Skills Development
Skills Development
Embedded Files
Opportunities For Progression
Opportunities For Progression
Future Aspirations:
Future Aspirations:
My end goal is to be working a management/stage hand role either in a local theatre or down in London's West End. I'm not against doing roles in Front of House if opportunities go quiet at any points. Touring for this role does appeal to me however I would only like to tour nationally due to my dislike of warm countries, I also don't think I would like to do this full time since I appreciate stability.
I would also like to relocate from Manchester so any opportunities that happen to make the move easier will be more appealing, even if they require me to travel back from time to time.
Future Employment:
Future Employment:
If I chose to stay in Manchester then I would ideally pick up a role at the Royal Exchange or another independent theatre in the area due to a personal preference in independent companies - this role would preferably be in stage management but as mentioned prior I'm not against roles in FoH.
If I chose to relocate then I would like to experience what it's like to work in the West End due it's fast pace and high standard work environment.
When searching for employment I would use websites such as ATG Careers, UK Theatre, Arts Council England and The Stage Jobs - even if they don't tend to post many Stage Management Roles. It would also be useful for me to join the Stage Management Association in order to keep an eye on vacancies specialized to my chosen area.
Potential Companies to work with:
Potential Companies to work with:
It can be difficult to label specific companies to work with as a Stage Manager as you tend to do more freelance then permanent positions however some companies I will pay attention to and would like to work with in the future are: ATG (Ambassador Theatre Group), The Royal Exchange Theatre, and The Royal Shakespeare Company. I've chosen these companies out of the many as they are all big names whether in mainstream or independent theatre. I've also worked closely with the Royal Exchange in the past few years so I believe it will be fulfilling for me to be able to finally work with them professionally in a technical role and not the community / ambassador roles I have held with them previously.
Higher Education / Training:
Higher Education / Training:
In my search for university courses that would help me to progress with my specialization I was let down by choices as there wasn't as many specializing in Stage Management as previously described to me. Despite this set back, I have picked out 5 universities/drama schools that have peaked my interest.
University Choices
University Choices
1 - Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama
1 - Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama
Course Name: Stage Management and Technical Theatre
Course Length: Full Time 3 years
Location: Main Site (Cardiff)
Degree Type: Bachelors (BA)
This course is high on my list due to their reputation, specialized and highly spoken about tutors, and small classes/exclusivity. Along with this it is in Cardiff which has recently been rated one of the cheapest student cities, which would make it very affordable considering I would have to move away from home. The only downsides I can find to this course are how far I would have to move and the fact that I would have to re-sit through similar content to what I've been learning in college.
2 - Academy of Live Technology
2 - Academy of Live Technology
Course Name: Stage and Production Management
Course Length: Full Time 3 years
Location: Main Site (Near Leeds)
Degree Type: Bachelors (BA)
This choice was originally lower on my list but has been moved up due to the extra research I did into the course itself. The content of the course focus' on more of the management and admin roles and doesn't mean I have to re-sit my previous 2 years of experience from college, even though the spec does touch up on those skills as well. This university is also a lot closer to home which would make it easier and more affordable if I needed to go home for any reason. ALT is also very well known for having great industry contacts especially in the live sector but both nationally and internationally.
3 - Rose Bruford
3 - Rose Bruford
Course Name: Stage Management
Course Length: Full Time 3 years
Location: Main Site (London)
Degree Type: Bachelors (BA)
As this is a popular drama school and is known for having good progression it feels like a good middle point in my list. The part about this course that interest me the most the the opportunity to go and study abroad in the USA for a term of your second year. Another positive is that the spec of this course also doesn't require me to fully sit through my college diploma all over again.
4 - Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama
4 - Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama
Course Name: Production Technologies and Stage Management
Course Length: Full Time 3 years
Location: Main Site (London)
Degree Type: Bachelors (BA)
The main opportunities with this drama school are its reputation and location however as it focuses on a broader side of things (the technical and stage management side) so I feel the main experience I will gather from this course may be the ability to specialize in a new environment.
