JARVISBLOGTIMES

WORKSHOP WEEK ONE AND TWO: Summary

dangerjarvis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:37:22 +0000

The last two weeks have been a mixed bag of great and mediocre. I have enjoyed the last week in particular, learning about the process of the production week from beginning to end.

The first week was mostly centred around managing performers and the rehearsal process. This week was mentally tiring as we were doing lots of things over a short period of time. I feel like I learned quite a few things, but they are not immediately obvious. We attended several classes based around the performers. We started by observing the first year actors doing vocal warm ups. As I said in my previous posts, it was interesting to just sit down nd concentrate on he process. However, I have been thinking about it a lot, and I am struggling to think how to convert what I learned into a real-life, rehearsal context – except to ensure that the actors are given enough quiet time and space onstage to do this extremely vital exercise.

We (the stage managers-in-training) also did our own performances with Ali De Souza, who helped us to understand the actor’s process from the very beginning of rehearsals. This has actually been very useful for me whilst I have been working in Cumbernauld as a Stage Manager for an amdram company. Obviously the entire rehearsal period is a lot more fragmented and longer for a company who may not be as experienced or as well practiced as a company of professionals, but learning how it feels to go dry (especially often) and not feel completely confident acting has really helped me to understand them. I get a lift to Cumbernauld with the lead actress, who has lots of lines, and it’s very interesting to listen to her talk about her struggle to get her part down as we make our way to and from rehearsals. It certainly makes my job a lot easier when we’re in the rehearsal rooms as well, as I know when she will be finding it most difficult and so on. So, as you can see, Ali’s teaching has already had a great effect on me, and will continue to!

We also had chats with an inspiring array of stage managers, designers and so forth. I really enjoyed Helen’s class. She gave us a professional insight into Opera and made me consider how different our process for opera in comparison to the professional world. In that sense as well, I enjoyed chatting to John Duncan. He was approachable and honest, and reminded me of the great stuff about stage management. It was also good to know that we were welcome to watch the Stage and Pianos etc. at Scottish Opera, which I will definitely take up as soon as possible, as it will be great for learning how to compose myself in technical rehearsals.

Our second week was based around a ten minute show. We rehearsed it, had a production meeting, rigged, teched and dressed it. Although I enjoyed this and feel it was very useful, I have a feeling it could have been a lot more exhaustive. However, a week is not a lot of time to cram in a production, so my hat’s off to John for planning these classes so well. It made me realise how much I have yet to learn. It also made me realise some of the less obvious things I need to keep in mind when I take charge in production week for Sweet Sorrow eg., making sure i am standing in the lights, head up etc. Basically I will just need to be a lot more self conscious!

In summary, these classes have been helpful and educational. I feel pretty confident about the coming weeks and I think I will learn all my real lessons on the show. I feel grateful I have the chance to get taught all these things that a lot of stage managers have to learn on the job.

Laura

WORKSHOP WEEK TWO: Friday

dangerjarvis — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:07:43 +0000

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSOOOOOOO

Today was okay. We finally got round to teaching and dressing our wee plays, and that went a bit shit. I am pretty dire when it comes to cueing, particularly if I haven’t had any practice time. I’m not too broken up about it, I haven’t cued in ages and with practice I’ll get better. I’m determined to. ‘Playing’ Stage Manager for it as well, I was not completely happy with, but I think it was the fact that it wasn’t real, and I wasn’t acting quite the way I would in the real life situation. Glad we had the chance to do this whole week though. It’s been informative.

Afterward, we had a chat with Hugh about the director’s role. It was intriguing to hear about his experience as someone who started out in a more technical role, which i’m not sure is that common. However, I found it hard to ask him about anything he talked about, as he covered everything well and the discussion didn’t go quite as I thought it would. I enjoyed this talk though, I only wish I could have managed to scrape together something to ask him. I suppose the door’s always open…

These past two weeks have been tiring, but edifying. I feel like I have definitely learned a lot, both technically and pastorally (for lack of better terms). I am hoping I can take this all on board and use it to be the best Stage Manager I can be at this point. The only thing I am properly anxious about is how I’m going to manage my ASM and keep it interesting for them!

I am going to cut this short, now. I’d prefer to go into more detail in the statement for Monday.

Laura.

WORKSHOP WEEK TWO: Thursday

dangerjarvis — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:48:12 +0000

I’ll be glad when this constant blogging comes to an end tomorrow. I’m not completely against the idea, but blogging every day is a little bit tiresome, if i’m honest.

