Stage Management E-Book

Gail Pallin

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 225

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The highly successful 'Bible for any stage manager', now in a revised edition updated in 2024. The stage manager is at the core of every successful theatre production: organising, managing and running rehearsals and performances; researching and procuring the props and furniture; and providing a creative information flow between the production and design departments. This handbook is for students, graduates and all those who aspire to stage management, whether amateur or professional, on a large or small scale. Complete with charts and helpful checklists, it takes the reader through a typical production, week by week. Other useful topics covered are: - Team dynamics and job roles - Theatre unions - Health and Safety legislation - The job market - Production templates - Management techniques and interpersonal skills - Creativity in stage management As well as updated information and resources throughout, this new edition includes two brand new sections: New Technology in Stage Management, and Sustainability in the Production Process. There are also case studies of professional stage managers and producers working in the field. 'A comprehensive guide for the aspiring stage manager' Alan Ayckbourn

Leseprobe

GAIL PALLIN

Gail Pallin’s professional career as a stage manager began in 1980 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, and has spanned a diverse and exciting breadth of theatre work, stage managing at many repertory theatres, including the Royal Court in London, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Derby Playhouse and the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester. During this time she also had the opportunity to tour small and middle-scale productions nationally.

After returning to Scotland, she worked freelance as a stage/production manager, workshop leader, events manager, sound engineer and part-time lecturer at Dundee College. Her interests in youth and community work led her to direct seven productions in Fife and Tayside.

She then took up a full-time position as Stage Management Lecturer at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, where she worked for fifteen years, contributing to building a very successful Stage Management course. She also provided vocational stage management training at Fife College. She is a former trustee at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Stage Management Association, and a Modern Apprenticeship Assessor. She continues to deliver short courses and master classes. She and her partner are also co-directors of CallQ which provides training software for show callers supplying to the industry and stage management training institutions across the world.

STAGE MANAGEMENT

THE ESSENTIAL HANDBOOK

Gail Pallin

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

A NICK HERN BOOK

This new edition of Stage Management: The Essential Handbook first published in Great Britain in 2010 as a paperback original by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP

Previously published in 2003 by Nick Hern Books Ltd and in 2000 by Queensgate Publications, Cookham, Berkshire

Reprinted with revisions in 2024

Stage Management: The Essential Handbook copyright © 2000, 2003, 2010, 2018, 2024 by Gail Pallin

Gail Pallin has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work

Photography by Colin Cavers Illustrations by Mark Richard Cover photograph: © iStockphoto.com/Luoman Cover design by www.energydesignstudio.com

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84842 014 4 (print edition) ISBN 978 1 78001 066 3 (ebook edition)

This book is dedicated to my students and fellow professionals – past and present – who have challenged and inspired me, and to my family who have supported me throughout

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Particular thanks are due to Alan Ayckbourn, Mark Richards, Kevin Eld and Colin Cavers for their invaluable contributions to the text.

And thanks also to those whose support and advice meant not only that the manuscript was delivered on time, but also that it was delivered at all! They are, in no particular order, Greta Millington, Mike Griffiths, Gary Sparkes, Lorne Boswell, Peter Byard, Madeleine Campbell, John Stone, Roy McMahon, Alison Steele, Roland Chadwick, Paul Rummer, Julian Bryant, Jimmy and Florentia Pallin, Nigel Jones, Corrie Cooper, Andrew Usher, Tracy Cattell, Derek McGhie, Joclynn Roberts, Victoria Fleming, Natasha Lee Walsh, Tracey Robertson, Gareth Pritchard, Lee Malcolmson, John Ramage, Lynn Bains, Pauline Miller Judd, Ronnie Smith, Ben Tinniswood, Scott Anderson, Molly Johnson, Jan Bee Brown, Peter Donald, John Diamond, Emma Whitfield, Ross McDade and Gemma Smith, Iain McConnell, Euan Turner, Martin Hope, Liz Burton, John Duncan, Corrie Cooper, Sam Burlace, Shane Thom, Gemma Smith, Fi Fraser and Stuart Nairn.

