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SPOTLIGHT ON THE STAGE MANAGER by
Helen Coundon
One of the most vital members of any production team is the stage manager.
The task starts as soon as the play has been chosen and the performance
dates fixed. The stage manager starts to gather the backstage team
together. Meetings are fixed to consider the design of the production. The
property team and the wardrobe co-ordinator are all involved at this early
stage. Workshops are organised to construct the set and properties.
It is only when all this planning is well under way that the auditions are
held, the cast chosen and the rehearsal schedule agreed.
The job of the stage manager is vitally important during the rehearsals.
The position of the furniture and props is noted and where each actor
stands and when they move. This is particularly important when the company
moves into the theatre. The lighting technician must have detailed lists
of which areas of the stage need to be lit in each scene and of course
when the lighting changes occur.
The construction teams have to be encouraged to have everything ready to
'Get In'. This is when everything needed for the production is carted to
the theatre and put into place for the first rehearsal in the theatre.
Actors will now be very nervous and will need to have the reassurance that
all the rehearsed cues, both sound and lighting, will occur as planned. Up
to this point they have had to make do with the director yelling 'Lights
up', 'Blackout' or giving a very bad impression of the noise of an
aeroplane!
Once inside the theatre the director is only in charge for the rehearsal
period. The responsibility for the cast and crew sits firmly on the
shoulders of the stage manager once the run starts. Again the main job is
communication. All must be in the theatre and the stage set for the first
scene half an hour before the curtain rises. Actors have to be called in
time to make their entrances and the crew have to be told what to do and
when to do it and on top of all that, the bar staff need a warning five
minutes before they are inundated with clamouring customers.
Very special qualities are needed in a stage manager. Communication skills
must be excellent. Dynamic team leadership is required along with an
infinite capacity for hard work. Extremely broad shoulders are essential
as the stage manager tends to be blamed (quite erroneously) for every
little hitch in proceedings. |
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