So… uhh… We had our plotting and technical rehearsal today. This was an okay session, however, I felt like I didn’t learn enough of what was expected from me and how/if I should be controlling the session as a DSM/SM or allowing free reign to the creative types. Yes, experiencing it on a small scale gave me an idea of what it’s like – but whether that idea was correct or not, I have no idea. Logically, I suppose I would hand it over mostly to the director and designer, whilst keeping an eye on time and breaks, but if that had been confirmed it would have been a lot more helpful.

Today was also good because I got to have a wee shot on the Congo, which I love. The Congo is like a WILD HORSE, once you have shown it who is the boss it wil be FIERCE, but also LOYAL. People should be more understanding of the Congo.

OH OH OH, also had a wee chat with Rachael today about Sweet Sorrow. Turns out a formal design has been scrapped; Graham McLaren (our director) wants it to be more organic like most devised shows. I haven’t worked on a show with a process like that as part of the Stage Management team so it shall be a good, EDUCATIONAL experience. Fun times.

Laura

WORKSHOP WEEK TWO: Wednesday

dangerjarvis — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:05:50 +0000

Another short class day – we had a chat with John Duncan, which was good fun and really helpful. He gave us an insight into someone who has worked on Drama, Opera and Ballet, particularly medium/large-scale touring. Touring is something I am unsure about – although I enjoy it, the thought of doing it for such a long period of time fills me with the contradictory feelings of a)glee and b)dread. So it was fairly mint to hear about it from a seasoned pro’s perspective. I only wish I’d asked more about the personal effects of it – stress, relationships and that, as that is probably the thing I worry most about. I suppose this is something different and personal to each individual, and the only way I’ll ever find out how I truly feel is on my own, doing it. Anyway, it was great to meet John, he was lovely and it was great to hear about his ‘THEATRE GONE WRONG” moments.

Afterwards, we spent an hour talking about putting cues in the prompt copy. Yeah – been there, done that – but it was a good refresher and cleared up anything I wasn’t too sure about.

A short blog, I know, but I’m not feeling too chatty tonight. SLEEPY.

Laura

WORKSHOP WEEK TWO: Yesterday and Today

dangerjarvis — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:16:50 +0000

Monday: Yesterday, we only spent an afternoon in class so there’s not much to cover. We spent just over an hour observing Kasper Hauser‘s Health and Safety Tour and the first part of the first Stage and Piano. It was somewhat brief, but it was interesting to get John’s perspective on what he would expect from your typical H&S Tour and the beginning of an onstage session as important as the Stage and Piano. He stressed the importance of taking control of the stage right from the get-go. This felt especially releveant to me, as although I do not really have any reservations about being ‘THE BOSS”, it made me anxious that I would have trouble actually taking the reigns, so to speak. Afterwards, we went to Room 2 were we had a class that revolved around Read Throughs. I haven’t been to too many read-throughs but I kind of got the picture. I always find it hard in the first read through to pick up all the subtle hints of props, effects etc. so it was a good exercise to some extent, as it allowed me to get some practice in!

Tuesday: Today we have been in class all day, working on our ten minute plays. We started out by marking out our seperate spaces for each of the plays. This was something I thought I would find relatively easy, however, without preperation I found myself making a lot of mistakes and misjudgements! I think if I had the plan in more time I would be able to do a much quicker and better job! This has prompted me to contact Rachael for a ground plan for Sweet Sorrow, as the time for the mark up is surely drawing nigh…

We then spent the rest of the day blocking and rehearsing our scenes, adding cues and requirements to make it more of a show experience. My blocking was a little rusty, having not done it in a while, and it was good to get a bit of work on it, though I’ll admit mine was a little bit messy and rushed.

I am growing in confidence as we do these classes, and I do feel a lot more prepared for the weeks ahead on the Shakespeares. I’m just hoping that I will emerge alive after this very, very hectic month!

Laura

WORKSHOP WEEK ONE: Thursday

dangerjarvis — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:46:25 +0000

This week and blogging is starting to tire me out! Thinking is LOADS OF EFFORT that I do not normally lumber myself with. So, bare with me…

This morning we had some more acting classes with Ali De Souza. What a guy! He made the whole process of hugging people until it got awkward even more fun, which i didn’t think was possible. It was interesting to break down the pacing of the hamlet script and to learn about Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter, but I don’t feel like I truly learned anything. Maybe it will become more obvious as time goes on. I think I would have benefitted more from the class if we heard more about how actors learned their lines. My memory (particularly sh0rt-term) is really poor, and i think if I learned techniques for memorising information I would improve.