Finally, my gratitude to those who have contributed to this new edition: Matt Stern, Andy Rowley, Terry Lee Dickson, Nick Trueman, Iain Cunningham, Emily Speed, Hannah Lam, Cameron Collier, Jasmine Willans, Matthew Colquhoun, Shona M’gadzah, Taylor Colbeth, Isabella Yow and Caron Jane Lyon.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Sir Alan Ayckbourn

Introduction by Kevin Eld

1 Team Dynamics and Roles

The Production Process

2 The Preparation Period

3 The Rehearsal Period

4 Props Management

5 Pre-Production Week

6 Production Week

7 The Run

8 Management Techniques

9 Health and Safety

10 Theatre Unions

11 The Job Market

12 Case Studies

13 Creativity in Stage Management

14 Technology in Stage Management

15 Further Reading

16 Templates

17 Glossary

Appendix A: Sustainability

Index

‘What do you mean, that’s the get-in?’

FOREWORD

by Sir Alan Ayckbourn

Over thirty years ago I sneaked into professional theatre via the then established back door employed by the untrained aspiring actor or director who, for one reason or another, had chosen to eschew the formal entry route through drama school. I became an acting Assistant Stage Manager (ASM). Underpaid, if paid at all, this underclass was trapped between full time career Stage Manager and the fully-fledged actor. Stage Managers regarded acting ASMs with a mixture of amusement and contempt. Acting ASMs, in their professional experience, sat for hours in prop rooms taking three days doing a task badly that would have taken them three minutes to do well, dreaming of the day when they too would tread the boards. Acting ASMs, during performances, often performed their stage managerial duties while still wearing their stage costumes. I once worked the fly gallery in a rather skimpy sarong. I’d never climbed a ladder quite so fast.

Actors (the proper ones) tolerated us, albeit with a certain wariness. We were, after all, inaudible, untrained amateurs wearing rather too much stage make-up and often having a tenuous grasp of the text. We were an economic liability foist upon them by a penny-pinching management. We were doing the job that should properly have been done by a trained actor.

In the social order of things acting ASMs could be classed as the tweenies of the theatre. There was, in those days, still a residue of the old theatrical class system left over from a pre-war era which decreed that, while actors were above stairs, stage management belonged very much below stairs. Rarely did the two mix socially. In 1967, when my first West End play was doing its pre-London tour, Celia Johnson invited the company, cast and stage management to Sunday lunch at her home near Oxford. Celia was adored by us all as much for her charming self as for her formidable talent. Nonetheless there was a certain social embarrassment when, lunch having been announced, Celia indicated that the sole stage management representative among her guests would be eating separately from the rest of the party in the kitchen with nanny. So fondly was Celia regarded that no one present had the heart to say anything.

In the space of my lifetime I have seen and, needless to say, applauded the change in attitude between the two. Rightly and properly, the relationship between stage manager and performer has become a closer one with (in general!) each respecting the other’s craft. I did once have to stop a stage manager, driven to his hysterical limit by an offstage cast devouring his carefully prepared sandwiches, from spraying the food with a mild poison.

Part of this new found respectability is undoubtedly due to the demise of the acting ASM. Stage Management is no longer regarded as something that any passing body can take up at a moment’s notice. Part, too, is the seriousness now given to training. With the growth of backstage technology, the running of even a quite straightforward show these days requires enormous presence of mind, cool nerve and fast reflexes.

As a director of a small regional company, I spend most of my year in rehearsal. Other than the cast, the only permanent observer of the production’s progress is the Deputy Stage Manager (DSM). She or he (usually she) is our only day to day link with the rest of the building, passing on decisions, potential problems and possible conflicts of interest between departments (‘Design department: Miss Jones is now climbing out on to the roof in her crinoline, can both windows be made to open fully, please.’). Importantly for the director, the DSM becomes another pair of eyes. How often have I sneaked a covert glance towards my companion to see if the faint smile still approves the comic climax, or that the blink rate has gone up ever so slightly at the tragic denouement.

