Work experience at The Seagull Theatre
The Seagull Theatre with The Keeper’s Daughter-
19th September 2019-
This was the first day of my work experience at The Seagull Theatre. This is with the theatre company The Keeper’s Daughter, who were putting on a production of Hound of the Baskervilles. On this day, I got a tour of the theatre, including looking at the costume department and where a lot of the props are made. They make most of their own props as well, so there is a diverse range that could be used for many different productions. For example, there was a couple of lights made for the production of Hound of the Baskervilles, which were made from milk jugs and torches. I also saw where all the lights are kept for different productions and the different types of lights that are available to be used when putting on a production at The Seagull.
After looking around the theatre, I came back and watched the rehearsal of the script. This was good for me to watch because I realized that although there was a director, he did not take full control over how the script and production should look, but he took some points from the actors on stage as well because they were actually playing in it and they tried out some different ways of playing certain parts. For example, during a scene where all 3 are looking out of a window, they tried having lights on certain parts of their faces, or different sized frames that they were using for the window. It came across more comedic and broke the tension of the scene before. This was good to see this scene being rehearsed a few times because it shows me that the director will not always take full control and allowing those acting in it to give some opinions about it.
Overall, this first day gave me a better insight of how a production is put on and even though they only had a small amount of time to put this together, that they are all working hard and making sure that the production is going to be good enough to perform to the public. It also shows me as an actor, that there only needs to be a small cast (3 in this case) and there can be a production put on. This is important because it comes with more skill for acting in being able to take on those multiple roles for the production, and all that’s needed is a small costume change and slight accent change to give that difference between all the characters, and this allows for the audience to believe there are more on the stage rather than just the 3 actors.
20th September-
This was more of a busy day for everyone at the theatre because there was all the lighting equipment being brought in and set up. This made the production come across as more polished than it was the day before. The different lighting equipment was interesting to look at as well because there was some that was a little older and used slides that had hand-drawn images on them. This was interesting to see how the lighting looked on the screens and cloths that were used to create shadows and backgrounds for other images. This day was full of rehearsals and trying out different lightings to see how they worked with the scenery and the script, which was important to try out before the actual production is being performed. There was not much that I could do during this day because there was a lot of tech going on and so I had to sit down and watch how the tech was being done. This means that I gained a little knowledge about the lights, but it was not as hands on as it was yesterday.
Overall, this day was good for me to get a better understanding of different types of lights and how I can make different effects for a performance. I will be able to use this knowledge for my business idea and what I want to do later on with my career.
30th September-
This was a little while after we had gone for the first couple of days. This was more to watch how far they have come from the time we watched them rehearse. I was also able to run lines with the actors and help them with learning what lines they did not know. This was good experience for me because I got to speak to them and find out how they learn lines and what their experience has been in the creative industry. This was the most interesting point during the day because I got some advice on acting and what I need to do to succeed in this industry. Having watched the rehearsal, I got to see some of the costumes as well and to see how the show had changed from when I first went for work experience, it had been developed so much with the different lights, sounds and voices that the actors were doing. The feel of the show was that it was going to be the proper story of Hound of the Baskervilles, but with the all female cast.
Overall, this work experience allowed me to witness a proper show being put on for the first time from an outsiders point of view. It showed me how the director is not just going to be full of power, but that they will ask for opinions from the cast since they have also read the script and they may want their feel of it as well as their own. Watching the development was good because it shows that even after only a few days, there had been so much change and it was nice to see the almost finished project from where it started to how it was almost at show day.
19th September 2019-
This was the first day of my work experience at The Seagull Theatre. This is with the theatre company The Keeper’s Daughter, who were putting on a production of Hound of the Baskervilles. On this day, I got a tour of the theatre, including looking at the costume department and where a lot of the props are made. They make most of their own props as well, so there is a diverse range that could be used for many different productions. For example, there was a couple of lights made for the production of Hound of the Baskervilles, which were made from milk jugs and torches. I also saw where all the lights are kept for different productions and the different types of lights that are available to be used when putting on a production at The Seagull.
After looking around the theatre, I came back and watched the rehearsal of the script. This was good for me to watch because I realized that although there was a director, he did not take full control over how the script and production should look, but he took some points from the actors on stage as well because they were actually playing in it and they tried out some different ways of playing certain parts. For example, during a scene where all 3 are looking out of a window, they tried having lights on certain parts of their faces, or different sized frames that they were using for the window. It came across more comedic and broke the tension of the scene before. This was good to see this scene being rehearsed a few times because it shows me that the director will not always take full control and allowing those acting in it to give some opinions about it.
Overall, this first day gave me a better insight of how a production is put on and even though they only had a small amount of time to put this together, that they are all working hard and making sure that the production is going to be good enough to perform to the public. It also shows me as an actor, that there only needs to be a small cast (3 in this case) and there can be a production put on. This is important because it comes with more skill for acting in being able to take on those multiple roles for the production, and all that’s needed is a small costume change and slight accent change to give that difference between all the characters, and this allows for the audience to believe there are more on the stage rather than just the 3 actors.
20th September-
This was more of a busy day for everyone at the theatre because there was all the lighting equipment being brought in and set up. This made the production come across as more polished than it was the day before. The different lighting equipment was interesting to look at as well because there was some that was a little older and used slides that had hand-drawn images on them. This was interesting to see how the lighting looked on the screens and cloths that were used to create shadows and backgrounds for other images. This day was full of rehearsals and trying out different lightings to see how they worked with the scenery and the script, which was important to try out before the actual production is being performed. There was not much that I could do during this day because there was a lot of tech going on and so I had to sit down and watch how the tech was being done. This means that I gained a little knowledge about the lights, but it was not as hands on as it was yesterday.
Overall, this day was good for me to get a better understanding of different types of lights and how I can make different effects for a performance. I will be able to use this knowledge for my business idea and what I want to do later on with my career.
30th September-
This was a little while after we had gone for the first couple of days. This was more to watch how far they have come from the time we watched them rehearse. I was also able to run lines with the actors and help them with learning what lines they did not know. This was good experience for me because I got to speak to them and find out how they learn lines and what their experience has been in the creative industry. This was the most interesting point during the day because I got some advice on acting and what I need to do to succeed in this industry. Having watched the rehearsal, I got to see some of the costumes as well and to see how the show had changed from when I first went for work experience, it had been developed so much with the different lights, sounds and voices that the actors were doing. The feel of the show was that it was going to be the proper story of Hound of the Baskervilles, but with the all female cast.
Overall, this work experience allowed me to witness a proper show being put on for the first time from an outsiders point of view. It showed me how the director is not just going to be full of power, but that they will ask for opinions from the cast since they have also read the script and they may want their feel of it as well as their own. Watching the development was good because it shows that even after only a few days, there had been so much change and it was nice to see the almost finished project from where it started to how it was almost at show day.
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