GUIDES

The aim of the Guides is to introduce various aspects of show production. They are aimed mainly at those who are starting out, but I'd like to think that the more experienced will also find something useful in them.

Below you will find a basic introduction to what you'll find in each Guide. If you're interested, you can click on the link to take you to a page where you'll find some extracts from the Guide you've chosen.

Then, if you'd like a copy, you can download the full Guide by right-clicking on the DOWNLOAD link. From the menu that appears, click on Save target as in Internet Explorer or Save link as in Netscape. You'll be prompted to specify a directory and a file name. Then you simply click Save, and the file will be downloaded.

Directing the School Show

If you think that directing a show is all about putting your actors in the right place on-stage, making sure they come on at the right time and that they can be heard from the back of the theatre, you need this Guide!

The concept of the production, the design, briefing specialists, training the actors, various kinds of rehearsal and how to run them: all of these and more are covered in this Guide, which takes a very practical look at directing a school show, with illustrations from the my own productions.

There's the experience of over thirty years of directing school shows here, and it's full of things I learned in my first production - and the one I did last week!

Lighting the School Show

What's in this Guide? - lighting equipment and how it's used; dimmers and control desks; filtration; manufacturers; planning, rigging, focusing, plotting, operating - and, most important of all, how the right lighting will reinforce the moods, ideas and emotions you want your actors to project.

The Director does need to know something about lighting, or he's at the mercy of the technical people and the show could suffer. This Guide tells all you need to know about stage lighting and how you can use it to produce the best show you can.

Sound for the School Show

Sound is the most neglected aspect of school theatre, mainly because so few know anything about it but so many think they know all there is to know. There's a huge difference between home HiFi and theatre sound, and this Guide takes you through the maze of equipment - condenser and dynamic microphones, PZM and PCC mics, horns and compression drivers, mixers and sub-mixers, signal processors and graphic equalisers, SPL and dB, foldback and feedback - and how to use it to achieve the best quality sound, whether you're miking up a singer or a chorus, or just trying to boost the voices of quiet actors.

Stage Management

The Stage Manager is a pivotal figure. Without a good SM, your show has little chance of success. He - or she - has to be a bit of a juggler, able to look after a dozen jobs at once, and do them all well. This Guide tells you what's required. Unfortunately, it can't find this paragon for you but it does give lots of advice about how he can do his job, almost without a nervous breakdown.

It also deals with designing and building sets, and with the concept behind the design.

Music and Dance

If you're doing a musical, you've got to have a Musical Director and a Choreographer - and you've got to deal with them when you've got them! And then there are the musicians, and the dancers.... and they're a very different kettle of fish from your average actor! Oh yes, then you've got to get your actors singing and dancing, and your singers and dancers acting.

It's not easy!

That's what this Guide is for. It covers all these problems, and a few more. And it's a basic introduction to various styles of dance and how you can learn about them. If you've never dealt with musicians and dancers before, this will put you on the right track.