I’m delighted to have been asked to write the Foreword to this valuable book. It’s long overdue: a comprehensive guide for the aspiring stage manager, full of possible gentle reminders for the more experienced practitioner and for the curious layman a positive eye opener.

INTRODUCTION

by Kevin Eld

This is a book written by a stage manager for stage managers. It is aimed at students of stage management and theatre arts, newly qualified professionals, amateurs, arts centres, community drama workers, event organisers and anyone with an interest in learning more about an extremely challenging and rewarding show business discipline.

When one knows a great deal about a subject, and has practised a profession for many years, the questions ‘How do I begin?’ or ‘Where shall I start?’ always exist, but they are dealt with in the subconscious – much like pressing the accelerator and releasing the clutch when pulling away in a car. Consequently, to answer them correctly can be a more difficult and challenging task than was first thought.

I started in theatre as a stagehand at the tender age of 16. I worked for many years in a large, modern repertory theatre in the Midlands, where I was lucky enough to experience everything from touring opera to contemporary dance and from Equus to My Fair Lady. I toured the world with Hamlet and worked on a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar which played every major city in India. After moving to the West End I worked with Sir Cameron Mackintosh for several years and production managed many large musicals for him including the UK’s first touring production of The Phantom of the Opera, which travelled in more than 35 40ft trailers. In every case the show was held together by the stage manager.

After 25 years in the business I feel qualified to say that whether the show is a multi-million pound West End musical or a local amateur production, the same basic rules apply. The stage manager is the ‘hub of the wheel’ for the production team and company alike, and must know the text and blocking of a piece equally as well as the director. The show is unlikely to run smoothly or be a success if it is poorly stage-managed.

Gail Pallin and I first met in the late 1980s, when I was the production manager in the main house and she was the production manager of the studio theatre, and occasionally deputy on main house shows. She has dedicated her professional life to the art of the stage manager and there can be no one better qualified to write this book. We share many happy memories of our partnership and were a great team. We argued together and fought as all good partners do from time to time, but most of all we laughed and had fun.

I recall one particular episode, we were working on a production of the musical High Society. The set was somewhat ill conceived and involved many trucks arriving onstage by means of tracks that crossed each other in the wings. In fact one of the stage management team was heard to comment ‘being backstage on this show is more akin to working for British Rail than British rep’. One of the said trucks was a full size swimming pool and on the night in question the pool became jammed between two tracks. It would go neither on nor off stage, and was unfortunately wedged in position in full view of a packed auditorium. We decided that the only thing to do was to place several burly stage crew on the offstage end of the stubborn truck and on the command everyone would give a big heave. If only life were that simple. Instead of the pool moving smoothly off stage in the semi blackout, the entire end tore away accompanied by the very loud sound of ripping plywood. The lights came up to reveal the stagehands lying on their backs with their legs in the air! Gail still insists that no one noticed, but I’m not so sure.

There are many different types of theatre in existence, and as many varieties of stage managers. The job role will depend on the scale of the show, and the size of the staffing budgets. The basic principles in this book relate to stage management techniques used in middle-scale repertory theatre. Although not as commonplace today as it was, repertory theatre still thrives in the UK and many companies still perform different pieces on alternate nights. Indeed this is still the way many opera and dance companies prefer to operate.

Small-scale touring continues to be a wonderful training ground for the novice assistant stage manager, where one can learn the trade from seasoned professionals and develop the skills that have changed little since the days of William Shakespeare. The next logical step might be to investigate the world of commercial touring, ballet, opera or musical theatre, where the budgets are larger and the sets, special effects, lighting and sound rigs are generally more complex. This is where one starts to come into contact with the cutting edge of theatre technology as well as higher profile performers and creative teams.

You may have the opportunity to work on a long running production in the West End where you will meet new challenges, such as maintaining the motivation of the team and company, as well as the look of the show, after many months or, in some cases, years of doing the same show every night. This is the place where you may well encounter the black art of the automated set, where huge pieces of scenery are controlled with pinpoint accuracy by what appears to be a tiny computer. Complex scene changes can be plotted where several flown pieces pass each other while trucks negotiate their way across a revolving stage, and all under the control of one individual!

