University of Ulster graduate, Carly Brownlee is one of two theatre interns working at the Lyric Theatre.
The 23-year-old Dance graduate from the historic town of Carrickfergus is grateful for six months as an intern to ponder her possible career path. Carly is one of two theatre interns who won a Northern Bank Freedom Experience Scholarship which included a work experience element based at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast supported by Arts and Business Northern Ireland. She blogs about her internship:
My new desk for the next few weeks greets me with a pair of stress boobs threatening that an Assistant Stage Manager's job will be a hand full. After the team brief, I am introduced to Alec who I will be assisting for this week. We get stuck into sourcing props for ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ (I have no idea what this is!) Before I know it we are driving to Holywood to collect some guns from a man in a car park. As Alec gets into the car to do the deal, I find myself being on the lookout watching other people enter and exit the car park while trying not to look suspicious at the same time. I feel like an agent in a James Bond film- now that’s theatre! 06/08/2012
“You are doomed! That’s all I have to say to you. Aaaaaaaah!” Jocasta to Oedipus As I sat in for the tech run of Oedipus I was also thinking about what seemed like an endless props list for ‘The Playboy of the Western World.’ Where to find a black leather, straight back, early 1900’s chair with wooden arms, throne like-but not too ornate and obviously worn out with visible horse hair stuffing peeking out as a sign of excess wear? Ebay? Charity shop? Scrapyard? Great-granny's house?…Auction? Going… going… gone! 07/08/2012
1 Glass of porter; 1 Turnip; 1 Enamel bucket for turf; 1 Big hat; 1 Loy. What else could you possibly need for day of hard work at the Lyric?! Oh…black sheer tights, hair wax and a woollen patchwork blanket. 08/08/2012
Road trip! Once we managed to locate where to collect the van we hired for the day, we were off on a long day of driving and bargaining from Belfast to Dromore and various places in between. As I wiped the sweat from my brow from carrying chairs from the yard to the van in scorching heat [yes 23 degrees in N.I.!] I realised I definitely did not ever want to be a full time delivery person. Having a welcome picnic lunch in Botanic Gardens is without doubt a perk of the job! 09/08/2012
The last day of week 1 celebrated with a sneak preview of Oedipus, which was an inspiring performance by the young local talent we have in our city. Updating props list and consulting rehearsal notes for additions and changes. The task of preparing a Turkish hotel chair for re-upholstering was a grave site…the underside of the chair was covered in wood louse corpses that crunched in the tissue as they were respectfully removed. Where is the glamour of working in a theatre? It certainly isn’t in the props workshop…I’ll let you know when I find it. 10/08/2012
“Plank!” “Block!” “Plank!” “Block!” “Plank!” “Block!” Blocking is the order of the day. After washing an old rusty bucket to be used as a foot bath and driving to collect some more props, Doggs Hamlet comes to life. Gillian takes me through the Stage Manager protocol for the early rehearsal stages and it’s not long before my thoughts wander back to Studio A at the Foyle Arts Building at Magee campus, differentiating Stage Right, Stage Left, Up Stage and Down Stage. 13/08/2012
“…and do you know what I found-tomatoes…in a can! Tomatoes in a can! They’ve got everything these days.” This is a typical lunch time conversation. They’ve got everything these days except for an old wooden tray, a plain writing pad and old fashioned tea towels so it seems. Who would have thought these things would prove to be so difficult to find! However, I did manage to find one important thing on the list - a red carpet, Hollywood style. 14/08/2012
Road trip to Sarah’s new props emporium to return the pot that was mistaken for an old kettle. In our defense, the broken pot handle did very much resemble a spout. However, in our thinking that it was a kettle we managed to overlook the fact that it was in fact missing a handle! And so we learn something new every day. Successes of the day included making the production meeting on time (unlike last week), ticking off returned props from another show and going home early! 16/08/2012
The 23-year-old Dance graduate from the historic town of Carrickfergus is grateful for six months as an intern to ponder her possible career path. Carly is one of two theatre interns who won a Northern Bank Freedom Experience Scholarship which included a work experience element based at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast supported by Arts and Business Northern Ireland. She blogs about her internship:
My new desk for the next few weeks greets me with a pair of stress boobs threatening that an Assistant Stage Manager's job will be a hand full. After the team brief, I am introduced to Alec who I will be assisting for this week. We get stuck into sourcing props for ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ (I have no idea what this is!) Before I know it we are driving to Holywood to collect some guns from a man in a car park. As Alec gets into the car to do the deal, I find myself being on the lookout watching other people enter and exit the car park while trying not to look suspicious at the same time. I feel like an agent in a James Bond film- now that’s theatre! 06/08/2012
“You are doomed! That’s all I have to say to you. Aaaaaaaah!” Jocasta to Oedipus As I sat in for the tech run of Oedipus I was also thinking about what seemed like an endless props list for ‘The Playboy of the Western World.’ Where to find a black leather, straight back, early 1900’s chair with wooden arms, throne like-but not too ornate and obviously worn out with visible horse hair stuffing peeking out as a sign of excess wear? Ebay? Charity shop? Scrapyard? Great-granny's house?…Auction? Going… going… gone! 07/08/2012
1 Glass of porter; 1 Turnip; 1 Enamel bucket for turf; 1 Big hat; 1 Loy. What else could you possibly need for day of hard work at the Lyric?! Oh…black sheer tights, hair wax and a woollen patchwork blanket. 08/08/2012
Road trip! Once we managed to locate where to collect the van we hired for the day, we were off on a long day of driving and bargaining from Belfast to Dromore and various places in between. As I wiped the sweat from my brow from carrying chairs from the yard to the van in scorching heat [yes 23 degrees in N.I.!] I realised I definitely did not ever want to be a full time delivery person. Having a welcome picnic lunch in Botanic Gardens is without doubt a perk of the job! 09/08/2012
The last day of week 1 celebrated with a sneak preview of Oedipus, which was an inspiring performance by the young local talent we have in our city. Updating props list and consulting rehearsal notes for additions and changes. The task of preparing a Turkish hotel chair for re-upholstering was a grave site…the underside of the chair was covered in wood louse corpses that crunched in the tissue as they were respectfully removed. Where is the glamour of working in a theatre? It certainly isn’t in the props workshop…I’ll let you know when I find it. 10/08/2012
“Plank!” “Block!” “Plank!” “Block!” “Plank!” “Block!” Blocking is the order of the day. After washing an old rusty bucket to be used as a foot bath and driving to collect some more props, Doggs Hamlet comes to life. Gillian takes me through the Stage Manager protocol for the early rehearsal stages and it’s not long before my thoughts wander back to Studio A at the Foyle Arts Building at Magee campus, differentiating Stage Right, Stage Left, Up Stage and Down Stage. 13/08/2012
“…and do you know what I found-tomatoes…in a can! Tomatoes in a can! They’ve got everything these days.” This is a typical lunch time conversation. They’ve got everything these days except for an old wooden tray, a plain writing pad and old fashioned tea towels so it seems. Who would have thought these things would prove to be so difficult to find! However, I did manage to find one important thing on the list - a red carpet, Hollywood style. 14/08/2012
Road trip to Sarah’s new props emporium to return the pot that was mistaken for an old kettle. In our defense, the broken pot handle did very much resemble a spout. However, in our thinking that it was a kettle we managed to overlook the fact that it was in fact missing a handle! And so we learn something new every day. Successes of the day included making the production meeting on time (unlike last week), ticking off returned props from another show and going home early! 16/08/2012