'We were on a break!!!!'

Now that the STaG nights festival is over (YES! at last! :D), I'm taking advantage of one of my now so much more frequent free moments to give you an update on my Glaswegian experience.

STaG nights went really well, and every single thing I did there was new, which I sometimes think to be my goal in life, so I was quite content :D.

-I was the stage manager for a play. Usually stage managers locate the set and props (ie. the objects used by the actors) but the director already knew what she was doing, so I mainly helped her to organise rehearsals and book rehearsal space, which is not very hard but quite time consuming and requires to be organised when you have to book rooms every other day :) I actually loved it, and you feel so useful doing that, as it helps the director focus on directing.

- For that same play, I operated the lights on the night. Basically, the lights are controled by a big console which looks a bit like a keyboard linked to a computer. What usually happens is that the lights are set up and pre-programmed during the tech setup and rehearsal, so that any one can operate them on the night, just by clicking on the 'GO' button when a different atmosphere needs to be used (there are cues in the script for you to know when to do it). However, it is still possible to go back to a previous control or to do it manually if necessary, obviously, but I didn't learn to do that as it wasn't necessary and there wasn't enough time for it.

- Another first was singing as part of a duet in an adaptation of Prokoviev's Peter and the Wolf. There are no singers in the original orchestra version, but a student (who I also happened to know through the musical theatre society) rearranged the score for a piano, a clarinet (played by Nils :)) And 2 singers. It was very interesting but quite stressful as the singing was acappella (ie without accompaniment), contained harmonies and had to be learned within 5 days, what with me not being able to read music unless I already know the notes of the melody. Besides, I had two assignment deadlines on the same day, so I couldn't work all the time on the music... But it went well in the end, and the bits of the play I managed to see from the corner of my eye were very entertaining (there was a story teller and people from the audience improvising the actions of the story - helped by 2 assistants - while we were doing the music :))

- The last one was a devise piece (see pictures above). What happened is that we used a space in the building (the bottom of a stairwell) and started devising the "play" from scratch. There was no script in the beginning, so we did a lot of brainstorming and experimented with sound, movement, tried to use the space differently from the way we would have used the more neutral and 'artificial' theatre stage. We tried to give meaning and life to what was previously a very empty space, and it was a very interesting process. It was theatre, but part of it was an installation (a visual and sound display that people could see when we were not performing). The audience was watching from the steps :). I believe it went very well in the end, although we hadn't had time to rehearse our play a lot, since we had to devise (=write) it first.
Oh, and most importantly, I met great people doing 'Stairwell' :)

- And, last but not least, it was the first time I went to a theatre festival! :D (or at least watched more than one play in one), and I really enjoyed watching all of the plays, especially as I had auditioned for most of them so I was quite eager to see what they would look like and how they would end :o)

Sadly enough, I was so tired with not having a real break since Freshers' week and having university work pile up that I didn't go to the after-show party, but for once I didn't really care :D


xxx