Whichever area you find yourself in, one thing is certain: you will become nurse maid, confidant and agony aunt to many different and unlikely people. Life will never be dull and you will experience tremendous highs and bottomless lows. The experience of saying ‘Stand-by LX cue 1’ and ‘House tabs – Go’ will give you a rush of adrenaline that few other experiences in life can.

Kevin Eld is President of Production and Creative Entertainment for EuroDisney

CHAPTER 1

TEAM DYNAMICS AND ROLES

In any group the key to productivity is teamwork. This alludes to the need for an integrated, co-operative and symbiotic relationship between all members. Central to this is the ability of each individual to be adaptable. This will lead to a sense of camaraderie and successful outcomes to team goals. It is essential to realise that a good team will share their skills, abilities and experience in an interactive and flexible way. The diagram below shows the relationship between the various roles within a producing theatre company.

Please note this is just one model of many, and each company will vary depending on its size, financial status and artistic scope. The diagram is somewhat hierarchical, but is useful to demonstrate the layers of responsibility and practical connections between the directors, front of house and producing departments. A more symbiotic diagram is shown at the end of this chapter.

Job roles

As with the diagram above, the responsibilities of the team will differ from company to company. The following descriptions are based loosely on middle to large-scale repertory theatre, but can be applied to most companies.

Chief Executive

•  Reports directly to the board of governors.

•  Has overall responsibility for the general running of the theatre.

•  Liaises with the board and artistic director on strategic planning and artistic policies.

•  Works with the artistic director and the board to ensure building and staffing costs stay within the yearly budgets allocated.

•  Oversees and staffs the front of house and marketing departments.

•  Liaises with a board of directors to negotiate contractual terms and engage the artistic director.

Artistic Director

•  Liaises with the general manager on the artistic remit, strategic planning and monetary allocations of the company.

•  Hires directors and designers.

•  Plans the season with respect to in-house and visiting productions.

•  Directs a few productions out of the season.

•  Liaises with marketing and publicity in developing sponsorship and marketing policies.

Director

•  Has overall artistic control of the production they have been hired to direct.

•  Liaises with the designers to create the style and concepts integral to the production.

•  Responsible for directing the performers, and advising all production departments as to the requirements of the production.

•  Maintains an overview of the piece to ensure a cohesive production.

•  Liaises with the production manager to ensure budgetary control.

Head of Finance/Finance Manager

•  Controls, administrates and keeps account of all spending within the company.

•  Responsible for employees’ rights, pay and contracts.

•  Originates and distributes allocated budgets to the managers.

Head of Production (PM)

•  Employs and supervises all production staff.

•  Plans and maintains staffing levels.

•  Ensures the staff is trained in safe working practices as required by the Health and Safety policy.

•  Responsible for the maintenance and safety of all working areas and equipment as required by the Health and Safety policy.

•  Liaises and agrees the budgets and design deadlines with the director and designers.

•  Advises the designer about Health and Safety implications within the set design.

•  Prepares and distributes the provisional schedule and budgets to all production departments.

•  Oversees all ordering of materials and building work.

•  Manages and controls the production budget.

•  Chairs design and production/ progress meetings.

•  Prepares the production risk assessment and advises on action to be taken.

•  Schedules and oversees all work during production week.

•  Contributes to the technical rehearsal by taking technical notes and scheduling their completion.

•  Attends the first performance to confirm the director’s original intent has been achieved.

This book is intended for stage managers; however, there is further information for those who wish to study the role of production manager in more detail (see Index for references.).

Company Manager/Company Stage Manager

A Company Manager is employed to take on responsibilities when a large production goes out on tour. Their responsibilities may include the following;

•  Liaising with Marketing Department and Front of House in each venue.

•  Organising accommodation for the cast and production team.

•  Organising all travel arrangements for the company.

•  Organising and monitoring contractual arrangements of the company.

