Our House FMP Evaluation
So the FMP “Our House” The Madness musical is over. This was a long week spent in the brewery arts theatre during the show and final rehersals. During this show I was originally on the lighting team as a lantern rigger, however this changed to working with the set team as a stage hand operating the 2 doors which moved up out the floor and within less than 10 minuites of contacting my place of work to be sure I was there I was furthermore demoted by the director Hilary Pzet for “proving unreliable”. So my overall role was reading the script and informing the stage team of upcoming cues and when they were making sure everyone was in place and knew what to do.
Who did I work with?
During the actual show I worked alongside Collin(First year Level 3), Andrew Barrow(set builder), Sam Porthouse(Set Builder), Josh Liley(First Year level 3), Dom Rigby(First Year level 3), Josh Parkin and Luke Vigus.
How Did we decide what to do?
Well I didn’t really have much choice in the matter as every job I was given I somehow lost my place to another person or was demoted from. But the job I did end up doing was suggested to me by Collin after informing me they could do with someone by the coms and following the script at all times and making sure everyone was ready so I took this role on. From there on everything seemed to work out great amongst us.
List Of Equipment Used:
My list of equipment that I used well there isn’t really one except for a copy of the script and the odd few tools where I had to help with construction or taking things apart. However I did provide a full skateboard set up to the props team and also managed to get a .10 gauge Top E guitar string 10 minuites before the final show was due to start thanks to Jason Williams(Music student) who lived 2 minuites down the road from the venue.
How Do I Feel My Role Went?
Overall after my jobs chopping and changing and so on I feel my role went really well once I had it as there wasn’t a single slip in all 3 shows. To be honest I feel the whole team worked really well together.
Any Other Teams I Had To Communicate/Work With? And Why?
Not really, well not exactly during the show until the get out where we all came together to take it down. On the lead up to the show I was working with Mike Taylor(head of lighting) and helped out a little with the set building which was only the odd bit of painting, helping screw some wheels onto the boat and making one of however many signs. The only other bit I helped another team with was the props team by putting together and old skateboard set up and loaning it to them till the end of the show.
Working With The Director:
What Did The Director Ask Us To Do/Create?
The director pretty much asked to recreate a massive musical called Our House which is the madness musical. The script we used had bits which were based or loosely based on the west end version we all watched on youtube.
How Well Did We Do What We Were Asked?
I’d say we all did very well considering what was demanded and expected. A lot of the stuff was also provided by other departments of the college such as the art department, etc. So a huge shout out and thanks to the people who helped out who didn’t need to get involved.
Were There Any Problems With What The Director Asked Us To Do?
This is a risky one to answer but at some points some of the things I was asked by the director or the director said to me I took a huge offense to. Other than the odd few bits here and there I guess there wasn’t any problems with what the director had asked.
If We Had Been Given More Time To Spend On The Production What Could We Have Done To Make It Better?
This one I really don’t know because in my eyes this was the biggest show we’d ever put together in my 3 years at this college and everything went so well when it came down to the show.
General:
What Was The Venue like?
Inside the venue there was a nice amount of seating and the stage that was provided was the biggest space we’d had to work with yet. Saying this we also had a lot of set and props to go onto this so by the end of it, it was pretty tight for space unless you were in the seating racks or in the operating room.
What Was The Get In Like?
For the majority of the get in I wasn’t there due to having to run home to collect aload of stuff because I had to go sleep on peoples sofas all week to attend this. However constructing everything did seem to take quite some time and a lot of altering needed to be done to certain bits till they were ready for use and safe.
What went well/badly in the tech run?
Honestly during the rehersals I’d say anything that could have gone wrong went wrong but we somehow got through it. Each rehersal took around 6 – 8 hours which is pretty long. Considering this we somehow managed to pull it all off perfectly during the shows. Also a table collapsed at one point during the rehersal of a scene.
What went well in performance 1? What went Badly? How Well Did I Contribute?
In the first performance I think we were all amazed at how well it went from what I remember we had no slip ups except for I think one of the flats amost got tipped over during a change when it clipped another one. I feel my contribution on this show was pretty good as I was I kept ontop of the cues but maybe fell behind on a few of them and could’ve called them a little earlier.
What Went well in performance 2? What went badly? How well did I contribute?
In this second performance things went smoother than the last show. Everything was prepared slightly earlier for the cues and people were in their places when they needed to be. I can’t recall of anything going bad for this show. As for my contribution to this show It was pretty much the same as the last only I was abit more ontop of the cues and didn’t get lost on the script of fall behind as badly as the last time as some parts were a little hard to keep up with.
What Went Well in performance 3? What went badly? How Well Did I Contribute?
For the third performance, this was on the Saturday afternoon and everything went perfectly nothing at all went wrong with this. Everyone was even more focused and alert as before and prepared. I don’t recall of a single bad thing happening during this from where I was positioned back stage. My contribution went well again. This time I was dead on following the script and cues and Andrew Barrow had provided a new and more up to date list of cues for me to follow.
What Went Well In Performance 4? What Went Badly? How Well Did I Contribute?
The fourth and final performance went perfect, no one had lost focus or anything. No one was slacking, slipping up or falling behind. It went great. Nothing bad happened during this show, everyone did great. As for my contribution again, I just stayed focused on what I was doing and keeping ontop of it.
What Comments/criticism were there about the technical aspects of the show?
From the public the feedback was good, everyone was pretty impressed. From the director at the end of each show there was the odd few pointers that were made but were only minor issues and nothing serious thankfully. Just certain little bits that could be improvedon a little.
What did I learn as a result of doing this show?
I have learnt that working in a theatre all week is long and tiring but can be pretty fun. I was happy enough with what I’d done during the show.
My overall views of this show
I feel this show went really well and to be honest I’m pretty glad I started attending again to finish this show off as it was a great opportunity to work in an actual theatre in town. It may not have been the easiest week but it was a good productive week even if I had to work my way back into it all. I think everyone did great too performers and technical, It had gone from sitting through two 6 – 8 hour rehersals to having a smooth running 2 hours show just like that.
