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Production
A production is not just about "treading the boards"; putting on a
play needs a wide variety of skills and usually more backstage and front of
house staff than there are cast on stage!
The normal course of a production is:
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Regular rehearsals in the Ritchie Hall on Tuesdays starting at 7.30pm.
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Usually a second rehearsal in a cast member's home on Thursdays,
concentrating on the script.
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Planning commences for the NEXT production, including a read through of
the chosen play, perhaps at an evening party, followed by auditions, usually
before the set building weekends.
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Two weekends before the run devoted to set building at the Ritchie Hall,
with a technical and first dress rehearsal on second of the two Sundays
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The week of the production; dress rehearsal on Tuesday, invited audience
of senior citizens on Wednesday, and three nights for the members of the
public. Pantomime has a longer performance run
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After production party at the Ritchie Hall immediately following the last
night.
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Strike the set and clear up the Ritchie Hall on the Sunday morning.
There are three key activities that are required for a successful
performance:
Directing
Recently we held a workshop for potential directors, at which several of our
more experienced directors talked about their directing style, how they chose
plays, went about the difficult task of auditioning and the 101 decisions
associated with putting a play on the stage. Marianne, director of Ritual for
Dolls and Aladdin, amongst others, produced a useful check list of the logistics
required for putting on a play on the Ritchie Hall stage.
Putting on a play
- Choose a play
- Arrange for a read through (at Ritchie Hall or someone's house)
- Director will be very familiar with the play by this time having read
it through several times (possibly) - Directors could find the directing
of a play quite time consuming and depending on the length of play (one
act or full length) not only rehearsal time but in between - reading the
play - plotting and thinking out difficult moves etc - could occupy part
of your day most days.
- Auditions
- Hall to be hired
- Prepare audition slips (useful to save missing anyone)
- Cast play + nominate backstage (Job descriptions for these are in our
membership pack)
- Stage Manager
- Assistant Stage Manager
- Sound
- Lighting
- Props
- Production assistant
- Nominate Front of House Manager (who will organise his team)
- Order Scripts (See Treasurer)
- Company will pay for backstage scripts - cast will buy their own
- Treasurer will apply for Licence/Royalties
- Rehearsals
- Book extra rehearsals (Tuesday in the hall which is already booked) if
needed closer to production
[check with Committee (extra nights can be expensive) so ensure full
cast available to make full use of this]
- Thursday night word rehearsals normally in someone's house
- Keep Committee informed of progress plus any problems.
- Current Director is asked to attend a Committee meeting prior to a
production to inform Committee of progress and discuss any potential
problems
- Discuss with back stage crew the design of the set
- Special effects that may need the hire of specialist equipment
- Call back stage meeting (back stage, front of house, etc) approximately 3
to 4 weeks prior to the production
- Liaise with sound man as to your opening music plus any other musical
affects door bells, clock chimes etc
- Most members have photographs taken for cast board but check to ensure no
one is forgotten
- Director to give Business Manager a cast, back stage and front of house
list so that tickets can be printed and is responsible for proof reading
ticket prior to them going to printers to ensure complete accuracy
- Director to give Business Manager a resume of the play for inserting on
the back of the tickets
- Check with cast as to costumes etc
- Set Build (hall already booked) two weekends (Sat/Sun) prior to production
week
- Last Sunday before production used for Technical Rehearsal to run through:
- Music/special affects etc plus any difficult bits!
- Technical Rehearsal can be used for a full run through if needed
- Dress Rehearsal on Tuesday before opening night on the Wednesday Thursday,
Friday and Saturday night production
- End of play party on Saturday night
- It has been a tradition in the past for Directors to buy a small
present by way of a thank you for the back stage and front of house crew
all of which are given out during the end of play party.
- SET STRIKE ON SUNDAY MORNING
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Behind the scenes
Putting on a production involves a lot of people and a great attention to
detail.
No play could go on stage without
backstage: here is a description of the major roles in the
backstage crew.
