Romeo and Juliet - August 2009, Greenhead Park in Huddersfield
My Role: Producer and Director
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| Promotional shot from the company Facebook page showing Romeo and Juliet's first kiss |
This was my first solo project as a
Director and my first experience in planning and creating an event of
significant size by myself.
A volunteer cast of 19 people staged
this outdoor promenade performance in Huddersfield's picturesque
Greenhead Park. Entrance was free, but voluntary donations were
solicited to make up our costs and provide for future productions. An
estimated audience of around 120 people over three nights - far more
than we had anticipated - contributed generously, and we covered our
costs, with a small amount left to kickstart our next production
The planning stage of this project
began in the previous year. Having decided on something so ambitious,
and having to work around the cast and crew's work and education
commitments, I decided that leaving plenty of time was vital.
Beginning with research on possible
venues, council and legal requirements - primarily through websites
and phone contact with the relevant authorities - I was able to put
together a budget, and a schedule of what we would need by when. The
first step was to sell the project to the Friends of Greenhead Park.
The cultural nature of the project certainly helped in this regard;
but I also believe that I demonstrated networking and communication
abilities in recruiting this organisation as valuable allies
throughout the process, helping us to negotiate use of the park for
the performance and rehearsals without charge.
What would be required however, was a
Temporary Event Notice, under which we would follow certain
stipulations for the protection of the public at our event, and £4
million worth of Public Liability Insurance.
The latter, inexperienced as I was, was
a shock. I had no idea how much insurance cost, but felt certain that
£4 million worth of anything would be significantly out of reach -
all we had was £150 put together from our own part-time jobs and the
generosity of our parents. It seemed that we just didn't have the
resources to complete this project.
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| Rehearsing a fight scene - using wooden spoons for daggers as requested by the park! |
Casting was organised for the start of
for what most of my cast was the summer holidays, with the rehearsals
planned for a solid five weeks before the production, planned around
the participants' other commitments.
As the director, I auditioned and cast
the show with 19 actors, aged between 16 and 28. Most were already
known to me either personally, because we had been in the Breakneck
Performing Arts Academy together, or because I had taught them at the
Lawrence Batley Youth Theatre. The cast's dedication was inspiring,
and as an 18-year-old learning on the job, I was grateful for it.
There were some issues with dropouts in a couple of minor roles, but
we were able to recast these in time. The professional actresses in
the roles of Lady Capulet and the Nurse were fundamental to the
makeup of the cast; managing them as a team, I felt that their work
ethic made them a good influence on the younger actors.
As well as the cast I managed the other
volunteers. We had a media student who volunteered to assist with
costume; while as the pictures show we mostly used clothing the cast
could provide themselves I also used a connection at the Lawrence
Batley Theatre to get us some free loans of costume and prop items.
During the rehearsal process I also
managed our press and publicity; I arranged for a volunteer to design
our flyers, and when printed organised the cast who were not
rehearsing or busy with other commitments to distribute them. It was
also my responsibility to set up our Facebook page for which I took
the publicity photos seen here, and talk to the Huddersfield
Examiner, with whom I was able to get an interview in the Culture
section, vastly increasing the number of people able to hear about
our show.
On the performance nights themselves I
supervised the running of the show along with volunteer ushers,
making sure the terms of our using the park were followed and dealing
with any and all problems that emerged. There were few problems but
light became an issue; due to inclement weather it was becoming
darker earlier than we had anticipated; obviously an issue for an
outdoor production with no lighting. Thinking on the spot we were
able to arrange the loan of some lights and a generator from an
electrician, and continue the event.
Romeo and Juliet probably remains one
of my most ambitious undertakings in event planning to date, and I
believe that what I was able to do with little to no experience shows
a natural capacity for organisation and problem solving in this
field.
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