John’s class just took me right back to my acting exam in high school and feeling a little bit silly. The process did build on my respect for actors, as we often forget how much focus and effort it must take to get to a stage where their performance is of a good enough standard as to present to an audience. We all only did a reasonably short paragraph, but the immense effort into just getting the words in our heads was quite the eye-opener. I’ll try to be quieter when entering a rehearsal room in future. Also, I enjoyed the biscuits, I think their should be more biscuits in the classroom.

I’m a bit stuck for stuff to say today, probably because I am absolutely exhausted. I’m going to go now, try and get that sweet, sweet eight hours slumber.

Laura

WORKSHOP WEEK ONE: Wednesday

dangerjarvis — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:06:55 +0000

Today was quite a fun one. We had acting workshops with Ali De Souza, who is a really lovely chap. We threw sticks at each other and did all the silly things actors do to get themselves ‘in the zone’, so to speak. I don’t really know how much I learned from it, i don’t feel any more enlightened as to an actor’s process. Maybe if I manage to learn these bloody lines for Hamlet I will… I really hope tomorrow will give me a real feel for the entire process and I’ll be able to draw similarities etc.

After this, we had some more score reading classes, which were enjoyable as always, but very difficult and I found myself relying heavily on the singing to get me by (it was all in french, my favourite). This will only get me so far in the real world and I’m going to really work hard on those quiet, monotonous orchestral intervals!

Lastly we had a workshop with J-Wilkz about ground plans and mark ups. I unfortunately had to step out for a contact lens appointment (my eyes are fine, fyi) but otherwise it was good fun and it made me feel a lot more confident about the whole thing when the time comes to do it. It helped that we used Sweet Sorrow’s groundplan and the designer, Rachel, was there as she could tell me about the set and what her aims were. I also got all the details about props, the play etc. which is always good! It leaves me with an action plan for the little prep i can do for SYT:

-When do we get into SYT and which room are we using? Their rehearsal rooms are quite small so sizing the set down for rehearsals will be a big priority.

-How many rostra are we going to need in the rehearsal room when the time comes? The rostra there is very handy but takes FOREVER every day to set up.

-Is the length or height of the set more important when doing a rehearsal mark up?

-When am I going to meet the director!?

-The Schedule – wtf?

I reckon I’ll be spending a lot of time in the rehearsals, and it will be very different to the shakespeare last year (it was nice and warm the whole show for a start)! But yeah, a lot of this stuff is for when the time comes – but I’m trying to prepare myself as much as possible.

Laura

SM WORKSHOP WEEK NUMBER ONE: Monday & Tuesday

dangerjarvis — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:58:27 +0000

oh hullo,

Yesterday we had a stage management class with Helen Gorton around the theme of ‘Opera’. This was quite interesting as I have not really worked on opera in much depth, so I feel like it was helpful to hear her knowledge and experiences. It even made me reconsider working in opera; previously, I did not even entertain the thought as I felt that I would never be skilled enough to cue people off of a score. However, over the last couple of days, I have started to feel like I am finally starting to improve my score reading skills. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to a full session sometime this week. So sick of being late.

Things wot I learnt:

Opera has even more ridiculous jargon than theatre. Think it’s just so everyone can feel really special and elite tho.
The Music Staff work their arses off… Just like us! Ruins my Martyr Complex slightly but I can deal, I suppose.
Even simple paperwork can be very strictly regimented, eg. listing people on schedules etc.

So yes, big love to the stage management teams in opera companies up and down the country. You are total Dudes.

TODAY, I was very busy. More score reading with Kristina, who took us through the little opera (operetta?), Stravinsky’s Mavra. I missed nearly everything, save the last scene, so I was a little bummed out, natch. However, it was quite a good challenge for me to run in through the door, score in hand and try and figure out myself where we were in the score. It made me feel pretty great to find a pickup point and rattle through it, stressed as I was. After this class, I went to a Voice Workshop for first year actors. I’ll be honest, I was feeling some reservations about this class. I kind of knew what I had in store, having watched actors do the typical warm-up many times over the past two years, but it was very interesting to concentrate on the process and watch people do it who weren’t totally ‘up’ on the process, either. It was always obvious that a lot of trust was needed in this exercise as it is very personal, and both partners need to be completely relaxed to do it properly, but what wasn’t quite so clear to me before was how much it benefitted the performers to take time to go through the warm-up. It nurtured performances from them that hadn’t been possible before and it was evident in their postures that it gave them the body-mind confidence to take control and command the studio. The class also reminded me the importance of making sure there is always time for warm-ups before shows and rehearsals. All in all, this was a worthwhile session.

