Ultimately, Rubbish Theatre’s debut performance If An Orchid Was All You Had (Brunt et al., 2017) was well received and in my opinion our ambition of aesthetically exciting an audience with our content, set and costume was achieved. The feedback from the audience was positive and the company felt extremely proud having to extend tickets from 120 to 160.

From the perspective of a performer, I was undoubtedly pleased that we had managed to succeed in all of our original aims. Rubbish Theatre’s If An Orchid Was All You Had (Brunt et al., 2017) had achieved a multidisciplinary performance that explored the consequences of madness whilst enduring a mundane, cyclical life. Rubbish Theatre had not intended on making a political statement with our debut performance but we had recognised the farcical statements our piece made about society. Furthermore, I felt my portrayal of my characters effectively expanded on the intentions Rubbish Theatre had for our performance.

Comparatively, from the perspective of producer I was ecstatic that we had succeeded in selling all of our tickets and that there were no cases of injury or harm to cast or audience. Additionally, the final performance reflected all the hard work and organisation that each member of the company contributed. At the beginning of the process I read that ‘you can’t learn how to produce solely from reading a book… producing is an instinctive business’ (Seabright, 2012, p. 11) and now that we have performed I understand that this statement is true. No amount of research would have prepared me fully for the role of producer because being a producer required me to adapt quickly in order to resolve any issue that was thrown my way. This skill will continue to develop my knowledge and varying productions will only amplify that necessity for seeking knowledge.

In terms of Rubbish Theatre’s debut performance I found that my role as producer required me to be ‘a practical dreamer’ (Vogel and Hodges, 2006). This meant that although every member of the company had the luxury of running with their imaginations, my main responsibility was to make sure that these dreams could become a possibility through logic and thoughtful analysis. This was explicit within the budget because I had to ensure that all aspirations for the set and costume could be completed with the funds we possessed.

Conclusively, my time as producer for Rubbish Theatre has been an absolutely enthralling experience that has presented me with a variety of obstacles that have required me evolve to resolve them.

Works Cited:

Brunt, E., Clark, A., Crawford, J., Crockford, K., Kay, J., Pearson, J., Skelton, J., Soyza, R., Toon, J. and Watson, B. (2017) If An Orchid Was All You Had [Live Performance]. Performed by Rubbish Theatre. Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 22 May.

Seabright, J. (2012). So You Want to be a Theatre Producer?. 1st ed. London: Nick Hern Books.

Vogel, F. and Hodges, B. (2006). The Commercial Theater Institute guide to producing plays and musicals. 1st ed. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books.

We are now four weeks into this journey and my duties as producer have developed and fluctuated according to the tasks that need to get done. Due to our all-inclusive company ethos, I have had a hand in all aspects of the production; a personal goal throughout this process was to be ‘the ‘do-it-all producer’ (Seabright, 2012, p.5). This means that I am ‘involved in every aspect of a show: creatively, financially, administratively, technically and promotionally’ (Seabright, 2012, p.5) without taking control and becoming a tyrant. This was achieved through weekly production meetings in which everyone was updated on what goals had been met and which needed help from other members of the company. As producer, I found that it was appropriate to make sure no deadline was ever unrealistic by agreeing it with each member and that other members knew the tasks that I needed to complete too.

In initial conversations and rehearsals, the company established that we did not need a stage manager because we agreed that we wanted as many actors available for performance as possible in order to optimise the possibilities for the production. This meant that the duties of a stage manager needed to be upheld by another member and we agreed that this would partially fall on my shoulders.

As my role began to evolve I thought it was vital to understand the aspects of production that a stage manager was responsible for and I found that it tied into my role as producer extremely smoothly. It meant that I was even more involved with making Rubbish Theatre’s dream become reality.

‘Whatever the rehearsal method used, the ever-present and alert DSM will note everything that happens and will communicate all decisions, changes, questions and requests to the production manager and all technical departments by producing daily rehearsal notes or reports’ (Dean, 2002, p. 114).

Therefore, I was responsible for the rehearsal schedule, taking rehearsal notes, production minutes, managing props alongside regulating the budget and coordinating the production teams. There were times where any job that did not have an obvious handler went to me and this meant that my involvement with the show was truly engaged. I was absolutely ecstatic by this aspect of my role because I found that it meant I was always challenged and my knowledge of all aspects of professionally generating a production grew.

Soyza, R. (2017) Example rehearsal schedule.

Despite the ethos of the company the only job that was not up for delegation or deliberation was the task of the budget. The budget and finances fell solely on my list of to-dos and this was my hardest job: ‘producers are often thought of as the ‘money people’’ (Seabright, 2012, p.6). It became clear that this was going to be a difficult venture due to the direction that our production was going in. Rubbish Theatre was on track to creating something extremely abstract with ideas of a giant upcycled tree and a bike with an organ as it’s handle bars as part of the set. Therefore, control over the budget became something that was vital in making our wildest dreams something we could actually put on the stage.

Rubbish Theatre’s ethos of upcycling all of our set meant that the budget was not so wildly affected but we still needed things like nails and paint in order to make it. Similarly, our ‘all-hands-on-deck’ attitude meant that there were a lot of people involved in making the set which became problematic whilst I was sorting out funds. However, we transcended these issues by only allowing myself to purchase items after discussing with the director what was necessary and then sourcing the cheapest options.

