Planning

After I had done my research about the staging, set design and the play itself, I could move on to planning everything out. A part of making the proposal for this unit was to create a timetable of what we wanted to do for each week and what we needed to do that. This is the planning that I would stick to during the process of getting Love and Information to a state that everyone was pleased with. In this part of my blog you can find a week by week rundown of what I intended to do for that week and what actually happened. Below you can find my timetable for the five weeks in which we had to get Love and Information to the stage.

Project Action Plan and Timetable
Week	Date Week Beginning	Activity / What you are intending to do - including independent study	Resources / What you will need to do it - including access to workshops
1	29/04/2019	Have a production meeting and gather information. Resource script and ideas from the director and cast.	Script
2	06/05/2019	Get a props list and start resourcing. Resource pvc pipes for the set structure.	PVC pipes, props
3	13/05/2019	Resourcing props, marking up script. Create the set structure.	Props Access in the workshop
4	20/05/2019	Attending rehearsals. Test run the set structure.	Access in the workshop Access in the dance/rehearsal studio
5	27/05/2019	Technical rehearsal and final performances.	Access in the theatre

Week 1

Rehearsals of Love and Information

My plan for the the first week was to, first of all, have a production meeting with the director to establish ideas for the play. Besides this I would resource the script that the director and cast will use for this particular version of Love and Information. Once I had the script I attended the read through and added notes into my own script of what I believed were interesting scenes. After the read through I had a small production meeting with the cast on their ideas for the play and mostly, the staging as this was my main focus. Although they had opinions about what the stage should look like, the discussion didn't result in a clear view of a stage. A factor that I think hindered them into envisioning a stage is that they don't have the knowledge of what is available at the college as well as what could be available and of course, do-able within the timeframe. After I listened to the ideas of the cast, the director gave me the opportunity to convey my idea of the set towards the cast. The reaction of cast was not as enthusiastic as I had hoped. My idea was to give them an interesting set to work with as they had not had the opportunity to do this previously in the year. Something that I hoped would make the shape of the stage more clear was by taping out the shape on the floor of the rehearsal space. By having this the cast would be able to block the play with the stage in mind. Besides this I aimed to attend as many rehearsals as I could. By doing this the director and cast would be able to come up to me if they had a question about the staging, props, lighting or sound.

During my first week I stayed to my planning and was even able to do more than I expected for example: taping of the shape of the stage onto the floor of the rehearsal space. Something that didn't go as well as I had hoped was the conveying of my idea of the staging to the cast.

My weaknesses during this week: my procrastination of the ordering of the piping. This is something that I would have liked to do during the week to get a head start, but completely forgot. The way that I will improve on this next week is by placing the order.

My strengths during this week: my time management and communication skills. This is due to the fact that I was able to complete what I had planned to do and more. Besides this I believe that even though the actors weren't as excited about the staging, the director was and understood my ideas.

Week 2

The prop list for Group 1

My plan for the second week was to focus on props that would be used in the play. At the start of the week I asked both groups to create a basic prop list. Once I had received this I would put it into a Word document with the amount, which scene and whether it was already present at the college or if I had to buy or make it. By having this list I would have a clear idea of what still needed to happen in terms of props. Besides doing this, I would like to place the order for the piping so I would arrive later that week. Before placing the order I would have to go back into my research to find the measurements and the amounts of pipes and connectors I would need to create the structure. During the week I, again, would like to attend as many rehearsals as I can so I would be able to develop and add to the prop lists with the cast. Another thing that has been proven to be helpful from the previous week is to observe the actual rehearsal as well to envision where I would like the lighting to be for each scene.

During the second week I was still up to date with my planning although the piping hasn't come in yet. This is something that I will follow up on during the next week. Another thing that has been thrown my way is the fact that I had to re-type the script into a format that I can put cues in. This has been more time consuming than I envisioned, but shouldn't hinder me too much.

My weaknesses this week: messiness. This mainly comes down to me not writing down the measurements clearly enough which made it so I had to recalculate some parts of the structure. Luckily enough this didn't take up that much time. The way that I will improve this for next week is by writing down the measurements in my script as well as I always have this with me.

My strengths during this week: my ability to make a prop list. By already having this skill due to earlier productions it made it very easy to translate what the actors needed into a clear list.