Next up we had a talk from a guy called Harry, who worked in theatre many years ago, but was not working in film as a first AD. I won’t go too much about this one, as to be honest, working in film and TV isn’t something that really interests me much. Hours in theatre may be just as long, but at least I know I’ll (nearly always) be inside and work during the daytime, rather than at 5am in a rainstorm in Cambodia. Harry made it seem very exciting, and although I probably wouldn’t turn down working on a shoot if I were offered, I think it’s probably too much exictement for me!

Finally, we had a chat with Martin Mallorie about the role of the Designer and their links with Stage Management. I was looking forward to this one, as I feel it is a very delicate and very important relationship, that is often ruined due to a lack of professionalism. It was good to hear from Martin about his plans to make the SM and Design departments understand each other, but I felt that some of the stuff he said was either too idealistic or too vague. The session was interesting and helpful, but i think the only real way to understand the subject is to go out and work with the designer!

So, that was today. It makes me feel like I was at a real uni with lectures and stuff. Feeling sorry for all the BA English Lit kids, I swear sitting still for all this time is turning my brain to mush.

Laura

tackling the inherent shortcomings of “OUR COURSE”

dangerjarvis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:59:37 +0000

I acknowledge a long absence from the world of blogging. Can you blame me? I’m not the most articulate person in the world, and frankly I’ve got better things to do after coming back from uni after a 12-13 hour day than talk about the academy. Since I finished a little earlier today, however, I’ll give it a quick bash.

I have found myself in my worst term so far on so many levels. Educationally and emotionally, I’ve been all over the place and I’ve been deeply unsatisfied with the experience I gained in the first month or so of my second year. Worse yet, I’ve struggled to find support from others in times of existential/theatrical crisis. It’s difficult to explain why (or even WHAT) I do what I do to my family, friends or my boyfriend, so I avoid that completely. In uni, I don’t want to wreck the ‘party’, and besides, negativity and cynicism breeds shit morale, and I could definitely do with less of that. The only, way, looking back, my brain hasn’t just been completely scrambled is through:

-UNRELENTING OPTIMISM, and

-ENJOYING THE LITTLE THINGS.

These are two sure-fire winners to struggling through our – albeit relatively simple -hardships (Also drinking far more than I have ever done in my few short years of alcoholism – but I could quit if I wanted to, yeah?). Reading Murakami, making Spotify playlists for people and keeping them for myself, racing round the opera school on micro-scooters, the walk from my boyfriend’s flat to uni in the mornings, inventing big, hearty dinners with enough for lunch the next day and cracking “your mum” jokes like there’s no tomorrow. This all keeps me at my reasonable level of sanity.

But I digress. I do need somewhere to vent. We all do. Which brings me back to what I was saying – where have the channels in which we should be able to properly admit our worries and angst? Maybe some of us (myself included, obviously) are just not looking hard enough, because I know I’m not the only person who’s felt a little unsupported these past few months. All I can suggest to myself and anyone else on the course is to:

MOAN A LITTLE TO YOUR PALS. MOAN A LOT TO THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE.

This is not to say Martin Aitken is not a very, very special and important young lad, but rather we should be focusing our complaints to those who are a lot more likely to be able to do something about it, rather than burdening each other with negative emotions. I have gotten a lot of encouragement and good advice from people on this course, and I’m glad I have them to bitch at, (and trust me, I’m always available to be bitched at) but in the end, they don’t have the control over the situation. Instead, let us relentlessly moan at anyone who receives a salary at the academy, it might even work. However, never forget that staying positive makes a shitty situation so much better.

In summary: “NEGATIVITY IS DEAD, LONG LIVE NEGATIVITY”.

Kind Regards,

Laura

A list of goals…

dangerjarvis — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:07:21 +0000

even just a day away from uni has made me realise some important career (and othwerwise) goals I would love to acheive as soon as possible. I felt it would be best to archive these in some way, so here goes.

GOALS – CAREER OR OTHERWISE

-Learn to read music

-Learn to play the violin/harp (which would probably help the above and be pretty great in general)
-Learn to sew to a high degree (just like mum)

-Learn to drive!

-Give blood regularly

-Get my first aid certificate

-Get a decent haircut.

-Become a veritable human veggie cookbook.

i’m sure everyone can agree these are all very important resolutions in their own ways. I’d reflect on this stuff further, but frankly i don’t think i can get any deeper than what i just wrote (especially the last two)