The show has been and gone, and I have loved creating and performing in The Truth About Bedtime… with this amazing group of women. The show was a success, and I am very proud of how it was received by the audience. When in the space, with the set built, the audience was transported into a comfortable and cosy area, where they could feel relaxed enough to laugh loudly to the humour and jokes within the show.
If I was to change anything within the set design, it would be the sheet. On the show day, when the set was fully up in the space and the seating was laid out, I realised that the sheet was not long enough to hide all of the cast members behind it. While standing behind it, the audience on the side rows could clearly see us. To adapt the set for future performances, I would make the sheet wider, so that every cast member that goes behind the sheet is hidden and does not ruin any of the effects behind the sheet for the audience.
Throughout this process, I have enjoyed immensely being a set designer for Sherbet Lemon Theatre. I have been given the chance to express my creativity and imagination. It has been a fun journey to see my wacky designs become a reality. I am excited about the future of the company and would love to work as a performer and set designer again.
Works Cited:
Sired, K. (2018) The Truth About Bedtime… Dress Run Photos [image]. Available from https://www.facebook.com/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/photos/a.1817093908311824.1073741878.1494033543951197/1817101074977774/?type=3&theater [accessed 24 May 2018].
Now that the show is over it feels very strange not being with Sherbet Lemon Theatre every day, I got so used to seeing that lovely lot all the time. Now, I have a few final thoughts which I would like to address here.
Firstly, the show went marvellously well and the reception and feedback we got from it warmed my heart. It was so amazing to see that so many people were willing to spend their money on attending our show; we worked so hard to get it where it is now so all of the hard work definitely paid off!
Secondly, I am so proud of the Sherby Lems for all of their hard work and dedication to creating a new, unique piece of theatre, as “investors need convincing with an attractive proposition, which means a strong creative team and an attractive cast” (Trueman, 2013), Sherbet Lemon Theatre are in a very good place. Our show is unique in the ways it invites and engages an audience, as well as presenting uniquely hilarious content. Our strength as an ensemble is also testament to the strength and dedication of our creative and technical teams. They made it very easy for me, in my role as producer, to communicate well with each aspect of production. This was largely due to our weekly production meetings where we would address deadlines and other pressing matters.
So what have I learnt in my role as producer? I have a new understanding for what it means to have a foot in every door, metaphorically speaking of course, and keeping a close eye on every aspect of production. All of this “comes with experience and, as a new producer, it’s the one thing you don’t have” (Trueman, 2013). I have always found working with others enjoyable so this aspect of producing came as second nature to me; people management seems to be a strong point. Managing the company budget was completely new to me, and took a while to get my head around. I have learnt the importance of writing everything down in order to keep things as simple as possible, especially when it comes to numbers. If you would like to see more about how I managed the company budget, see the blog post under the ‘Producer’ tab.
So what’s next? I can tell you one thing for certain; this is not the end of Sherbet Lemon Theatre! We will be back to tell you The Truth about Bedtime…
H.M.
Trueman, M. (2013) So you want to be a theatre producer? Manchester: The Guardian. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/may/20/how-to-be-theatre-producer [Accessed 27 May 2018].
With reference to Sherbet Lemon Theatre’s company manifesto: “we want to create a relaxed atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable and involved in the action around them” (Sherbet Lemon Theatre, 2018), and this is what he aimed to do throughout our process.
Way back, before we even had a performance topic, we knew that we wanted to do something different with our seating in order to make audience members feel comfortable, involved and close to what is happening on stage. Once we had decided on our topic of sleep, this idea of an intimate stage space was put into action. We planned to flatten the auditorium space and sit audience members on chairs which formed a circle around the playing space in which the action took place. If you’d like to read more about how our set was designed and brought to life, visit our set designer Amanda Mason’s blog by clicking on the ‘Set Designer’ tab.
Figure 2 and 3 are of the set of The Truth about Bedtime…
As you can see from Figures 2 and 3, the layout of the set and audience created an intimate space in which all were included within the performance.
