Box Office 01635 46044Hayden’s Work Experience Blog
18 July 2011
Before I arrived I was quite worried about starting work experience at The Watermill because I would have to meet new people that I wouldn’t normally work with. However, I also felt very positive because I would finally be working in a theatre to experience what it would be like if I went into it as a career.
When I arrived I had mixed feelings about what it would be like, at first I felt like I was going to make loads of mistakes and not make a good impression. But I quickly settled in and started to enjoy myself huge amounts and I finally felt as if it was for me.
On my first day I had a tour of the theatre with Julie, this allowed me to see the inner workings of the theatre and it also taught me where everything was. Afterwards I went for a ‘Meet and Greet’ where I met all of the Radio Times cast members and other theatre members of staff. I then went to the production meeting where Caroline, the director of Radio Times, explained the different aspects of the play and why they had picked the set, props and costumes. I also spoke to Gary Wilmot about the play.
When I arrived on Tuesday I read the Radio Times script with Heidi which was good because we got to understand more about the characters and the setting of the play. I then helped Heidi to devise questions for an interview with the director and one of the actor-musicians from Radio Times. Later I went to see the lighting box in the theatre and I got to see how everything worked and I even had a go myself! In the evening I met up with Maggie, the Front of House Manager, to sell programmes for her. All in all it was a brilliant day, I learnt a lot from the experience and it was huge amounts of fun.
On Wednesday I started off by watching a music rehearsal for Radio Times where they were running through their songs and playing their musical instruments. In the evening I was lucky enough to have been given complimentary tickets for the Marriage of Figaro along with my dad. The show was amazing and very funny, and I got to know some of the actors.
On Thursday I arrived at 2pm to work front of house for the matinee performance of The Marriage of Figaro and introduced myself to the ushers. I sold ice creams and programmes; there was an awful amount of people to sell programmes to so I made quite a big profit for the theatre and we got to go outside for the final act!
In the evening I went to see the acting rehearsal for Radio Times, they were going through the scenes and working out where everything was going, they also added the music to the scene. This was interesting because I got to see bits of the play before everyone else. I was then an usher for the evening performance of The Marriage of Figaro again, I sold Ice cream and programmes and once again I sold lots!
All in all, I really enjoyed my stay at The Watermill, it was brilliant seeing behind the stage and seeing the inner workings of an actor’s life and how the different aspects of the theatre work. I especially enjoyed working front of house because I was able to interact with the outside world as well as make money for the theatre.