Drama New Zealand

MONDAY MARCH 8  2010

I arrived at the Maidment Theatre at 11:30am. The Importance of Being Earnest set was completed and the stage was full of the furnishings that make Algernon’s flat a ‘stylish squat’ i.e. mattress, classical sculpture of Zeus, magazines, photographic umbrella, guitar and amp.  The lighting trusses and ramps  on each side of the stage looked great  and really enhance the set’s task of communicating  a photographic studio. 

 Apparently the lighting focus was very short and sweet and took less than an hour, this is because the design has a relatively small number of lights ie 32 Generic lights (mainly Pacific’s) and 9 Movers (intelligent lights). Also many of the generic lights are in stacks of 4 so when you focus one of them correctly the other 3 simply follow the same configuration.  This morning’s program therefore felt very calm with only the stage crew in the theatre making sure the areas around the stage were firstly safe once blacked out (ie marked and nothing to trip over) and appropriately draped and ready for the 2pm lighting plot.

At 1pm the cast were welcomed into the theatre by Paul Minifie, the Manager of the Maidment and protocols of fire exits and dressing rooms were explained. The stage crew then covered any remaining orientation tasks such as using the Green Room, refreshments, not wearing any street shoes on the set, the narrow cross over area between the backstage  drapes and back wall ( for actors who exit s/r and enter s/l or vice versa) and where and where not to leave water bottles during runs and dresses. Even adult actors need to know their do’s and can’t do’s!

The  morning definitely belonged to the 2 stage managers Fern and Nicola who among tasks not mentioned ; set up the directors table with lamp, pens, pencils and hot coffee all in place prior to the Plotting. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Stage Manager (SM) and Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) with this level of knowledge and experience in a school environment ? It would certainly save a lot of time, energy and explanation for the oft overworked Director.

PLOTTING

There have been a number of moments this afternoon that I have found quite re-assuring as a teacher who directs school productions.  Firstly the pre-sets and first few states (ie cues) took a very long time, Designer Tony Rabbit had a number of ideas he wanted to try as the set and lighting design offers many visual possibilities. During this experimental phase Director Colin MC Coll was very patient and I imagine he wasn’t thinking the mantra that I have been guilty of in such a situation i.e., “If the start is going to take this long then we are going to be plotting forever!”.  Even at this level of professionalism, adjustments to the blocking  had to be made during  the plotting phase. In the first Act the scene entirely uses side lighting ( the circle lights at the front come in for the country scenes) and due to this there are moments where one actor may mask light that is needed for the other actor. During this afternoon Colin has been required to make a few tweeks and changes to the block. It obviously is par for the course.

My perception is that I as a self taught director have invented a language that will work in the plotting phase. When working on a scene I often tell my pupils on the console board to ‘add on’ as the scene builds. It therefore was affirming to hear Colin using similar terminology by calling this a ‘build’. What I find assuring is that despite being relatively self taught at this stuff clearly I am going through the right plotting processes.

Other observations from this afternoon include the very calm environment that has existed all afternoon. Tony Rabbit as the Lighting Designer doesn’t sit on the console, a very skilled programmer who knows the board like the back of hand does this, whilst Sarah the actual Operator is writing up the book. Tony is therefore freed up to consult with Colin about aesthetic decisions.  John Parker (Set Designer) is also on hand to give his visual expertise. The Console board of course is presently in the theatre and wont be moved to the booth until the first public performance on Thursday evening.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

As the set is entirely white and costumes are white in the first Act it has been important for the plotting to be done in full costume. This has allowed for Colin to discuss with Elizabeth Whiting, the  designer, any costume issues. A number of changes, mainly accessories  have been made this afternoon. Make up is clearly critical in such a bright environment and therefore the Actors have been playing with make up today as they plot. These individual make up decisions would either receive Colin’s approval or a request to try something else.

Another observation today has been to see how helpful it is to plot by simply having the actors run their scenes fully in role. This would often be done a couple of times while the Creatives make various lighting decisions. This is something that would be great to do in a school environment and perhaps I ought to push my pupils to do this rather than wait until Dress Rehearsals for this to begin.

CONCLUSION

Finally it has been interesting to observe that despite the calm nature of the plotting process, Colin was still not entirely sure about some of the decisions that have been made. Without any fuss Tony Rabbit said that these calls can easily be corrected tomorrow. I am familiar with making wrong decisions whilst plotting in a hectic environment, it is definitely very affirming to know that they can still be made in a supportive one.