•  Looking after the health and wellbeing of the company.

•  Providing touring packs to the company.

•  Organising the weekly payments of the company.

•  Monitoring the weekly hours of the cast.

•  Running extra rehearsals/understudy rehearsals during the run.

Some companies hire a Company Stage Manager (CSM) to oversee and complement the existing stage management team/s. If a producing company has two or more stage management teams, this role may be responsible for the following:

•  Facilitate and oversee the smooth running and organisation of the stage management teams.

•  Monitor, collate and submit the weekly time sheets of the company.

•  Look after the health and wellbeing of the cast and stage management team.

•  Cover for the stage managers on show calls.

Each touring production and large company will have specific needs and requirements of the above roles, depending on the structure and skills base of the production and stage management team, and therefore the above list is by no means exhaustive. The role will be tailored to individual company needs and will vary considerably.

Stage Manager (SM)

•  Has overall responsibility for the stage management team and their training, but should be prepared to do any and all work within the team’s remit.

•  Oversees auditions, and provides and furnishes rehearsal space with a mark up, rehearsal props, furniture and elements of the set at the director’s discretion.

•  Co-ordinates the information flow between all departments.

•  Oversees the rehearsal process, company calls and overtime payments pertaining to union agreements.

•  Ensures rehearsals comply with the Health and Safety policy.

•  Organises and participates in the research, procurement and safe storage of props, furniture and set dressing, and their safe return.

•  Manages the stage management budget.

•  Runs the technical rehearsal in liaison with the director, production manager and deputy stage manager.

•  Responsible for the health and well-being of the company, and all aspects of the show during the run (including maintaining the quality of performance).

•  Organises and manages the safe return of props and furniture.

Deputy Stage Manager (DSM)

•  Assists with auditions and preparation of rehearsal room.

•  Compiles provisional props list in conjunction with stage manager and assistant stage manager.

•  Sets up and runs rehearsals daily.

•  Responsible for blocking, prompting and distributing rehearsal notes and call sheets daily.

•  Keeps record of performers’ hours with respect to union agreement.

•  Compiles and distributes setting plots, running plots and cue synopsis.

•  Advises stage manager of any Health and Safety issues within rehearsals.

•  Cues show during the technical rehearsal, dresses and the run.

•  Writes up the show report after every performance to assist in maintaining discipline and quality of performance and technical standards throughout the run.

•  Ensures all running plots are appended to the prompt copy at the end of the run.

•  Assists with the safe return of props and furniture.

•  May be required to deputise for the stage manager.

Assistant Stage Manager (ASM)

•  Assists with auditions and preparation of rehearsal room.

•  Participates in the procurement of props, furniture and set dressing.

•  Covers rehearsals if necessary.

•  Works within the allocated stage management budget.

•  Has a major responsibility for the setting of props and backstage work during the run, which frees up the stage manager to troubleshoot.

•  Assists with the safe return of props and furniture.

•  May be required to deputise for the deputy stage manager.

Set Designer

•  Liaises with the director to conceive the visual and stylistic elements of set, furniture and props.

•  Builds a scale model of the set, and produces a ground plan and working drawings to assist the production team and performers to visualise the ideas contained in the design.

•  Works with the director, costume and lighting designer to ensure a visual cohesion throughout the design.

•  In liaison with the production manager, ensures the design is within budget and every effort has been taken to provide a safe environment for the performers to work within.

•  Oversees the building, painting, fit up and technical and dress rehearsals to ensure the original intentions are realised.

Master Carpenter

•  Responsible for building the set within the time allocated.

•  Trains and oversees all work done by the assistants.

•  Ensures all work done by workshop staff comply with Health and Safety regulations.

•  Controls the budget allocated for the build.

•  May run the fit up and is responsible for the safe delivery of the set onstage.

•  Ensures the quality of the set is maintained throughout the run.

Scenic Painter

•  Oversees the smooth running of the paint shop.

•  Responsible for painting all elements of the set within the time allocated.

