“All the world’s a stage” – I know, I helped make it!

1 May 2015

The first email conversation I had with the Watermill’s Production Manager was in July last year when I enquired if The Watermill could offer me any work experience. I was really eager to get any experience backstage in theatre that I could get my hands on and very willing to give anything a go which the theatre might be able to offer me.

The Watermill is only a stone’s throw away from my home and just happens to be one of the top regional producing theatres in the country. I thought it would be a brilliant place to get some experience. Ideal, I thought to myself, it’s at least worth a try.

I hoped my enthusiasm would outweigh the fact I have absolutely no experience whatsoever in backstage, production or stage management. Here goes.

I waited by my computer with baited breath.

Inbox: 1 New Email.

“Dear Harriet, thank you for your email. We actually have a current stage management placement student leaving in August, so you could take over for three or four weeks. Let me know if this is of interest! Lawrence.”

AMAZING! I would start in two weeks.

It is now nine months since I received Lawrence’s reply and, lo and behold, I have been working at The Watermill ever since. A placement that was only meant to last a few weeks has turned into an amazing year of having the most exciting and unpredictable working weeks in an absolutely idyllic environment while working with the most welcoming, fun, friendly and supportive team.

My placement was overseen by Lawrence and his assistant Nelly who were an endless source of advice and fascinating stories while working on the Autumn production of Journey’s End (2014). I did anything and everything from;

Ageing props and costume for the WW1 period of the play;
Wiring lanterns with bulbs and battery circuits to power them on stage;
Attending production and design meetings;
Cutting colour gels for lighting designs;
Making, stuffing and dying dozens (and dozens!) of hessian sandbags for the set;
Assisting with the fit-up weekend where the set is built inside the theatre (I became handy with tools and drills)!

As if all that wasn’t enough, I then assisted with sourcing and making props for the Outreach tour of Hamlet (2014) and was able to observe their technical rehearsal. Even after just a month, I gained a fascinating insight into the ways in which a professional piece of theatre is produced, to which I directly contributed. I was given various opportunities to be creative, work independently and in a team, learn a host of new skills and meet lots of new and interesting people who came and went as work on productions both began and came to an end.

Just as the run of a show must end, so did my placement, and after having the most brilliant month, it was time to say goodbye. Soon after my placement finished, however, I was asked to join The Watermill team as Production Support; assisting in both the production and stage management teams.

In the past nine months I have accomplished a brilliant myriad of roles, projects and tasks. And besides assisting with the get-outs and fit-ups, for example, I have enjoyed worked closely with designers; painting sets and helping to achieve the finishing touches to their design, as well as creating a 1920’s art deco flooring – from scratch I might add (!) for But First This (2014). I have also been an ASM for the Young Company show Twelfth Night (2014) and assisted with a month of theatre maintenance at the beginning of 2015 in the ‘dark’ period where The Watermill saw work completed to improve its heating and cooling system. By continuing to be enthusiastic and offering my time and skills wherever possible, I have also assisted in the Wardrobe department, working more closely in Wardrobe for the theatre’s current production of Far From The Madding Crowd (2015) and have even assisted with the Outreach department, assisting teaching for their youth groups. And this is all down to The Watermill’s encouraging and supportive team, as well as their attitude and commitment to getting young people interested in backstage work.

There is now an opportunity for someone like you; a school leaver aged 18 or over who is local to the Watermill Theatre in the West Berkshire area to have a similar experience which I have had – which I could not recommend highly enough! With support from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the Watermill Theatre is recruiting a trainee production and stage management assistant.  If you are;

Creative, enjoy making things, like problem solving, are eager to learn, like hands-on projects, enjoy working with other people, are interested in technology, it could be a great opportunity for you!

My advice: just give the application a go! You might not have been that involved in theatre at or after school, but this apprenticeship could be the very opportunity you didn’t know you were looking for!

Hopefully I have given you an insight into what might be in store in the year you would spend at The Watermill, along with many other really exciting things like learning about QLab for sound, lighting plans and CAD for technical drawings to extend your skill set.

For more information and to download an application pack:

Trainee Production / Stage Management Assistant:
https://www.watermill.org.uk/work_for_us
http://andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com/

Harriet Leitch
Production Support