My placement started in September 2023, when I joined The Lyric Theatre’s technical team. Having already acquired experience working as a venue technician, my aim for this placement was to network, as well as to feed a personal curiosity regarding how the team at The Lyric works, and what the stage and storage look like. After two weeks, I switched organisations and dedicated the rest of my team to learning producing from Tinderbox Theatre Company, an area I was much less familiar with. With Tinderbox, I shadowed and assisted in the production of their show ‘Rhino’, which ran in The Lyric from the 18th to the 28th of October 2023. Using Boud’s model of reflection (Boud, Keogh and Walker, 1985), I will reflect on the challenges I faced to learn from my experience and demonstrate growth by reflecting on my feelings and choices, and by explaining what I would do differently in the future if faced with a similar situation. 

When I started my placement in The Lyric, I immediately felt comfortable, and as though I fitted in with the team. I was familiar with the work I was doing, having just come back from the Edinburgh Fringe where I ran a small venue, and being hired at the Ulster Hall as a general technician. Because I demonstrated experience the team trusted me to fulfil tasks, without feeling like I was getting in the way. Helpfully for me, one of their team members was stuck in the Isle of Man after his flight had been cancelled due to a storm, leaving a need for a replacement in the team, a spot I was able to fill for a couple of days. This allowed me to truly carve a place for myself in the team, where I was able to not only assist the team in their operations but also develop my skills and technical knowledge in a fast-paced environment. Learning through practical involvement is how I had learnt everything I knew, so it was a pace and method I was used to. 

I found the transition from The Lyric’s technical team to Tinderbox Theatre Company particularly challenging. I had felt very comfortable with the technical team; I got along with everyone well, I was familiar with the building and the locations of equipment, and I was trusted enough to be given tasks to complete. I felt useful. With Tinderbox, I had to start from scratch. I had to get to know the team and earn their trust. Because I had no experience producing, I was rarely given tasks to complete on my own, and because of how busy the team was, they were rarely available to teach me or help me assist, fearing I would slow them down. Most of my time was spent sitting in a room and observing how other people worked, especially during rehearsals. This felt like quite a jump from how involved I had been with The Lyric, and I felt quite frustrated at the end of my first week with Tinderbox. While I can acknowledge the usefulness of shadowing the team now, at the time I struggled to engage when not being practically involved in the work that was going on. 

After this first week, I did my best to be involved and pushed to be given tasks to complete. I was trusted to help with marketing for the show and was sent as a runner across Belfast to deliver leaflets to businesses. While in rehearsals, I brought my chair next to the stage manager and became involved in the process, actively evaluating the progress and directorial choices being made. When she had the time, Alice Malseed (the producer) sat down with me to explain her work and teach me about producing. I now understand that the reason I didn’t have as much to do at the beginning of the placement was also because the team at Tinderbox weren’t too sure what I could do, or what I would be interested in. I for one would never have thought I would be as interested in budgeting and finance as I ended up being. 

Moving into The Lyric for the fit-up was a slightly stressful yet reassuring experience. After two months of meetings and paperwork, being able to see the actors perform with the set for the first time was extremely fulfilling..Once all the design elements were set up, it felt like a completely different show to the one I had seen rehearsed. That being said, there were several challenges over this production, the most memorable one being the technical fit-up going on for longer than anticipated, eating up any opportunity for a dress rehearsal or even a ‘cue-to-cue’. The technicians finished programming an hour before the show opened. When the doors opened that night, neither I, the operator, nor Sophie, the stage manager, had seen a complete run-through of the show. Despite this, we completed the show, with only minor hiccups, which were fixed in time for the press night the following evening. 

This experience in itself was stressful, especially because everyone around me seemed stressed too. However, I leaned into myself and trusted that I would be fine, merely because there weren’t any other options. The show running successfully proved me right and provided me with a confidence I will be able to utilise later on in life if I am faced with a similar situation. Because I have done it once already, I know I can do it again. I have skills and experience, and I know what I am doing. My placement made me appreciate the collaborative environment created by Tinderbox. I learned extensively about the different roles involved in theatre-making and how they engage with each other as a team. Additionally, I realised I needed to engage with a variety of departments to succeed as a producer and communicate effectively, which showed me the importance of hiring people who can collaborate with others.

This placement has allowed me to acknowledge that it is necessary to throw myself at the deep end and engage in situations that I am not as comfortable in. The truth is, while working at The Lyric, I didn’t learn much, beyond how the technical team operates. I didn’t develop my technical skills much, despite how immersed and interested I was in the going-ons of the company. While I was less practically involved with Tinderbox, once I overcame my frustrations with ‘merely shadowing’, I learnt and developed much more than I had with The Lyric. I was able to observe a new professional setting and take into account new careers. While I never had any interest in engaging with acting or directing, I found it extremely interesting to sit in on rehearsals and watch the dynamics unfold in front of me. I garnered a new appreciation for both disciplines and even found myself applying my theoretical knowledge from the classroom to appraising the skills and work of the actors and the director. 

A couple of months after the end of my placement, I can now recognise the impact this placement has had on me. It has led to my reconsideration of what career path I should take. Having spent the last couple of years convinced I would go down the technical and design route, refocusing my career towards producing has been something I’ve been considering heavily. Not only has this placement led to me reconsidering my future, but it has also allowed me to reflect on my ways of engaging in a professional environment and understand what things I am attracted to (career-wise) and what things I have less interest in. Despite how much I struggled at my lack of involvement with Tinderbox, it helped me understand that my passion for theatre making, and my drive for getting involved and working is not a fault, but that there are more than ways of helping and engaging with the work. 

Overall this experience was extremely fulfilling. It allowed me to dive into an area of theatre-making I had not paid as much consideration to, and one I found myself longing to return to. I found extreme satisfaction in participating in the organising and problem-solving of the production. I was fully engaged with the production, even feeling nervous on opening night and relieved once the positive reviews started flowing in. I realised that a career as a producer would be incredibly fulfilling for me, and an area I hope to grow in knowledge and experience. I am currently applying for drama schools around the country, intending to pursue a career in theatre producing, a decision I couldn’t have made without the placement program. 

Olivier Gastinel

Bibliography

Boud, D. et al. (1985) Reflection : turning experience into learning. [Online]. London ; RoutledgeFalmer.

Ionesco, E. (1960). Rhinoceros, and other plays. New York, Grove Press.