On the 6th of July 2020 we took part in the #LightItInRed campaign showcasing the national emergency situation for the Arts in the UK. We worked with both Arts at the Old Fire Station and The Story Museum to light the front of the buildings in red.

For me, it felt great to be able to spend time doing what I love, which is working in the technical side live and events industry. It was also great to have my work in the Oxford Mail there is still a very long way to go before the arts returns to any sense of normality or regularity.

A huge thank you to Event Production Services for the equipment support they provided to help make this event possible!

Manwatching, by an anonymous woman is "a funny and frank insight into heterosexual female desire, read out loud by a man". 

The production was not hugely complicated and consisted of a preset/postset and a general wash during the performance. However, programming on an ETC console is always a useful experience as I find I learn things by using the console and increasing my familiarity with it.

Spring Reign is a production that came to the Old Fire Station in Oxford. It explores the complexities and issues in the Syrian conflict. The day entailed helping put together the set, focusing lights and then deconstructing the set and re-setting the lights at the end of the day along. This was a day where I was the venue technician which means ensuring the incoming company has everything they need and that the technical aspects of the show are well looked after.

How We Think We Think was a simple production with a large impact. It involved a simple lighting state and minimal set with a series of overhead projections to show the set on the projector screen.

At the production of Fish Eye in the Old Firestation Theatre I worked with the incoming production as the second in house tech to bring in the set and assist them in any way necessary to bring the production into the theatre. This involved setting up their additional lighting equipment as well as focusing and colouring up the in house lighting rig to meet their needs.

We also constructed their set which included a series of panels on rails which were used as projection screens. Acting as in house tech also meant I had to set out chairs in the End-On formation.

At the end of the production we assisted with the get out of the set and their lighting equipment along with working on re-rigging and resetting the in-house lighting grid to the normal setup.

For the production Meet Fred at the Old Firestation Theatre I was the only in-house tech present to assist on the day of the production. This entailed working with the Meet Fred cast and crew to help setup their set and adjust the in-house lighting rig to meet their needs. The setup also involved setting up the seating in an 'End On' formation and adjusting it in accordance with the ticket sales form the box office to make sure the theatre did not feel empty as the show had not sold out.

This also entailed working with the show file they brought with them for the ETC Ion and re-patching the dimmer and house light circuits to the Ion. This allowed for them to not re-program the entire show upon arrival. I also worked with their technician to use the in-house sound system which is an Soundcraft SI with KV2 Speakers. From a technical perspective it was also necessary to disable the fire alarm as the production used a smoke machine.

The get out entailed working with the front of house staff to remove the seating along with helping the Meet Fred production do the get out at the end of the evening. This also entailed retrieving their gels from the in-house lighting rig and re-rigging and re-focusing the in-house lighting rig.