Interview by Geraldine Emans
In this interview, I had the pleasure of talking to Georgia Leech who is the Technical Assistant for Rapture Theatre.
What’s a typical day in your job like? What do you do on a daily basis?
Pre-production, for the setup of the show, I am finding, sourcing, and creating props. I attend rehearsals and meetings and help to sort out the “specs” – the set ideas, what we need to make/create.
During the show, I am involved in running the backstage so making sure the cast are all ready, they have got their props, the set is up, and the technical aspects are sorted such as the backstage lights – and fixing any problems that might occur. Panicking a lot but pretending I’m not panicking!
How did you become interested in the job you do now? What drew you to the field?
When I was younger, about 11 or 12years old, my sister – who’s a professional dancer – was performing in a ballet show and I was asked to help backstage as the person running the show was short of help backstage. Basically, I really enjoyed it and then kept doing it every year since then.
When I went off to university to study a degree in something different, I got a job in the theatre industry working as a technician. I realised that I much prefer doing this as opposed to academic stuff.
Georgia at the read-through for Beauty Queen
Which qualifications did you need to get your job, or would someone need to get a job like yours?
You can get qualifications, but you don’t really need to because it is more about experience. If you don’t have any experience, the qualifications make up for the lack of experience. For me, I have been able to get freelance work mostly from my experience. I have a few qualifications, for example working from heights and fire safety.
What skills have you found to be vital to your job? Which skills help you do your job most effectively?
Communication and listening skills are very important. When something happens and you need to find the solution – and you are the key person who needs to share that solution/information with the team – then you need to be able to get that information out as quickly and as clearly as possible without any confusion as there is a possibility that there could be quite significant danger if things go wrong. Thinking-quickly is another major skill, which goes hand in hand with those problem-solving skills.
What is the best part of your job and why?
You see the show starting off from when you first read the script, and then you are literally there for all of it. You’re there from the beginning; you meet the cast; you see everything starting to get built up; and then, at the end, you get to see the audience really enjoying it and having this strong reaction to something you’ve put together from nothing – it’s so cool!