5 - Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA)
5 - Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA)
Course Name: Management (Theatre and Screen)
Course Length: Full Time 3 years
Location: Main Site (Liverpool)
Degree Type: Bachelors (BA)
Link to Course Overview
This course focuses predominantly on the management side of things, which is great considering that is what the course if for, however looking at the specs for each year it seems that it doesn't really cover any of the calling or cueing side of things. It seems its main focuses are Copyright legislations and marketing strategies which whilst I agree are necessary are not exactly what I am looking to completely focus on for the complete time that I am there.
Future Skills Needed:
Future Skills Needed:
In order to create a stable career in stage management roles (SM, DSM, ASM) you require personal skills such as: organization, leadership, communication, patience, teamwork, and composure. These skills are developed through practice so I will use any experience / opportunity available to me over my career journey in order to do this. Due to the nature of these skills they will be hard to manage the progress however that doesn't mean its not worth developing them.
You also need basic technical skills and knowledge, in order for you to understand the departments you'd be coordinating. These skills include knowing how to operate for certain departments (LX, SD) and the basics of how these departments function. Tracking the development for these skills should be simple as any knowledge basis you build on will be apparent in your work.
Software skills such as spreadsheets (google sheets / excel), word / docs, and certain programs that help either with a department or with managing the development of a production. A software I would like to learn in more detail is QLab since despite already knowing most of the basics AV wise, it would be nice to focus on some more of the sound aspects of the program. In order to track developments in these skills I would have to create models and examples and review the clarity and efficiency each time.
All of these skills are crucial for me to be able to progress efficiently in my career path, and will give me an advantage in higher education and the industry. However, ones that I want to develop in particular are my personal skills and software skills regarding planning and logging as these will help me when writing Risk Assessments and organizing the development of a production.
Development Plan
Development Plan
Specific skills I want to develop:
Specific skills I want to develop:
Writing up show/rehearsal reports
How to correctly label and perform risk assessments
How to apply legislations to a situation
How to react in different situations (show stop, cast injury, etc.) (Links to Risk Assessments)
How to organize/format a call sheet
How to read and make Gantt charts
Problem-Solving / Decision Making
Organization
Time Management
Multi-Tasking
Communication
Department knowledge (LX, SD, Set, Props)
Admin Skills (Spreadsheets, registers, etc.)
Prop and Set Management
General skills I want to develop:
General skills I want to develop:
Facilitation (workshops)
Basic Crewing Knowledge/Experience
List of Skills
List of Skills
Skill 1
Skill 1
How to read and make Gantt charts
How to read and make Gantt charts
Plans
Plans
This skill will be best developed by focusing on smaller skills within it such as formatting, how to read them, and how to use them efficiently.
I will learn these sub sectors using videos and by looking at examples and try understand how to read them.
Similar to Skill 1 I will be tracking my development through reflecting on the model charts I will be making, I will also be creating a chart to manage my Pop Up Poetry project and potentially my G18.
Development
Development
Week 2
Week 2
What are they?
What are they?
"A Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is one of the most popular and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time. On the left of the chart is a list of the activities and along the top is a suitable time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflects the start date, duration and end date of the activity. " - Gantt chart website
This allows you to easily view:
- What activities are currently ongoing
- How long each activity is scheduled to last for
- Where activities overlap and by how much
- Start and End date of entire project
History - Then and Now
History - Then and Now
"Originally Gantt charts were prepared laboriously by hand; each time a project changed it was necessary to amend or redraw the chart and this limited their usefulness, continual change being a feature of most projects. Nowadays, however, with the advent of computers and project management software, Gantt charts can be created, updated and printed easily."
"Today, Gantt charts are most commonly used for tracking project schedules. For this it is useful to be able to show additional information about the various tasks or phases of the project, for example how the tasks relate to each other, how far each task has progressed, what resources are being used for each task and so on."
Figure above shows a dictated Gantt Chart from the Gantt Chart Website
This is a video provided by the Gantt Chart website on how to use their software
As much as I appreciate the inclusions of these resources to help you better understand their software simply going through these sources were not enough for me to gain a coherent understanding.
In terms of the software itself at this point what I had seen of it seemed promising and I was excited to be able to try it out for myself and hopefully have better luck trying it out firsthand.
