The Heresy of Love: The Final Push

To be allowed into the inner sanctum of the RSC – that is the auditorium during the final technical and dress rehearsals – is a humble treat. ‘The Heresy of Love’ opened on February 2^nd but the final days of January were a tense, feverous time for the cast and creative teams as lighting, sound and costume were all introduced to each other and performed in tandem with the actors.

‘The Heresy of Love’ follows the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in Mexico as she struggles with the weight of being one of the brightest women of her generation while reconciling her love for God with her desire for learning and public acclaim. Catherine McCormack takes on this monumental womanly role, supported by the RSC Ensemble who are presenting the Spring Season in the Swan which comprises of ‘Measure for Measure’ and ‘Written on the Heart’ as well as ‘Hersey’.

As an intern for the Marketing Department I was kindly allowed to shadow the lighting designer Ben and the Chief Electrician Kevin and observe the final days of rehearsal.  The director Nancy, the Stage Manager Suzy and her deputy and assistant, the designer Katrina and a whole host of people were dotted around the auditorium and backstage as the scenes ran through their lighting states and the actors through their lines.

During public performance the creative team are rarely seen by the unassuming patrons but during this final rehearsal process the techies sit huddled around a semi circle of desks erected in the stalls.  Their faces always appear to be lit up by the light emanating from laptop screens and control desks, with the occasional desk lamp shedding a little more luminescence into the dark auditorium for the team to work by.

And then the final push begins: the house lights are down, the stage lights are up switching from state to state as Ben whispers to Kevin via the personal audio system that the designers and stage managers and technicians all tune into. Lanterns are plotted, focussed and the intensity of light is tweaked and experimented with until Ben and Nancy are happy with the atmosphere and environment that the lighting creates.

The technical rehearsal can be a long and arduous process, especially for the actors who must stand poised on stage, mid scene as changes are made and problems solved, but it’s a critical process and every production from the humblest play to the grandest musical must go through this stage of rehearsal.

I had been warned of insults and curses being thrown across the stage in fatigued frustration, of angry actors and tense technicians, of flying scripts flung in defiance and much stomping and groaning and sulking. Much to my disappointment the cast and creative team of 'Heresy' were well behaved and retained civility – a few lines were forgotten along the way of the Dress, and the set didn’t always yield to the will of the performers, but no one was even close to throwing a ‘Queenie’!

The Dress run came down with a few hours to spare before public performance and the last thing to be staged was the curtain call – it took a few attempts to get everyone bowing in time to the correct side of the auditorium and there was a great deal of debate on how many bows to take and when to direction to the orchestra for their applause. Much to everyone’s relief, Nancy soon sorted the thespian rabble out and then they were free to go...until it would be time to do it all again, and this time for real!

If you fancy learning more about Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and this beautiful production of her life, then catch ‘The Heresy of Love’ playing in the Swan Theatre until 9^th March.

Photograph courtesy of Robert Day with words by Amelia Cartwright, aged 19.

The life of a Marketing Intern - Amelia Cartwright

These days a job in the theatre can be somewhat hard to come by. 

Potential employees are often told that they need previous experience to be in with a chance of getting on the theatrical job ladder, but that forces the catch 22 question, "if no one will employ me then where will I get experience?!" 

An excellent way to get that much desired experience is through an Internship or Work Placement, and luckily at the RSC we have a successful and enriching Work Placement programme which is now recruiting for its Summer batch of interns.

 

The RSC Key decided to get the experience low down from one previous Marketing Intern, Matt Wernham, and here is what he had to say...

 When did your internship with the RSC take place?

 I was an Intern from September 2009 to July 2010

How old were you?

I was 20/21

At what stage of education/life would say you were at, at the time?

Well it was a bit of an odd gap, I was doing theatre work experience at a college as well as my internship at the RSC and working as a waiter so I suppose I would class it as a gap year although by that point I was in my 3rd gap year after leaving school.

Since completing the internship do you think it has directly influenced any advancement in your career in the theatre or a related industry?

