Problems you face as a 'Sound and Lightboard' Operator... (Plus a pretty fascinator I hand-crafted)

We have now finished the showings of Hedda Gabler. As light and sound board operator I was constantly on my toes waiting for cues and preparing the next piece of music, I enjoyed the feeling of working under pressure!

This was a bit of a challenge for me actually and although I knew was I was doing, I got really nervous beforehand. I think it is because you are so aware that one mistake could really affect the show.

We did have one issue with the lights during the show - I opened the first scene with lights and all was fine. Until the lights turned off for a few seconds, then back on. The director was looking at me very "what the hell?!"ish and whilst I pressed buttons there wasn't a fix I knew of. Once I realised the lights were not stopping this crazy behaviour I used my initiative and turned up the lights manually. This is something that I would only ever want to do in a pickle like this as it doesn't look smooth at all and you cannot predict how it will look. I tackled this problem the best I could, and ensured the next night to arrive even earlier to test the lighting.

The intimate theatre space at the L'Archiliuto in an early morning light set

My gadgets - sound board (left), light board (right)

My finished fascinator

Shot from the show - Hedda and Loevborg

We went out for the traditional cast meal after the final show which is Gaby's generous thank you treat to everyone. Hedda, the main character played by Alashiya had written 'suicide notes' to each of us in the form of limericks and we all wrote (on our paper table clothes) a limerick back. I used to really enjoy poetry when I was younger and it bought back how naturally rhyming comes to me! I have explored yet another form of the creative arts whilst out here. Here's my little limerick:

General Gabler he led them all,

With his face I portrayed on the wall,

His young daughter admired,

But her life soon expired

With that trigger she chose to pull

As I think I previously mentioned, Gaby, is also a professor at the John Cabot University here and as part of her curricular work she was given the task to mark and assess a 23 videos entered by Italian students as a competition. The videos were the students interpretations of 'the namesake' the novel on which the first show, Under the Overcoat was based on. We had to work to a criteria and pick out certain aspects of the videos and analyse them to see how well the students did in terms of originality, performance, creative direction and other marking criteria. As a student it was very interesting to have a go at switching the role to professor. I used knowledge from my own previous feedback sheets to understand the basic idea of how it worked, but it was good to have Gaby to show me also how it can be done.

I just applied and received my codice fiscale, an Italian document which allows me to work in the country. Using the Italian systems was definitely a new experience for me, and a challenge if you count waiting in line for 4 hours trying not to melt of boredom. After the LONG wait I have my document and to make the most of this piece of paper I have applied for a part time role at a company called NutKase. They design cases for laptops and tablets and they are looking for someone to work within their marketing team and branding. I have now updated my CV to include my English Theatre Of Rome information and I have to say, (pardon me to blow my own trumpet!) I think it is now looking pretty good. I have dabbled in a lot of the skills required for the job and it would be an incredible opportunity to get the part time position - it will broaden my knowledge on marketing and branding which would come in incredibly handy in my third year and also look great as further work experience. 

Upcycling and Re-cycling - How to furnish your whole home with 'garbage'

Among work, I have also been caring for an old lady which is a excellent way for me to earn some extra money and also to explore Rome and go further into the suburbs! They have the most incredibly huge fancy house so it's quite a luxury going over there. Plus another skill I could put on my CV should I ever need to.

Her gorgeous chocolate poodle bounding up the garden

I've also been helping Gaby out taking some photos of her beautiful country home. She would like to have an online portfolio as a lot of it she built herself - including the kitchen. It's really incredible the work she's done, I find great inspiration in Gaby! Here are some photos of the house. Next time I will take my new fancy pants camera my dad has loaned me for university and get some really good quality photos.

The hand crafted made-to-look-old kitchen. The cupboard doors are built from old window shutters

A close up of the marble kitchen sink

The are taps from an old water fountain in Rome, you can see the mythical create style spout mouths - these are one of my favourite features of the house - truly stunning! Gaby made the sink from a piece of marble she found, and the counters were made from window shutters, pieces of new wood made to look old etc. Upcycling and recycling home-style!