However, as you have to purchase this program I was forced to find an alternative app that offers the same or a similar software for free. It is from this search that I found the app ClickUp which not only offers the Gantt software I was looking for but also offers a calendar, list, and table, and board format to view your tasks and deadlines in.
Model Chart 1
Model Chart 1
This chart is for me to be able to play around with the software as it is different to the one shown in the video above. Despite this, the video has proved slightly useful as some of the mechanisms work very similarly to the program I am using.
I have also discovered that this program can be useful to me in more ways then just Gantt charts as it also offers a to do list, calendar, table, and board feature.
Personally, I'm still getting used to the ideas of Gantt charts as I was apprehensive at first but I'm now starting to understand how useful they can be and will be proceeding to use them in the future.
My one downside about the current program is that I'm unable to change the colours of my tasks other then whether theyre ongoing etc. and I would prefer if this was a tool. Despite this however the software is easy to use now that I have used it a bit and I was able to create this first model rather swiftly after some minor trail and error.
Pop Up Poetry Chart
Pop Up Poetry Chart
This is an image of the chart I have been using to keep my project ongoing. Using this to manage such an intensive yet small project has had many pros on cons.
This chart was useful on keeping me updated on when I needed things done by however it failed to account for other events I had going on like deadlines, work, shows, etc. It also put my mind under a lot of pressure as it made me feel like I had to spend everyday doing it and wouldn't be able to take a break - this wasn't very helpful considering I was already on the brink of a burnout.
Despite the negatives the program was still quite fluent to use and was easy to read once I knew what I was doing. I genuinely believe the only way I was able to complete my project on time was thanks to this and the mobile app was great at reminding me when my deadlines were.
The fact that the bars change color depending on what is in progress or complete was also helpful at letting me know where I was at a glance although it would be nice to be able to change these colors to custom ones.
Skill 2
Skill 2
Facilitation
Facilitation
Plans
Plans
This skill will be developed by working with Phil on the many aspects of facilitation may include and how you would go about working these. This skill will not have select days as it will be done here and there in correlation to when I am working on my G18.
This skill relates to my G18 as I have chosen to host workshops which will require me to have adequate facilitation and planning skills.
Development
Development
Research
Research
Facilitation vs Teaching
Facilitation vs Teaching
Facilitation you allow participants to learn based on what they already know and is a lot more practical. Teaching you teach participants knowledge and expect them to retain it - this usually ends up with a more lecturing outcome.
Approaches
Approaches
"The directive style is when you take charge of the facilitation process and provide clear instructions, guidance, and feedback to your audience. You have a specific agenda, outcome, or message that you want to convey, and you use your expertise and authority to achieve it. This style is useful when you need to inform, instruct, or persuade your audience, or when you have a tight deadline, a complex topic, or a large group. However, this style can also limit the participation, creativity, and autonomy of your audience, and may cause resistance or boredom if overused.
The collaborative style is when you involve your audience in the facilitation process and encourage them to share their ideas, opinions, and experiences. You have a general goal or theme that you want to explore, and you use your skills and techniques to facilitate dialogue, interaction, and learning. This style is useful when you want to engage, inspire, or empower your audience, or when you have a flexible time frame, a diverse topic, or a small group. However, this style can also create confusion, conflict, or chaos if not managed well, and may require more preparation, time, and energy.
The delegative style is when you delegate the facilitation process to your audience and let them take responsibility for their own learning and outcomes. You have a minimal role or presence in the facilitation, and you use your support and resources to enable your audience to self-organize, self-direct, and self-evaluate. This style is useful when you want to develop, challenge, or empower your audience, or when you have a high level of trust, competence, and motivation in your group. However, this style can also result in low engagement, quality, or accountability if not supported well, and may require more follow-up, feedback, and evaluation.
The adaptive style is when you adjust your facilitation style according to the needs, preferences, and dynamics of your audience and the situation. You have a flexible and responsive approach to facilitation, and you use your observation, communication, and problem-solving skills to adapt to changing circumstances and expectations. This style is useful when you want to optimize, innovate, or transform your facilitation, or when you have a varied, complex, or uncertain context. However, this style can also demand a high level of skill, experience, and confidence from you, and may require more planning, evaluation, and reflection. " - LinkedIn
Mantle of the Expert is an approach that casts leaners as the experts giving them the ability to explore and express what they know on a subject. The concept was developed in the 70s and 80s by Dorothy Heathcote and is commonly used in education across numerous curriculums. It is mostly seen in education but is also common in facilitation as it can be very empowering and boost participants confidence in a session.
