You got a degree in WHAT?

My University degree is in theatre or drama if you WISH. I personally enjoyed the back stage of theatre. In particular, I loved being the Stage Manager. Not only did you get control once the show was running, but you got to see both sides of the spectrum. You got to keep the director's artistic vision while telling an actor that they could not have running water on stage.

It took me 5 years to complete a three year degree, but I do not regret any moment of it. I learned many skills that serve me well today. I learned that one can function on fifteen minutes of sleep especially if the "show must go on". I learned how to sleep in a lecture with out anyone knowing you are a sleep. I learned that the longest I should stay up with out sleep is 56 hours. After that I must get some sleep. However, as I get older, I can no longer stay up that long. I now need at least 6 hours per night. I also learned more valuable skills:

How to do the job

I had many people telling me along the way that I was in the wrong professionand in the end they were right. I never could find employment in this field. However, I was young and stubborn and continued. Along the way I had to modify or come up with solutions for ways of doing things in many different venues. Here are some of the tricks of the trade.

  1. Use electronic communication with your assistance, this prevents you having to go look for them in unfamiliar surroundings
  2. When labelling a mixing board, make the braille so that it could be read vertically rather than horizontally to save space
  3. Braille your script with hanging indents
  4. If acting, make sure to get a braille script. Computers on stage are not workable.
  5. When putting braill cues in a script use Dymo Tape so that they could be found faster.
  6. If you are doing an outdoor show, make sure to learn the venue quickly and well

Favourite plays

I was exposed to a wide variety of plays during my school years. Because of this, I have gained an appreciation for a variety of stiles and types. However, one type of play I don't know if I will ever like is the musical.

The musical is an excuse to have large amounts of people with large amounts of technical effects in a large theatre. It is theatre for the masses and it works. They are extremely popular because of the effects and the music. How many people went to see Phantom of the Opera to see the chandelier swing down? People in tech theatre make large amounts of money producing them and they are entertaining. The music is wonderful. But I can get the same out of the CD rather than paying to see them live. The problem I have with musicals is simple. All of the sound comes from the speakers. I might as well be listening to a cd because that is how it is produced. All of the actors are whering mikes in their hair and there is no directional sound. I find them boring. Smaller plays in smaller venues force the actors to use their own voices to project and there is directional sound especially if you are in the front row.

Before someone asks well what do you know? I have attended musicals both here and on Broadway in New York. The results were the same. I was actually a little disappointed.

On the other hand, I do have a list of favourite plays. Many of which have a lot of dialog. Here is a list of a few of my favourites: