The Prop Solve : Working as a Theatre Technician...?

I worked as a technician (Light, Sound, Cueing) on a touring puppet show! Now as you have probably realised, this is not my usual modus operandi. There was a rather steep (and somewhat stressful) learning curve I had to go through. I had a few weeks to prepare for the job and used every second I had to make sure I would be fully capable of taking on the position.
Why? you may ask. Well I do love an adventure and am always looking for new ways to challenge myself. So why not?

The hardest part was setting up because not one venue is the same. One has to tweak the lighting/sound rig to make sure it's right for each venue while keeping the integrity of the original design. Learning how to setup the lighting was also... interesting. Making sure they all have sufficient power, the DMX was working correctly and communicating with the laptop etc. (the list goes on) were all new concepts I had to learn. The worst part was problem solving during the set up.. with the clock ticking, whatever issue there was had to be solved before curtains open. The first shows were pretty rough for me, but as I got used to the rhythm, the equipment and show, things got much easier (still not easy, but much less stressful.)

Life on the road is pretty fun, I saw so much of the county that I'd never seen before and got to meet many different people in many different settings. I'm also so glad I got to see this other side of production - theatre/film are and always will be collaborative projects and so I think it's so important that one understands and appreciates what other departments are doing.

Before Setup in a theatre in Stornoway