Word count: 605

Works Cited:

Brunt, E., Clark, A., Crawford, J., Crockford, K., Kay, J., Pearson, J., Skelton, J., Soyza, R., Toon, J. and Watson, B. (2017) If An Orchid Was All You Had [Live Performance]. Performed by Rubbish Theatre. Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 22 May.

Dean, P. (2002). Production management. 1st ed. Marlborough: Crowood Press.

Seabright, J. (2012). So You Want to be a Theatre Producer?. 1st ed. London: Nick Hern Books.

The start of the process of Rubbish Theatre’s debut performance is proving thoroughly exhilarating and challenging. As producer, I coordinated our first production meeting in which was a ‘meet and greet at which the creative team, production team, performers and administration staff are all present’ (Dean, 2002, p.110) and it allowed all members of the company to begin creating relationships with each other. Additionally, an understanding of creative intentions and wants for our performance were realised through the creating of our code of conduct, ethos and company name. We have solidified what makes Rubbish Theatre the company that it is and in doing so we have revealed that each member is creatively inclined in the same way: we all want to create a piece that is abstract and pushes the boundaries of performance. During this meeting we created our ethos and code of conduct:

Screenshot of Rubbish Theatre website ‘About’ page.

After discussion with the company’s director, I plan to print off and take the code of conduct to every rehearsal and production meeting in order to remind people of what we all agreed upon. Additionally, I think that this will help each member recollect the behaviour necessary for the production to continue progressing. In order for the code of conduct to not seem threatening and negative, we will implement fun ‘penalties’ decided by the rest of the members (such as ten press ups or laps of the rehearsal room) that encourage people to commit to tasks which ultimately helps my job.

Our company ethos was written as ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ which demonstrated that each member of the company lost individuality and we should consider ourselves as one entity which meant that all members would be involved in everything. Although this could have presented complications for delegating tasks, it ultimately improved our productivity because we helped each other wherever needed. This was vital when we realised during this meet and greet that our creative dream was so imaginative. Rubbish Theatre wants there to be ‘endless possibilities’ (Brunt et al., 2017) and this meant that we would have to be extremely organised in order to achieve our goals. It was from this point that I decided to have at least one production a meeting in which we would set weekly goals.

Example of one week’s task list.

After the core of Rubbish Theatre was established we wanted to establish the demands of our respective roles.

Once we had finished this task, we created the company hierarchy and it was decided that the producer was ultimately at the top in order to oversee all aspects of the production. Through research of the duties of a producer I found that it was imperative that I had the ability ‘to step back at any point and take a view’ (Seabright, 2012, p. 13) thus having an oversight of all aspects of the production was a positive aspect. This also meant that each member understood what was expected of them and helped us to understand the dynamics of the company.

These key aspects established in our first meeting were implemented until the actual performance and I believe it meant that we managed to achieve the aesthetically daring set and costume that we were aiming for as well as an invigorating show ‘for you to ponder over and enjoy’ (Brunt et al., (2017).

The Awakening scene in rehearsal.

The Awakening scene actualised.

Word Count: 567

Works Cited:

Brunt, E., Crawford, J., Crockford, K., Kay, J., Pearson, J., Skelton, J., Soyza, R., Toon, J. and Watson, B. (2017). rubbish-theatre. [online] rubbish-theatre. Available at: https://www.rubbishtheatre.com/about [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017].

Dean, P. (2002). Production management. 1st ed. Marlborough: Crowood Press.

The performance aspect of my journey with Rubbish Theatre has been more complicated than my role as producer and this is because of the collaborative nature of Rubbish Theatre. We decided that all members would be involved with the creative process which meant that we all followed the journey of the piece. We decided quite early on that we did not want to create a naturalistic piece but rather something abstract and without definition which pulled inspiration from a wide range of theatre.

As the process continued we felt that it was best to have one definitive protagonist which the audience developed a connection with and that the rest of the cast’s characters were utilised as a means to expand on this character. Subsequently, our characters became ‘creatures’ and we were left with no identity which made it difficult to react within situations. For example, during the final scene in which Jacob Toon and Kerrie Crockford are dancing as a representation of the battle ‘the cyclist’ is having within himself, the rest of the cast are spectators that are indulging in the activity. This means it is difficult for me to create reactions that are true to my character.

Whilst creating a character within this piece I decided it was best to have a superseding attitude towards the character of ‘the cyclist’ and this is because our characters were all extensions of his mind. Therefore, I had to decide whether I wanted to exploit the cyclist’s madness and if his descent into our world caused me pleasure or if it was resentment that drove me. I decided it was important to understand the character I was attempting to play: ‘all the choices of your behaviour will grow out of who the character is’ (Yakim, 1993, p. 161). Throughout the journey of creating our performance I grew in understanding of the character I wanted to portray. Specifically, in the ‘memory’ scene in which I lure James Crawford’s character into the reclining chair and encourage him to open up about his past. Through exploration of my intentions I found that I was utilising my sexuality as a creature to seduce his character into revealing truths thus providing my character with the intention necessary to influencing my behaviour. Additionally, I concluded that ‘it is always the character that guides you in your actions… otherwise, movement becomes gesticulation and the voice empty of meaning’ (Yakim, 1993, p. 155).

Word Count: 404

Works Cited:

Yakim, M. (1993). Creating a character. 1st ed. New York [u.a.]: Applause.