Like so many of the guys i went to uni with, getting into the production industry wasn’t a planned or deliberate choice. There was no, “mummy when i grow up i want to be a roadie” conversations to be had at all. Instead it was the result of a much more organic process. Like many my interest was grabbed during my secondary school days. A drama teacher at the school called Jay Marriott ran what we called the ‘stage crew’ which serviced the termly showcase of work by the drama and music departments as well as the annual school play. It wasn’t too hi-tech or complex, but we had fun non-the-less! Jay left the school as i moved into year 10 and it seemed natural progression that we continue our little club on ourselves.
By a democratic process (a show of hands) i ended up fronting the Stage Crew for the last 2 years i spent at my secondary school and handled hires and organisational responsibilities for the most part. Now i know, i’d call that role a production manager. Either way the roles were fairly unimportant, as the shows would almost always be 8 pars a couple of S4’s and the dated (i mean 1980’s) in house sound equipment.
Academically i was a conscientious student, i worked hard and i turned up to my lessons etc. Unfortunately however i was fairly average in my ability. I stumbled through my GCSE’s a got what i considered to an okay set. When it came to further eduction, the ethos at the school was very much “drop outs go to college, propper students stay at 6th form’ A ruthless money making scheme if nothing else!
I stayed at the 6th form for a year struggling with a collection of A/S levels that i was both uninterested in and performing poorly at. My overall grades for that year were one D in Drama. A poor show considering i took four subjects! It just goes to show, just because you’re conscientious doesn’t mean you’re an academic!
Knowing that i’d messed up, and flailing at the prospect of failure and uncertainty i hit the internet and found a course that i knew i’d enjoy. The Theatre Productions Course at NCN Clarendon was the answer.
I spent 2 of the best years attaining a BND and came out with a distinction. I’d finally managed to find something i was good at and had made a really good set of friends in the process. Throughout the course i’d studied, Lighting, sound, costume, set design, stage managment, and props. When it came to the end there was that same panicky feeling of uncertainty. Not sure what to do, or if i was even in any position to get a job with the qualifications i’d attained. So what do you do ? More eduction! I’d particularly enjoyed the Lighting and Stage Managment aspects of my course at Clarendon So thats what i applied to do at uni.
My first interview was at a place called Rose Bruford in Kent. I fell in love with the place straight away, the grounds, the resources and tutors all appealed to my way of working. A few weeks later i would get the acceptance letter to offer me a place on the Stage Management course.
