Cli-clunk, Whrrrrrrr

Thanks to the wonders of modern digital photograph, merely a week after finishing Little Match Girl and performing at Alchemi, photographs have arrived on my virtual desk of the two events.

As LMG was my first proper foray into theatre lighting (using all my own design and programming) i feel particularly proud that nothing went monstrously wrong and i even enjoyed the experience! Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's my dissertation.

LMG in a dream world

Drunk old crone

Cast singing the main theme song

LMG being wrongly accused

Tart singing about poor people enjoying a drink

LMG threatening a rich man for not giving her any money

If you've made it this far, well done! Usually after sifting through a bunch of photos of theatre I tend to blank anything else that happens after them and i imagine others may do likewise.

December'd Alchemi happened to fall on the evening of the church christmas play, which allowed us to tart up the room with lots of expensive things. If it pleases the court, may I present Exhibit A:

Photo by Ceri Herbert

I didn't have the foresight to take a before picture to go with this after one, but the church itself looks VERY different from the picture above.

There's no business like it

Time is running out before the start of Pukka production's next play "The Little Matchstick Girl". I've been at the venue spending the last two days getting all the lighting infrastructure in place, being told that a sparky would be along to connect us up with 63/3 mains on the first day. 

I went in today hoping that the sparky would turn up mid-afternoon so that I could start focusing lights and making sure all my patching is right. Nothing.

I'm going back tomorrow mid-afternoon in the hope that he has visited in the morning so I can start preparing for the tech rehearsal tomorrow evening. If he doesn't show, no tech rehearsal!

I'm going a bit panorama crazy recently so here's one from yesterday when the truss was empty and the fixtures were on the floor waiting to be rigged. The original file was 86MB, I wasn't going to wait all night for it to upload, so it'll have to be this lo-res version instead.

how to re-use a building

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

I've worked for a few productions with a local Am-Dram Society from Barry called Pukka Productions, and this year they've got big plans for their big yearly performance in december.

Porthkerry Methodist Church is up for sale in barry, and a local community arts group want to turn the church into the two-storey "Canolfan Porthceri Centre", incorporating galleries, a theatre and some various other arty rooms, a bit like The Gate in cardiff.

This year Pukka productions decided to utilise the space that the church offered, and use it for a week long run of performances.

The view in the panorama is what the audience will be seeing. The pews will have been taken away by December, but the heating pipes that follow the lines of the pews in a zig-zagwill most likely stay in place(above the floor!). This means that the whole area the pews now cover will have to be covered in staging a foot off the ground. 

The balcony at the back of the room is pretty treacherous to say the least, and i'm not sure about hanging fly bars from the roof beams, so back and top lighting will probably not be happening.

The first thing the Director said to me was that the play included lots and lots of complicated and drastic lighting changes! So of course I'm looking forward to seeing the script and finding out just how drastic these changes are meant to be!

It's going to be an interesting few months leading up to this play, I'll be sure to let you know what happens along the way, whether you like it or not!