I was Production Manager at the Bush
Theatre. It was a challenge to work on West End productions with
little resources. I also love working on new writing and
contributing to industry firsts.
CH: Working at the National
Theatre I have been part of a team that has brought ground breaking
productions like War Horse and Coram Boy to the
stage.
MB: I opened Saint Joan and War
Horse at the National in the same month, while being very
pregnant! Both were nominated for Best Sound at the Olivier Awards.
Saint Joan won - but I gave birth the day before so
couldn’t make it to the ceremony!
JN: My favourite show
ever was The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh. It was hectic
but such fun! I had the privilege of working on Harold Pinter’s
last show, and have just opened Alan Bennett’s new play, The
Habit of Art.
What are you working on at the
moment?
AH: I am currently working on David Hare's new
play about the current financial crisis, The Power of Yes,
in the Lyttelton Theatre. In January I start rehearsals for The
White Guard, Andrew Upton's adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's
novel, directed by Howard Davies.
RC: I currently have two rep
shows on the go, Our Class and Pains of Youth. I
am also preparing for Cat in the Hat, a kids show.
CH: I have just finished the
production period of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art. I am
planning to stay at the National Theatre and hope to move up the
career ladder in the lighting department. There are a lot of
exciting projects coming up next year.
MB: I'm currently in the Cottesloe working on
Our Class, Pains of Youth and The Cat in the Hat.
At the moment I'm working part time so I can raise my daughter as I
am a single working mum. When she goes to school I'll go back to
opening award winning shows!
JN: I have just started
rehearsing a new play by Tamsin Oglesby called Really Old, Like
45 which opens in the Cottesloe in January 2010. Next I’ll be
working on Terrance Rattigan’s, After The Dance directed
by Thea Sharrock at the Lyttleton.
What advice would you give current
students?
AH: Take the opportunities that College gives you
to try working in as many different roles as you possibly
can. It will probably be the only time in your life that you
can do one show as Sound Designer and the next show as Assistant
Stage Manager, so make the most of it! You might end up on a
totally career path from the one you had imagined. Get out there
and start making contacts and gaining experience as soon as you
can. I learnt so much by contacting places like the Sherman
and offering to help out for free on fit ups etc, and I made
valuable contacts whilst doing so. It's never too early to
start networking.
RC: Learn all you can about every discipline so
that you have an appreciation for the all departments involved in
the industry. Don’t specialise too soon – keep your options
open.
CH: The best advice I was
given when I was training was: “If you are good at your job people
will ask you to work for them. But if you are good at your job
and are friendly and resourceful they will ask you to work
for them again and again.” If you want to work in this industry do
it because you love it and not because you want to be rich or have
an easy lifestyle!
MB: Don't settle. Be bold, be brave, get noticed and
think outside the box. Most of all, find something you love doing
because we don't do this job for the money! Going to work shouldn't
be a chore. It should be something you passionately want to
do.
JN: Stage management is all
about people skills so learn to smile through anything. Work hard,
play hard and network like crazy!