Week 3

My plan for the third week was to resource the props that I were on my lists, start building the structure out of the piping and to start marking up my script for lighting and sound cues. The resourcing of the props shouldn't be that time consuming as they are items that are fairly commonly used in day to day life for example: a clipboard, cellphones and a pillow. The list did change during the week as the actors were still exploring different ideas for their scenes. Due to these changes some actors asked for bigger and more expensive props which I unfortunately had to say no to due to the lack in time as well as the tight budget. Besides this, I decided to do a follow up on the piping as I had planned to start building the structure during this week so the actors could rehearse with it. This would ensure that they would be comfortable with the set, which would translate in their acting. During this follow up it was ensured to me that the order had gone to the head of purchases and that it would be taken care of. Another thing that was on my planning is to start marking up my script as I had already received some lighting ideas from the director and actors as well as my own ideas. Something that wasn't in my original planning but what I felt would be useful was to have a mid-point meeting. By doing this the director and I could discuss what still needs to be done during the next few weeks as well as how far we've come. 

During the third week I started to fall behind on my planning due the piping not coming in. Without this I will not be able to create the structure which is a big part of the performance and my Unit 8 as this is the main element that I have been focussing on.

My weaknesses this week: not following up as much as I should have. Although I did follow up on the piping, I should've pressed it more as I have now fallen behind on schedule.

My strengths this week: communication. By communicating with the actors about the props and the set it creates clarity in what is doable. Besides this, making the time to have a production meeting about the progress that we've made and what still needs to be done was very helpful.

Week 4

Staging of The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the
Musical Theatre shows

My plan for the fourth week was to attend the final rehearsals and create and test run the structure. At this point the rehearsals would consist of polishing up the play and think about lighting plans and sound effects. Unfortunately this was something that couldn't be realized to the extend that I wanted to as I was asked to help with the final shows of Musical Theatre. This took up almost all of my week which made it difficult to focus on Love and Information. Though, during this a week I helped my classmate by helping him set up the stage, helping with the radio microphones although we did not end up using them and doing lighting during the performances. At the end of the week myself and one of the actors came in to change the staging from to the Musical Theatre one to the Love and Information stage. Besides this I wanted to record some basic lighting stages so teching would go quicker and more smoothly. We managed to do this in about four of hours which was all the time we were given access to the theatre to on that day. Doing this would give me a head start for the next week which had already been shortened due to a bank holiday. This meant that my tech days went from two to one. 

During the fourth week I fell behind on my planning even more as I didn't have the time to do the tasks that I had set out to do. The piping for the structure has still not arrived and I haven't had the time to chase after this. This means that I will have to build the structure during the week of the performance which is very unideal. 

My weaknesses this week: planning. Something that I should've included in my planning was the other shows that was going to help on. By adding this I would have been able to work around it and not fall behind on schedule. 

My strengths this week: adaptability. Even though I knew about the show in advance, I completely forgot that I needed to help out during the rehearsal time of Love and Information as well. As this was something that I wasn't anticipating at the moment I managed to work through it and help my classmate achieve the show that he had envisioned. 

Week 5

Technical run trough of the scene Grass

My plan for the fifth and final week was to have a technical run-through on the Tuesday as we weren't in on Monday due to it being a bank holiday and have dress rehearsals for each group on the day of their performances which was Wednesday for Group 1 and Thursday for Group 2. Besides this, I still needed to build the set. On Tuesday I did a more pressing follow up on the piping, during this it was revealed that the piping hadn't been ordered at all. This was a massive set back as I realized that the change of performing the first show with a set would be very little. Though, this was a problem, the head of purchasing ensured me that he would do whatever he could to get the piping in for the following day. The rest of the day went smoothly as the technical rehearsal was well prepared as the directors had prepared lighting plans for their shows. After both groups had finished their tech, the first group came back to me to make some adjustments to the lighting. They wanted to make some scenes more visually interesting and we discussed we would be able to realize this together. Most of the ideas challenged me lighting wise, but it was a challenge that I was willing to take.
For example: in one of the scenes a character talks about seeing 'bushes of brambles,' 'an orange and black butterfly,' 'a yellow rose' and about being at the ballet. The way that I visualized this was by taking the the moving lights and using the built-in gobo's. The 'bushes of brambles' were created by taking the 'Crackle' gobo, turned it green and blurred the edges out slightly to create look of a bush. After this I took another moving light and turned on the 'Leaf Breakup' gobo which I turned a reddish-purple colour. After that I overlapped it slightly with the previously stated mover and blurred out the edges to resemble the brambles. Once I had tackled the first effect, I went onto the 'butterfly.' This was created by changing one of gobo's and colours of the moving lights and switching the other one off. The gobo that I changed it into is the 'triangles (small)' one and turned the colour into orange. The way that I created the butterfly effect was by adding a spinning effect which tripled the actual gobo ad made then spin around each other. This mimicked the movement of a butterfly. After creating this, I changed the gobo into a yellow rose by changing the gobo to 'Les Mis Whirlpool' one and changing the colour to a light shade of yellow to differentiate it from the previous colour of orange. The last effect that I created was the one that referenced to the character being at the ballet. The way that I did this was by removing the gobo and changing the colour to a light pink as this is the colour that people associate with when they think of ballet. Once I did this I added the spinning effect again to mimick the movement that the dancers at the ballet would make.