•  Ensures assistants are adequately trained and observe the Health and Safety legislation in their use of the many and various materials required for the job.

•  Controls the paint budget.

Props Master

•  Oversees the smooth running of the prop shop.

•  Is responsible for delivering all props makes within the time allocated.

•  Ensures assistants are adequately trained and observe the Health and Safety legislation in their handling of dangerous substances and equipment.

•  Controls the props makes budget.

•  Assists stage management in maintaining a high standard of props throughout the run.

Lighting Designer

•  In liaison with the director and set and costume designers, develops the overall lighting interpretation for the production within the allocated budget.

•  Decides on the most appropriate types of lamps, effects and other specialist equipment required to achieve the design.

•  Chooses the most appropriate positions for lighting and auxiliary equipment and produces a plan to convey that design for rigging.

•  Ensures the consistent quality of the three dimensional lighting picture.

•  Trains (if necessary) the lighting technician who is operating the show, and oversees the plotting session, technical rehearsal, dresses and first night to ensure the design is true to the original intent.

Chief LX (electrician)

•  Manages the smooth running of the electrical department.

•  Responsible for maintaining all in-house electrical equipment with respect to Health and Safety legislation.

•  Responsible for rigging, focusing and plotting in the allocated time.

•  Trains and oversees all work done by the assistants.

•  Sources hires and effects and controls the departmental budget.

•  Ensures the quality of the lighting design is maintained throughout the run.

Sound Designer

•  In liaison with the director and musical director (where relevant), designs the overall sound for the production within the allocated budget.

•  In consultation with the production manager, will choose the most appropriate types and positions for speakers, monitors, mixers and auxiliary equipment.

•  Ensures the quality of sound from the front row of the audience right up to the gods is balanced and audible.

•  Trains the sound technician operating the show, and oversees the technical rehearsal, dresses and first night to ensure the design is true to the original intent.

Sound Technician

•  Responsible for ensuring all in-house sound equipment is maintained to a high standard.

•  Hires and orders equipment needed for the show.

•  Records sound effects required for the production.

•  Operates the sound during the run, and maintains the standards of sound quality, as designed, throughout the run.

Costume Designer

•  In liaison with the director and set and lighting designers, will conceive the visual and stylistic designs of the costumes.

•  Provides costume plates/drawings and fabric samples for the wardrobe supervisor to realise the designs.

•  In consultation with the production manager and wardrobe supervisor, ensures the expenditure comes within the budget.

•  Oversees the making and hiring of costumes and attends all fittings.

•  Attends technical dress rehearsals and the first night to ensure the original intentions have been achieved.

Wardrobe Supervisor

•  Manages the smooth running of the wardrobe.

•  Responsible for the delivery of all costumes within the time allocated.

•  Trains the wardrobe staff and oversees making and hiring of costumes.

•  Ensures all work done in wardrobe complies with the Health and Safety policy.

•  Orders all materials necessary for the costume makes.

•  Controls the costume budget.

•  Runs the fittings and costume parade/call to ensure the performers are comfortable and happy with their costumes.

•  Attends the technical, dress rehearsals and first night to ensure the original intention has been realised.

Cutters/Tailors

•  Works to the designs provided by the costume designer.

•  Builds all costumes within the time allocated.

•  Observes safe working practices within wardrobe.

•  Attends the technical, dress rehearsals and first night to take notes of required alterations.

Dressers/maintenance

•  Responsible for the costume changes during the technical, dress rehearsals and the run.

•  Ensures the performers are assisted with any difficulties they may have pertaining to the costumes or costume changes.

•  Maintains the costumes throughout the run to provide a constant quality of appearance.

Technical Stage Manager

•  Manage relevant technical budgets and monitor technical staff hours to ensure no overtime is incurred

•  Identifies relevant equipment hires and purchases

•  Responsible for all moving elements of the set.

•  In liaison with the production manager, lighting designer and flyman allocates each piece of flown scenery to a specific bar.

•  Manages the crew, and plans the scene changes.

•  Oversees and trains staff where necessary in respect of technical work onstage.