Faustus: That Damned Women

In this radical reimagining of the classic cautionary tale, Johanna Faustus makes the ultimate sacrifice and sells her soul to wrestle control of her own destiny. She travels through time and changes the course of human history.

Pre-Production

Design

On my first day for the production I attended a pre-limb design meeting where we got the opportunity to see the Set, Costume and Lighting Concepts for the first time. I began to quickly understand the productions scale and requirements from having an extra atmospherics machine and large roof structure that would need to have been rigged.

Upon the white card design meeting we saw the change to having a more detailed painted model which showed the vents for the atmospheric machine and grid like roof which would be filled with LED Tape and have a frosted cover. This create a 5 wall space for the audience to look into as we also questioned having it angled, higher on the downstage edge to make a sense of perspective to the performance space.

Final design meeting was a great point to see the whole model box come together ready for the cast to begin rehearsals! We saw the fully coloured and detailed models for the set and costume whilst lighting concepts began to take place with experimentation onto the model box.

Finally we had a budget meeting to see how we could create the designers concepts with our overall production budget. This was a great opportunity to present to the whole production team our share for the production ,the breakdown for what we need and the multiple sources/quotes that I have collected

We had to remove the large ceiling piece because of the construction cost, however I had access to Astera AX1s (Battery LED Tubes) which I quickly modelled for the designer and director and was signed off immediately

Site Visit

Leading up to the production I attended a site visit to the theatre where I spent time with the creatives, management and venue technicians who will all be essential to the production looking into how we would install the set, lighting and venues sound system for the production. I also assessed the health and safety procedures for when I'm on site and leading a large team and supporting the cast.

The key areas I looked into for the production were the LX bars, RSJs and Power arrangements. I analysed the SWL for the Bars, Proscenium Towers, Gantry Bars and RSJs whilst also doing power calculations for three and single phase outputs around the venue. I looked into the venues stock fixtures and how they access the LX Bars, I was in constant communications the the venue technicians.

Another area I was key to looking into was the harness access for the FOH towers, the rescue plans and which operatives could do this process.

Production Meetings

Once the production was in rehearsals we had weekly production meetings with the director, creatives and show operatives for the production. These meetings were key to make sure every department knew others weekly targets, schedules and collaborations readying for the show to be installed into the theatre.

We would explain each departments plans and floor space so everyone knew the areas we had backstage and for the change over into this production from the previous production.

I would also talk to other departments in the breakout meetings afterwards, such as scenic to ask for materials to build the Astera flying system or the grills for the low fogger to go through.

As we neared the time to load in, myself, the stage manager and the production manager met to discuss the timings for the truck arrival, a task by task list of LX completion and how the technical departments would work around scenic's build schedule.

I also had update meetings the relevant technical teams and my Production Electrician to discuss load in plans and cross reference the power calculations and weight loads for the venues bars.

Documentation

Throughout the lead up to the production I completed many documents to make the load in, technical and performance period the easiest and saftest possible.

The Documents Created/Edited/Checked by myself were the:

Technical Risk Assessment
Method Statement
Technical Schedule
Astera Rigging Fly's
LX Plan (Edited & Updated)
Power Plans (Updated/Checked)
Sound Speaker Plans
Hire Quote/Invoice & Buy Forms

Load In Period

Throughout the load in I was based in the performance space alongside the production manager where we would be in constant communications to make sure my departments were working to schedule whilst I directed my technical departments and gave out specific tasks to crew members, and once completed return for their next task. My production electrician was based on the patch gantry installing the hot power circuits and patching the dimmer circuits/soca channels according to their power plan. We worked really closely in the pre-production period to know what we would both focus on during the load in so that we could efficiently install the lighting system in quick time and accurately.

Astera's & Focus

Once the main rig and set was installed, I tasked an LX Crew to work with the Lighting Designer to begin focusing the rig, whilst we set up a simple rig so that the remaining crew could begin the fiddley task to securely tie all the fishing wire for the Astera Bar's.

Technical Rehearsals

Throughout technical rehearsals I scheduled myself and the PLX in daily so we could oversee to any technical needs and edits whilst continuing to have an LX Crew member on site each day, on a four day rotation (four LX Crew total) this resulted in enough support for the powering on/off procedure and pre-show installations and checks. I continued to work with the set and lighting designers to check that everything was how they wanted, and I would perform rigging inspections every few days to make sure nothing had began to loosen or ware. However as their was no sound operative on site for the production, I personally would power on that system daily, perform checks and assist the Deputy Stage Manager with Qlab

Performances/Load Out

The show period went incredibly well, with only minor edits to the LX and Sound Design throughout, overall the performances were great, were watched by many and the technical teams continued to support daily and assist operators. Myself and the Production Manager met daily to go over the show period scheduling and Get Out Planning so that we both understood the tasks at hand and timings throughout the day and where best for myself to position technical crews.