A beautiful view from the terrace, even on a rainy day

Upstairs kitchenette with ultramarine backwall

Downstairs bedroom, recycled bed frame and windowed cupboard turning into a mirror

I am expanding my knowledge of what I like to call Super-scrimping. Gaby knows all the old ways to save money, create things cheaply and how to be incredibly economical, this is a really good skill to be improving on and I often find myself fascinated by the things she has created from bizarre things she has found in the trash! ('Trash!' I have also found myself picking up American words over here… A lot of things are becoming really 'Awesome')

My favourite photo of them all, the old smudgy mirror reflecting the soft sunlight

I spent a lovely weekend back in England with my boyfriend living the life in the ever changing Shoreditch. I grow fonder and fonder of that place after each visit! We visited Greenwich which is where time is kept (GMT) and got a good view of London whilst up there. I have noticed a huge increase in my appreciate for the beauty of England since being away.

Greenwich, London. GMT

Working for the show 'Hedda Gabler': My work in Pop-art, Millinery and Graphics

The last few weeks have been busy preparing for our opening of the show Hedda Gabler, which is tonight.

My wish to learn the skill of lightboard operator came with this show - I will running the light and sound boards - the lights of which I also designed. I am a little bit of a tech-head, so I picked it up quickly and enjoyed it. It's interesting to see the effects and moods you can create using dramatic lighting it really can transform the space. I designed light to create hours of the day for this show - early morning and evening. I learnt to program preset lights into the board which is very useful for light changes. The sound board at the Teatro L'Archiliuto is a much newer and better quality piece of equipment than the one we used for the last show, Under The Overcoat.

One of the requirements of my painting was that it had to look like the actress who was playing Hedda. This was so that the link between the two would be easy to make. To achieve this, I took a photo of Aleshiya and edited in photoshop so that she had more masculine features. This was a challenge. I then added a general's outfit on to her and used this digital image to draw out the shapes for my painting. 

The reason the digital images looks very different is due to the fact that the director requested that the face be more stern and looking forward. I was required to make the necessary changes to create the desired impact. 

"The portrait of the general that stares out and follows you around the room"

Though not one of my best paintings, I am pleased with the outcome. Pop-Art is not my favourite style yet I feel I managed to capture the crisp lines that make it so recognisable.


Here is the first steps of the fascinator, I used feathers from what seems like an old burlesque style, feather pom pom which I bought from a gypsy at the market... It really is fantastic! The feathers are black with that twinge of green and blues depending on the light. I have a feeling it will make an appearance in my final year project somehow.. There are lots of feathers to adorn garments/art with and it will fit nicely with the nature theme of my work.

Using knowledge of fascinators from my first year at university

Gaby left it to me to design the promotional posters for this show, instead of going to the paid professional who usually does them. This gave me a good feeling, I am confident in my ability to create a visually effective poster.

The first poster was creating using a photo taken by the director to provoke underlying themes in the show… He likes getting a reaction for Italians and over here this photo certainly does that! The poster looks far from innocent and certainly has slightly sexual imagery. The Italians also have very strong views on violence to women (it looks like the gun is pointed by someone else however, it is actually her own hand) so it is quite controversial. 

Due to the other poster being a little too 'explicit' for certain promotional uses, Gaby requested that created a second suitable for the Italian magazines etc. I manipulated an image and changed more than enough to comply with copyright laws, this has inspired me to create an image from scratch next time. If I could improve my ability to do it would be a good skill to have not only for creating poster graphics, but also for fashion designs and illustrations. I think it's time to get back on illustrator because I think with a little practice I could nail it!

Aside from owning the English Theatre of Rome, Gaby runs a drama club at the John Cabot University. The students will be performing 'Nine', a story which follows Guido, a director and his relationships with all the women in his life. It is based on a film called 8 and a half, which is a very interesting Italian black and white film. It's quite unusual and the clothes are also fantastic. It also was good for my Italian watching a subtitled Italian film. I have been looking into the fashion worn in the film and will also be looking at Federico Fellini films and avante garde for inspiration.

I am really excited for his show. I will have more free reign for it than I have had for Hedda as Gaby is much more relaxed with decisions. Daniel, the director for Hedda Gabler is very certain about what he wants and has taken it upon himself to do most things. I think we are slightly similar in personality!

To support my work for Nine, I will to create my own research document on fashion through different eras. I am not sure yet what format I would like to do it in. I work very well digitally so I think I'll create A4/A3 boards on Photoshop, have them printed and then add texture and samples to them.