Stage Manager
The Stage Manager is responsible for everything that happens backstage during the
run. He / she is also consulted during rehearsals to ensure that the
backstage sets can be constructed and that scene changes are achievable.
The Stage Manager oversees the Set Building weekends where he / she
converts the set designs provided by the director into workable sets. As
well as building the main sets usually rooms with doors and windows, this
can involve building objects as diverse as Crypts, Revolving Doors, Jails
and Court Room Benches. The other key activity during the Set Building
weekends is painting the backcloths, this involves a designated artist
selected from the Company to convert the designs provided by the director
to scenery backdrops required for the performances.
Lighting
The Lighting Director plots the lights with the director to achieve required
atmosphere and operates lights during the run. The Lighting Director has a
12 channel mixing desk at his / her disposal that operates some 24 lamps.
He / she can be called upon to develop special lighting effects.
Sound
The Sound Director provides sound effects and music. This is a
particularly busy role during the Pantomime when numerous backing tracks
and sound effects are required. The Sound Director has a main amplifier, a
4 channel sound mixing desk with 2 CD players capable of cue control.
Props
Props (Property Manager) works during the rehearsal period to source items and set
dressing, and is backstage during run to move and supply props during
course of the play. This is a particularly busy role during the Pantomime
when a substantial number of humorous objects and peculiar set dressing
are required.
Production assistant
The Production Assistant is the director's "right hand person".
The Production Assistant is with the director at all rehearsals, making notes of moves,
changes to script and tasks to be completed. He / she prompts the cast as they learn their
lines and runs the Prompt Corner during the performances.
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Here are some photographs of activity during the final set building
session and technical rehearsal of 'Take away the lady', our production in
October 2001.
Building the set
Roger assisted by Roger builds a set of French windows for the production.
[Click on photographs to enlarge]
Director, Lighting and Sound
Marianne, the director, ready to start, James is in control of the
lighting desk and Wayne and Alec doing yet more techy things with sound.
[Click on photographs to enlarge]
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Wardrobe
As
we've been putting on plays for 30 years, we've accumulated quite a lot of
costumes! Our Wardrobe Mistress constantly amazes
us by taking an unpromising piece of material and producing an absolutely
hideous garment for the Dame or a beautiful ball gown for the Princess.
She is expert at recycling too, and last year's Elizabethan style can turn to
Fairy Tale to Medieval to Carolinian in what seems like the drop of a hat.
Of course, it's not really that easy, and takes a lot of time to dress a
large cast.
Our 2003 pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, needed 3 bear costumes, and a gorilla, along with multiple clowns,
gipsies, and some new stunning Dame outfits.
Below are a selection of pictures showing some of the
challenges facing Wardrobe.
[Click on photographs to enlarge]
Recently, we've done quite a few plays which have required costume too, several of which have required uniforms. We can recommend
Sabre Militaria in Southsea. This is an Aladdin's cave of
militaria! We first discovered them when we needed W.W.II uniforms for "See how they run", recently hired W.W.I uniforms and guns for Jimmy McBride and kitted out
'Allo, 'allo with a variety of German and Italian uniforms, including the "dead chicken on his head"!
We do hire our costumes from time to time, so please contact us
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Front of house
This is a vital function of theatre - there's no point in putting on a
production if you have no one to look after the audience! We like to have three
or four people on the rota each night of a production: selling raffle tickets
and programmes, showing people to their seats, taking orders for interval
refreshments, as well as someone at the door to sell tickets.
Our pantomimes are enlivened by chorus members in costume (and character)
selling raffle tickets, with full houses every night more staff are required.
It's hard work, especially for pantomime, and you can be on the go all
evening, sorting out the raffle tickets, laying out and making the refreshments,
and answering 101 questions from the audience.
We appoint a FOH manager for each production, who then organises the rota for
the others, and works with the Treasurer and the Business Manager to make sure
things run smoothly.
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Last saved: November, 2009
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