Life on Tour - why we do what we do
- info885682
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
After 3 days of incredible shows at MAC, Birmingham it was now time to test the theory and attempt our first get-out. We'd made an educated guess and predicted that we would be able to do this in two hours (hopefully less). As the theatre space we were using was upstairs we had quite a trek to the loading bay via a large lift, across the cafe and out the back. Jude (technician) had made a get-out plan and it was full steam ahead, packing things into boxes and working out the best way to transport the den, made up of tons of fabric and its centre piece, a circular truss which houses lights, a mirror ball, speakers, a number of decorative lampshades and attached den fabric. We managed to get everything into the short wheel base van in roughly two hours, yay!!!
It was time to get the show on the road, our first venue stop was The Albany Theatre in Coventry where we had both public shows and a targeted show for the children and families that we had been working with in Nuneaton. The next theory to test was whether we could complete the get-in in our alloted 4 hours. We did it with no sign of Jude's promised tea break and seconds to spare before curtain up, it was touch and go and we were left with no time to test if anything actually worked, yikes!!! Thankfully both shows were really well received by the audiences and I was thrilled to see that families who had never been in a theatre before came to watch.
After this seat of your pants start we smashed the get-out in 1 1/2 hours, learning from the previous get-out and saving loads of time, we found a way to leave the den fabric attached to the truss, saving us a whopping 30 plus mins of tieing fabric on and off. This meant that we also saved loads of time on the get-in especially where venues had a motorised rig, giving us time for the promised tea break and more which made us super happy.
As the tour progressed we got slicker and quicker, we all found our jobs and what order to do them in. My biggest job was pegging (with clothes pegs) the den fabric together, making the projection areas flat and ensuring there were no big gaps and just enough floppiness.
On tour I was acting as stage manager, assisting with get-in and get-out and operation of props etc during the show. I had a whole show of my own going on outside the den which no-one but me, Jude, Ant and sometimes the odd usher could see. My jobs included opening and closing the projector flaps, wafting a big piece of card to create wind, holding a torch to create a spooky shadow, setting torches for the mirrorball and opening and closing entrances for Ant.
The downside to doing this job meant that I only got to watch tiny bits of the show through a voil from outside, meaning that it was difficult for me to give constructive notes to the cast. I solved this by recruiting an assistant for a couple of shows midway through the tour, I relished the chance to watch the show again and see how it was received by the children and families watching. Although the show was still looking fanstastic with the cast doing a fabulous job, I was able to tweak a few things. It's easy for things to slip on tour but also as a director there's always more you can do to refine the creative ideas, which (thankfully) just keep on coming.
This tour has not been without it's challenges and we've learnt loads about what we need for the future. We've had a range of audience engagement from the odd show being cancelled due to lack of sales to a number of sold out shows. Theatre's vary hugely in their ability to support us, their equipment/rigs and just getting into the theatre space, all impacting on our get-in time. Getting the sound right for the show also offered its challenges, utilising our surround sound system and realising that every space was different.
I've been overwhelmed with the positive feedback that just keeps on coming thorughout this tour. It's so clear to me, that people love it. I feel so lucky to have incredible performers and creatives working with me and I've realised once again how important it is to involve children and families though every part of the creative process.
Dance in the Dark has great humour, beautiful music and dancing, storytelling that connects, wonder, magic and opportunties for playful interaction, plus who doesn't like a giant sleepover den!
It might be over for now but this show definitely has legs and will be back on tour soon.....
"The humour and enthusiasm captures the heart and essence of early years. Magical!"
"Best show I've ever seen, it made me cry"
"We've been talking about it all week and want to come again"
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