Working with Accessibility Needs
Working with Accessibility Needs
It's important to be able to accommodate for any participant and make whatever you do accessible for as many people as possible.
Models Of Disability:
Models Of Disability:
Social Model - the understanding that disability is something that is created by society. This is because disabled people face barriers that stop them from taking part in society in the same way as non-disabled people.
Medicinal Model - the idea that people are disabled by their impairments or differences. Under the medical model, these impairments or differences should be 'fixed' or changed by medical and other treatments, even when the impairment or difference does not cause pain or illness.
Charity Model - identifies the individual as having a problem and tends to view persons with disabilities as victims, or objects of pity, their impairment being their main identifier.
Human Rights Model - it recognizes that disability is a natural part of human diversity that must be respected and supported in all its forms.
Planning A Session
Planning A Session
Practice
Practice
Skill 3
Skill 3
Admin Skills (Spreadsheets, Registers, etc.)
Admin Skills (Spreadsheets, Registers, etc.)
Plans
Plans
Tracking my development of this skill will be done every 2ish weeks as technically I have already began developing this skill .
Progress Review
Progress Review
Week 2
Week 2
Since starting on my skills development I have had to create a spreadsheet to manage a calendar/planner for me, as well as learn a new managing software.
Originally, making my development plan on google sheets was annoying as although I have used spread sheets in the past, I have not had to use them in detail for a number of years, which basically meant I had to reteach myself certain features again. Most of these features were to fix formatting issues.
Learning a whole new program that I had never heard of before was surprisingly simple to me. After watching the video of the official Gantt chart program and then trying to transfer that knowledge to an opposing software I thought I was going to struggle, however, after a few minutes of playing I was able to figure out the Gantt chart section along with a few other systems the software offers.
Week 4
Week 4
The software I had learnt has proven very useful in helping me to organize deadlines and different aspects of projects.
There hasn't been too many developments with admin within the past two weeks other than a lot of managing projects and sending emails/having meetings.
As I feel like this might be a regular case, I'm choosing to change these reviews to every 3/4 weeks depending on progress.
Week 8
Week 8
Still hasn't been man major developments however I have started looking into formatting for meeting minutes and agendas. There has also been plenty of emails exchanged and I have started gaining the confidence to chase people up. Other than the basics side of it I have also been present in a lot more meetings whether for my G18 or the season shows I'm working on.
Skill 4
Skill 4
Organization (and Time Management)
Organization (and Time Management)
In order to develop this skill I will make a calendar/spreadsheet week by week planning out my days and setting realistic deadlines to be met in order to stay on top of my projects. I will also mark out time for preparations of tasks along with breaks in order to keep myself busy without overworking myself.
This links to my G18 as I will have to organize and prepare any resources by myself as well as stay on schedule, this skill will work hand in hand alongside the Gantt chart in terms of my G18.
Progress Review
Progress Review
Week 2
Week 2
After the creation of the development plan, keeping on schedule was rather plain sailing for the first week and a bit. However it started to slip towards the end of the week due to external situations having to drag me away from my work along with the fact I was starting to go into burnout. This is an outcome I had thought about when creating my development plan, which is why I fractioned in rest periods although they're only affective if you actually give yourself the downtime - something I find hard to do most the time.
Since I will now be also working from a Gantt Chart my progress with using this method will also be recorded in these bi-weekly reviews. It will not be included in this one due to the short time frame and will be inaccurate to try measure progress at this time.
Week 4
Week 4
The past two weeks have been hectic to try keep to a schedule.
During the 3rd week most things stayed in motion. A task had been rolled over into the slot for that week which put me back progress wise minorly but I still stuck to the designated time for it. I decided to roll back the skills development slots for that week to make room to further progress my G18 and get a head start on the Pop-Up Poetry I had to push back as one of the skills could be combined with week 4 and the other can be done at a later date.