The gobo 'Bio' during the Lab scene 

Another scene that I added a lighting state to was the 'Lab' scene. For this scene I took the 'Bio' gobo, made it yellow and added the spinning effect to it but slowed down so it wouldn't be distracting. The last scene that I added requested lights to was a scene in which the characters were talking about a traffic light. The way that I visualized this was by taking three movers and giving them the colours red, yellow and green and placed them in the background. The director was very pleased with these changes and agreed that it brought something extra to the scenes.

Gobo's

The structure moment after it was built

The structure during the scene The Child Who Didn't Know
Fear. It's hard to tell but the structure looked as if it was glow-
in-the-dark underneath the green LED's 

The next day was the day of the performances of Group 1. We started the day by doing a dress rehearsal. Something that was quite upsetting was the fact that I didn't have enough time to put together the structure for the matinee performance as the piping had only come in during the rehearsals. Another thing that set building back was that the company hadn't delivered the full order as all of the fittings were missing. Together with the venue technician I came up with a solution that we would imply after the matinee performance. The performance itself went rather smoothy except for one issue which was that a chair got knocked off the stage. My technical colleague gave the actors a new chair and amongst themselves they figured out how to get the old chair off stage and the new one on. The taking off and putting on of the chair went well with the scenes in which it was included. After the performance most of the actors went to have dinner whilst the technical team reset the stage and props. As this was going on the venue technician and I went to the plumbing department in the building to ask if we could borrow some fittings. Luckily they had some spare elbow fittings. Though they weren't the correct size for the piping we had, we decided to use them anyways as we would be able to secure the fittings to the pipes with some white gaffer tape. Two of the actors as well as my fellow technician had stayed behind during their break to help me build the structure. As there were five of us, the actual building of the structure only took about an hour which gave us enough time to have dinner and be back in time for the show. Once all the actors were back from their break I informed them about the set and how fragile it was due to the missing parts. They understood the health and safety risk and agreed to be careful around the set during the show. The evening performance went really well and left all parties involved feeling optimistic about the shows that would be performed on the next day.

The set in lighted in the audience/opening state of the show

On the Thursday I came in before the actors (as always) to ensure that the structure was still stable enough for the next performance. Once the second group of actors had come in I gave them the same information as I had given the previous group about the structure and the health and safety risks. This group also agreed to this although they didn't seem to care about it as much as the previous group. Due to this attitude one of the actors almost knocked over the back part of the structure which we re-secured to prevent it from happening again. After all of this had been taken care of we started with the dress rehearsal which went fairly well. It could have gone smoother if all of the actors would have been present at the given time. During the rehearsal we were able to resolve some issues that occurred with the lights and sound effects as well. Once the rehearsal finished the cast had the option to take a break before they would do the matinee performance. Most of them took this opportunity whilst others stayed to help with the final bit of staging that this particular group wanted which was to cover the stage in newspaper to resemble the 'Information' in Love and Information. As my duty as a stage manager I assessed the risks of having this on the stage and left most of the newspapers on as I didn't think it would be a hazard. The only places that I remove the newspaper from were the steps and from the blocks that the actors would use to stand on. By having the newspapers there, it transformed the look of the staging completely which I didn't mind as it was a clear, thought out idea which was approved by me previous to the day itself. The matinee show of Group 2 went very well and the same is to say about their second show. There was one slight problem as one of the side pieces of piping was knocked over but no one got hurt in the process. This issue occurred towards the end of the show which gave us no opportunity to fix it before the end. The problem was resolved during the dinner break and only took about five minutes to re-secure the piping. To my knowledge, all of the cast as well as the directer were pleased with the result and so was I.

The set of Group 2's version of Love and Information

The day after the last show I came back to take down the staging and clean up. This needed to be done as soon as possible as the technical rehearsals for the next show would take place the following week. Together with my technical team member, one of the actors and my teacher we managed to clear the space in a couple of hours. The clear up mainly consisted of the removal of newspapers and the taking down of the piping and the cue-built. As I thought it would be interesting to see this, I made a time lapse video of this process which can be found below.