However, in order to create this set and produce the atmosphere we wanted, we had to cap our audience at 80 people. The downside to this is that we then automatically lowered the amount of money we would be taking in from ticket sales, meaning Sherbet Lemon Theatre would have less money towards our next show. However, we believe that our show and the lasting impact we have on audience members is worth more than the money.
Also, our initial 80 tickets sold out before the day of the show and when a subsequent 14 tickets were released they told out too. This gives up a good indication that there is a demand for our show, and we are in a good place when it comes to making money from ticket sales.
A big thank you to all those who bought a ticket and attended our show, we are very thankful for your support and we hope you enjoyed The Truth about Bedtime…
A very sweaty Sherbet Lemon Theatre after their debut performance.
Looking back and reflecting on Sherbet Lemon Theatre’s debut performance of The Truth About Bedtime… I can only beam with pride and joy. The response we have received, for me, can only be a testament for all of our hard work over the past 16 weeks.
As this may be my last blog post for a while, I wouldn’t want to spend it telling you the ins and outs of how show day went and how it can be improved for next time. However, if you’re a bit inquisitive like myself and would like to have peek at how things went, you can have a look at my stage manager performance report here.
I think for me, one of the greatest things to see happen on show day was our aspirations with our audience truly come to life. It has been a goal for all of us to really connect to our audience, ensure that they were comfortable and to spark feeling within them. I think this was recognised throughout all aspects of our performance, and the positive feedback we have been receiving only reaffirms this. Firstly, our intention of using verbatim engaged and connected us to our audience before we even stepped foot onto the stage. I believe that by using verbatim and engaging with the public before the show is a great way to ensure they feel a part of the show, especially through using their words within our performance. This element within itself, I believe, would meet Arts Council England’s (ACE) criteria perfectly. ACE articulate that they “invest public money to make great art that has an impact on everyone’s lives” (ACE, 2018). And what better way to include everyone? A show about sleep using verbatim!
We also extended our pre-set to half an hour, allowing enough time for our audience to come in and grab a hot drink, some biscuits and familiarise themselves with the space and the actors. This was achieved as one audience member commenting “the hot drinking chocolate and the blankets before the show were a really nice touch and I loved how the cast engaged with the audience before the show and during” (Donna, 2018).
For me and my job, I ensured that everyone with accessibility needs would be catered to on arrival. As engagement for everybody is vital to Sherbet Lemon Theatre, I ensured and liaised with Front of House that all people with accessibility needs, which was a total of four people, would not struggle when experiencing our performance. This was important to all of us as it further enables the inclusion of all people to engage with our production.
E.G. White, engaging with our audience during pre-set.
I am unbelievably happy with how everything went and how our audience perceived the show. Sherbet Lemon Theatre have had so much fun creating this, and on top of all of the great responses, I don’t think we’re ready to let The Truth About Bedtime… go just just yet. We’re currently in discussions about how and where we can go with show next, each time making the performance more inclusive for more people!
I have learnt a lot from stage managing this production, lots about communication and organisation, and will take this experience with me through my career.
Theatre is to be engaging and inclusive to everyone, and whether Sherbet Lemon Theatre do take The Truth About Bedtime… further or not, I have thoroughly enjoyed making the production inclusive to as many people as possible.
Sweet Dreams,
C.M.
Works Cited:
Arts Council England (undated) What We Do. London: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do-0 [accessed 25 May 2018].
McConnell, H. (2018) Sherbet Lemon Theatre after their debut performance. [image]
Lincoln School of Fine and Performing Arts (2018) We’re enjoying the pre-show hot chocolate and pyjama party at @SherbetLTheatre‘s show! [image]. Available from https://twitter.com/LSFPA_Lincoln/status/998630673618530304 [accessed 22 May 2018].
Donna, P. (2018) Comment left on blog post. Available from https://sherbetlemontheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2018/05/22/show-day/#comment_count. [accessed 24 May 2018].