This week however I have gone more off schedule than I would have liked, the slot I had originally planned for skill 5 had to be scrapped due to a last minute announcement that we would be on a day trip. This didn't help considering we had already lost a day this week.
On a more positive note other sections for this week were able to be completely in a timely manner.
The Gantt chart for Pop-Up Poetry is also proving useful in keeping me up to date on when I would like tasks completed by, and I am yet to overrun a deadline.
Week 6
Week 6
The start of week 5 didn't go well for me as the order I had planned thing was messed up and that set me off for the rest of the week. Looking back on it I could have handled things differently and kept myself much more organized however at the time I didn't - despite this most things for the week were completed even if they weren't to full potential.
I have struggled over these two weeks with timings and I have noticed this becoming a recurring theme. I'm doing okay managing myself on the organization side of things but my time management skills are beginning to lack and have a negative impact on my progression no matter how organized I'm being. This will be something I will be looking at once I get past the next few deadlines.
Week 8
Week 8
Week 7 was quite successful in terms of sticking to the plan for each day and getting what needed to be done done.
I was rather concerned by how I would manage for that week due to some external situations going on however despite them I still managed to complete almost everything I needed to and on-time. The main thing I fell back on was updating my portfolio as most the day was spent resolving one of the fore-mentioned situations. There was also an extension on the deadline for Pop-Up which I took advantage of to further develop my piece. A meeting was also squished onto the schedule in preparation for the start of production for a show.
This week was the start of the get-in so there's not many updates other than Pop-Up being completed in time for the deadline, although my decision to use the extension to further develop my design was poorly thought out as I thought I had more time than I actually did in perspective. If a similar thing was to happen again I would not make the same decision.
Skill 5
Skill 5
Department knowledge (LX, SD, Set, Props)
Department knowledge (LX, SD, Set, Props)
Plan
Plan
To develop this skill I will take up technical roles on smaller scale shows and do personal research into methods and programs that these departments use. I will track this progress using my work on shows and by testing myself on my understanding.
This skill will link to my G18 as it will allow my talking on the subjects to be more clear and precise.
LX Development
LX Development
Show Role - Induction
Show Role - Induction
In order to get a basic standard of my knowledge (I hadn't used the knowledge in a few months), I took on the role of LX Op/LX Design on the Acting Induction which just happened to be well timed with Week #1 of my development plan.
This allowed me to realize I still knew my basics in programming, fixture knowledge, and operating skills but also gave me experience to work in a new layout as the show was hosted in our recently renovated theatre. Due to this new environment I was required to relearn how to power up the rig along with get used to now having a balcony above the seating bank for tech which occasionally made it harder to see.
Some difficulties I came across were very basic such as relearning how to un-park fixtures through the desk (which luckily I had a friend on the phone and he managed to help guide me through it), and just actually powering off the desk since I sort of knew where the option was but couldn't fully remember - this was also resolved rather quickly after a few minutes of playing around.
Show Role - Two (Play)
Show Role - Two (Play)
Was assigned as LX Designer and Operator for an assessment show using the script 'Two'. The Lighting was very simple and homely per request of the director in order to match the setting - a neighborhood pub.
Research
Research
(workshop stuff + basics come on Al)
SD Development
SD Development
Research
Research
(workshop stuff + basics come on Al)
Skill 6
Skill 6
Writing up Show/Rehearsal Reports
Writing up Show/Rehearsal Reports
Plans
Plans
This is only a minor skill however with the career I want to do it would be useful to develop this as much as I can now in order to prepare myself and make my future a small bit easier.
The most efficient way to develop this skill, in my opinion, is repetition and exposure. This means that I will be looking at models and examples of reports, along with some reports I have written in the past and reflect on how efficient they are.
In order to track my development I will be logging the example reports and formats I will be making as well as reflecting on them to mark extra areas for development.
Skill 7
Skill 7
Risk Assessments
Risk Assessments
Plans
Plans
Review Risk Assessment examples from previous shows internally and externally
Study Legislations and basic hazards and controls.
Write up Risk Assessments for shows being worked on.
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