As previously stated, she is the Associate Director for Young People Theater in West Yorkshire Playhouse, so she has massive responsibilities within her projects, she said something along the lines of; 'if something goes wrong, it's my fault. But everyone takes the credit once it goes right'. If any of the people involved in the production have problems, it will be Gail they go to to fix it. She has been working in the playhouse for a while now, and has worked on 5 of the Christmas performances, which is probably a testament to her success.
She enthusiasticly stated how much she enjoyed her job within T.I.E, she loves bringing educational performances into schools. Their youngest range is 3-5 year olds, which is understandable as anything below would require much more to bring their attention and they may not understand the performance. Gail explained that even if a performance starts with a specific age range, they are sometimes asked to bring it to an older or younger age range, so some tweaking to compensate is required.
After the introduction was over, we began asking the questions:
What styles of theater do you use in your productions?
"It’s not always up to us. I really want to do a TIE piece on Child Carers but I have been told I would not be funded for this. A piece about knife crime is wanted so I have to do this otherwise I will not get paid. I also really want to work with different cultures; Especially the Asian/ Indian cultures of theatre."
This is understandable really. While Theater is an enjoyable proffesion, it is still a bussiness and so must go to where the money is.
How are your projects funded?
"The touring in schools work with our TIE pieces are funded by Education Leeds, but this funding stops at the end of this year (2011). The work done at the Playhouse is funded by the Arts Council but other specific productions i.e. - knife crime – are funded by The Home Office, or The Royal Armouries ect... We are also paid for commissioning monologues."
I'd have thought tthe goverment/Local Council funding of projects to have been the main source of income for most companies, so this cut will probably hit T.I.E companies hard. And I've read in the news that Arts Council funding is also getting vut back to a lesser sum, so thats probably going to cause problems as well. Hopefully, tghe commosions and privately funded projects are enough to keep most of them on their feet.
Is there a hierarchy of roles/responsibilities within the company?
“Whatever happens, I am responsible for everything! I make nearly every decision about what is happening concerning TIE. The hierarchies are led by different artists. For example the actors, playwrights, singers, poets ect... Make their own decisions about their own pieces. You have to decide who is the most skilled at individual things with their abilities. Within the theatre you have to be collaborative.”
Theres obviously alot of responsibilitie on one persons shoulders, to then say that while she makes the descions but appear to have to decide between different peoples ideas and the ideas of the leading person in the project must be hard, especialy if the mistakes will allways cascade back up to her. And I understand that it is a collaborative, but you also can't have too many chiefs in the village.
How long does it take to produce a piece of T.I.E of high quality?
“If we commission a piece in 2008, we tell the writers and they have a year to produce a script, (they may have multiple scripts to write at once!). We usually plan for two years ahead. We then rehearse 9-5 Monday- Saturday for 3-4 weeks. Then the designers and set and props crew ect... need time to work out what’s going on in the piece. You have to work out how you want it to look, how you want people to see it and what they will see. As well as the rehearsal schedule to think about we have to book the tour and work on the workshop to follow the performance.”
The rehersal time seems about right, it's good enough to have an average sized peice fully memorized and the visuals sorted. Wish we had this sort of time.
Are some age groups more difficult than others?
“No they are all just different. I have to find the things that will encourage and inspire people and decide which age range it will have the biggest impact on. To do my job you really have to be in touch with any age group to connect to them properly.”
Understandable, it's no use using bright coulors and sing alongs to teenagers.
Do you use songs and music in your performances?
“Yes in different ways. The music in the show First Cut portrays the life and emotional journeys of the character. In the Worm Collector we use sound effects to create an atmosphere and explain where you are without actually being there. This sets the scene whilst being versatile.
Music and sounds makes the journey unfold and tells the story. We try stuff in rehearsals to see what works and what doesn’t. Music for younger ages like Visiting Grandpa, for 3-5 year olds is more appropriate as it engages there minds in a more fun way.”
Music is something thats better used on young audiances in my mind, and is harder to use with teenagers because of the diversity and preducie in the modern music scene.
How do you connect with different audiances?
“Forum theatre is a good way to get the audience involved, depending on the audience. In The Snow Queen, the actors who play the robbers rob the audience (without harassing them). This is a fun way to connect the audience with the performance and make them feel part of the story.”
Audiances are extremely unpridictable, so I'd prefer not to directly engage with them. It's easy to see a story unfold without it asking you to change it or slapping you in the face.
How do you get different audiance types into the theatre?
"There are different ways to do this. Advertising helps a lot. The Playhouse is a very lucky company and has a very clever and very big marketing team.
I'm not sure I'd enjoy a challange like that myself, attempting to get inside the audiance before it's even put together.
Encouraging schools and engaging with creativity is the other way to get audiences. We just have to work out what different audiences want.”
The only problem with this is you can never cater to everyones needs, or it'll end up a mess. But, I guess focousing on a single type of audiance wouldn't bring in a large enough turn out.
Have you ever acted and directed yourself at the same time?
“No, I really don’t think anybody should ever act and direct themselves at the same time. You can tell who does this because of their expressions in the performance. They are never fully connected to the character and it’s very hard to do so when you are acting.”
Understandable, but under out circumstances we don't have much choice.
Do you gather inspiration by seeing other peoples work?
“Yes you have to otherwise it is very hard to think of something original without seeing a starting point. There are no new ideas; they are what you make them.”
It is true. No idea is new, it'sonly how you interpret it.
Have you ever been in a project where you've had enough or just wanted it to end?
"No, Never. Things I have worked on have become slightly tedious or challenging because of the combination of colleagues I worked with but I never ever have had enough of a project."
It allways does ocme down to the poepl you work with in a team project. Some people are simply hard to work with.
Do you enjoy your job?
"Yes! Very much. It’s a very challenging job. It’s very challenging to find what it is that will make a great piece. What will inspire people? You know a piece is good if the actors feel part of it. "
I'm not sure I'd enjoy a challange like that myself, attempting to get inside the audiance before it's even put together.
It was an experiance to meet her, and I'm grateful for it. It is rather exciting that she is going to try and find the time to watch us in our rehersals and help us with it. The only problem is, she left before I was able to ask if we would beable to do the same with their rehersals at some point.
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