I am now studying on the BA Acting course at Drama Centre London and I think it certainly helped in securing my place. Apart from it being an impressive and very professional looking credit on my CV the fact that it is in marketing, shows a willingness to experience other areas of theatre and understand the whole process of theatre making. I think there are plenty of actors out there who think that all theatre is about it going onstage every night and giving it your all for the audience, they don't see what it takes to get that audience into the theatre in the first place.  

Has your involvement in the internship been directly remarked upon by any subsequent employers or professionals?

Yes people have picked it out on my CV and asked me about the experience. It’s a great thing to talk about in an interview.

What was your highlight of the internship?

The run up to Arabian Nights an exciting time, the print material was fantastic plus I kept hearing whispers about some of the amazing things that happened in the show. But more importantly 'The staging area' a spot in the office where you can help yourself to chocolate/cakes/biscuits, that was a fairly major highlight!

What was your strangest/most surreal moment?

My most surreal moment was when I was working on the trailer for Macbeth, and found myself standing in the car park behind the RSC waterside space trying to melt a dolls face.

What was your biggest surprise about working with the RSC?

My biggest surprise was how down to earth everyone was, I suppose I thought because it was the Royal Shakespeare Company, the office might be a bit stuffy or pretentious but it is absolutely the opposite. Its just a group of friendly and passionate people who really care about the work they do.

Are you up to the challenge? You can apply now http://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/work/vacancies.aspx

Amelia, 19

Thank you to Matthew Wernham for his contribution to the RSC Key Blog.

Taste of Theatre by Emily Philpott

Do you know you want to work in theatre but are unsure what part?

The RSC can provide the answer. They gear a brilliant work experience programme designed to give its entrants the chance to experience the broad range of theatre careers rather other than just the performance side. For every 1 actor the RSC puts onstage there are 7 other contributing backstage that makes this possible, from marketing and stage management to lighting and automation.

I recently completed the week and it was completely eye-opening! I knew I wanted to work in theatre but had absolutely no idea there were so many jobs I had never even heard of that contribute to the wonderful production that appears on stage.

The scheme aimed at year 10 and 11 students has been running for four years now and it has grown to include a vast array of the RSC’s departments who run hands on activities to give you an insight into what they do. On day one the group was taken to the Timothy Bridge Road workshop where all set and props required are drawn up, made or sourced. We were lucky to see the Matilda rework in progress for the transition to London this year. The workshop also holds floors of achieved props from seasons that go right back to the 1970’s, a huge highlight was to sit Cleopatra’s throne from Michael Boyd’s production of Anthony and Cleopatra.

During the week we also got to watch the lighting sound and set change in the theatres repertoire from Macbeth to The Merchant of Venice (or should that be Vegas?). We were shown by the automation team how the children are lowered in Macbeth; NB: standing on the grid 15m above the stage in the fly tower is not for the faint hearted! In the costume design session we got to see current and future costumes in the process of being made and what they use to make them look ‘worn in’. We had a full tour of the new theatre backstage and got to see the amazing wigs and make-up department.

The marketing department gave us the chance to make a poster advertising The Merchant of Venice. As well as being creative we also had to think about what audience we were trying to appeal to as well as a lot of other factors. The lighting department showed us the lighting desk and how to cue and run the show (fun was had with making the set pink). Although the aim of the week was to broaden students’ knowledge of jobs past the performance, the acting side was not forgotten; we had a voice workshop with Michael Corbit which taught us how: ‘words are merely words, without feeling they are nothing but just because it is Shakespeare doesn’t mean we should be scared of them’.

It was an amazing week to see and work with so many well known practioners that are top in their field. We all left the week with a broader knowledge of just how many other creative jobs theatre has to offer rather than just performance.

The week was truly inspiring and I completely recommend it to any student who wants to find out more about different jobs in theatre! If you would like to apply keep an eye on the RSC website their application process starts again later this year.

Emily Philpott