"It’s not easy having a life outside of work"

Hometown
I’m originally from Exeter. Now kind of Salisbury/ Bristol. Depends where my job is really.

What do you do?
Stage management (freelance)

How long have you been at it?
One year

What was your very first role in theatre?
Professionally, assistant stage manager (ASM) for Salisbury Playhouse

Before I trained I was a member of the Northcott Young Company , Exeter, where I took on a number of stage management roles

What have you done in theatre?
* Stage manager, Teenage Kicks Youth Festival The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath
* Assistant stage manager (ASM), Animal Farm, Peter Hall Company, The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath
* ASM on show at Salisbury Playhouse including Indian Ink, Vincent In Brixton, Two Cities, A Woman of No Importance and Sleeping Beauty.

Have you got qualifications?
BTEC national diploma in drama and
Diploma in Professional Stage Management from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Many things! Eventually I settled on stage management.

What do you do all day?
I have just finished working as an ASM on Animal Farm at Bath Theatre Royal. My usual day when the show was open would see me start work at about 3pm for a 7.30pm show, 12 noon for a 2.30pm show, 11am for a 1.30pm show and 8.30am for a 10.30am show. We did nine shows a week, one of those being a 10.30am. Before the show I would come in and reset from the previous show. This would involve clearing up blood (I hope she means fake!), resetting props and costumes to their starting positions, making food and drink and preparing lots of blood. The reset would take myself and Andy the DSM (deputy stage manager) about an hour and a half. Once we have set up we always do what is known as a “shout check”–this is to ensure that everything is in its correct place and nothing has been moved since we set it.

As well as setting up for every performance, there was also maintenance to do, ie mending anything that had broken, filling eggs with stage blood, making money (isn’t this illegal?) and doing consumable shopping.

Another responsibility of the stage management team is to ensure that all the company are in the building when they are due to be. We also had to run the warm-up in the sense of making sure everyone was there and they all had what they needed; and because there were fight sequences during the show, we run the fight every day before the show.

Once the show starts it is then my responsibility to deal with any situations that arise and carry out the interval change with Andy. This means setting the stage up ready for Act Two.

Once we have done the interval change we then do an interval check to make sure that we have done everything. By the end of the show, the stage and everything on it ends up covered in stage blood. It’s then my job, once the auditorium is clear, to mop up the blood and also to rinse any props that are covered in blood. For example, we had two flags which got covered every night which I would rinse before finishing. My day would then end at about 10.30pm. My basic hours are 46 hours per week over six days, plus overtime.

What’s the best thing about your job?
How varied and exciting it can be

And the worst?
It’s not easy having a life outside of work! I have very patient friends who don’t see me very often.

What’s your dream job in theatre?
DSM (deputy stage manager) on a number one musical

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
Work hard and enjoy it. Be prepared for long hours and spending lots of time away from home.