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:
- I learned how to do sound design from the ground up
- I learned how to work with people who have differing temperaments.
- I learned how to look at a play from both sides
- I learned how to keep a project on track and make endless lists making sure to follow them to the letter
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.
- Use electronic communication with your assistance, this prevents you having to go look for them in unfamiliar surroundings
- When labelling a mixing board, make the braille so that it could be read vertically rather than horizontally to save space
- Braille your script with hanging indents
- If acting, make sure to get a braille script. Computers on stage are not workable.
- When putting braill cues in a script use Dymo Tape so that they could be found faster.
- If you are doing an outdoor show, make sure to learn the venue quickly and well