Wednesday, January 24, 2018
For something so intrinsically precise, time is strangely malleable and bending time is a big part of what we do in theatre.
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, December 6, 2017
It must be so frustrating, being a manufacturer of lighting consoles. Just when they think they’ve solved the problems of fading lights
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:01PMTuesday, November 7, 2017
Unless you’re a tech nerd, you’ll probably have no idea who Scott Forstall is. Yet, chances are a product he helped create
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, October 11, 2017
Sometimes, you know you want to say something, but don’t quite know what. So here goes. I worked for Michael Bogdanov –
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, September 13, 2017
The tendency in our industry is to look relentlessly forward – perhaps not surprising given that once a show is gone, it’s
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:00AMMonday, August 28, 2017
So, you want to go to drama school to learn about working backstage and making shows. Fair enough: a lot of people
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:00AMWednesday, August 16, 2017
It’s strange, the different directions the winds of showbiz can buffet you. There was a long period when it felt like almost
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMFriday, July 28, 2017
So, I’m an export. At least, I think I am. I’ve been in Tokyo for five weeks now, working on a new
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:00AMWednesday, July 5, 2017
Ever felt like you chose poorly? Whether because of that slightly raised eyebrow of disappointment when you told your parents you were
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, June 7, 2017
The problem with appearing here just once a month is how to deal with things that are timely and topical. Like congratulating
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMFriday, May 12, 2017
I’d be curious – if a little frightened – to know how much of my career (which I often think of as
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:40AMWednesday, April 12, 2017
Once again, a reminder that if you wait too long, you leave it too late. As you’ve probably heard, Ken ‘AK’ Bennett-Hunter
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, March 15, 2017
As you might have noticed, this column has a somewhat loosely specified brief. So it probably won’t surprise you that the book
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 03:00AMWednesday, February 15, 2017
So there I was at the lovely Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, taking part in an impromptu but fascinating conversation with a
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, January 18, 2017
Proof, if it were needed, that the world would be a calmer place if stage managers were appointed as presidents and prime
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, November 30, 2016
The thing about a good standard is, you’ve probably never thought about it. It seems obvious and sensible that the plug goes
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMFriday, October 28, 2016
The Stage doesn’t go in for post-trade-show reports. But if it did, I hope that a post-Plasa report would have mentioned the
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 12:13PMMonday, October 24, 2016
It’s easy now to forget that the National Theatre was created in two parts. While the company turned 50 back in 2013,
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:00AMWednesday, October 5, 2016
That the National Youth Theatre has just turned 60 suddenly makes you realise that its first youths can by no means be
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, September 7, 2016
I can’t be the only one to notice that entertainment technology is an industry of two halves: those who make the equipment,
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, August 10, 2016
An interesting difference you notice very quickly if you’re lucky enough to work on musicals in London and in New York: the
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, July 13, 2016
‘Print lag’ – that unavoidable newsprint delay between the writing and the reading – means the sharp stab of shock at the
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMMonday, June 20, 2016
Tools are out there that you just don’t know you need – because you haven’t heard of them. Once you do, you’ll wonder
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:00AMWednesday, June 8, 2016
My mother died a few weeks ago. I say this not to provoke any wave of sympathy (though the support from the
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, May 18, 2016
Get the word out: someone’s made us a new tool. It’s called Drafty. It lives on the internet. And if you make
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, April 13, 2016
This is the tale of two light bulbs. Except, really, it’s of a quest we should all be on before specifying products
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:40AMWednesday, February 17, 2016
Shows, particularly shows with a long life across multiple productions, generate a lot of lighting paperwork: plans, sections (though sadly not always), focus
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AMWednesday, January 20, 2016
It’s perhaps because lighting is such a solitary profession – there’s rarely more than one lighting designer on a gig, visits during
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:40AMWednesday, December 2, 2015
What are you doing now, and how did you end up doing that as your career? It’s a simple enough question in
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:40AMWednesday, November 4, 2015
With apologies for being late to the celebration (in part, because I was helping light the celebration), happy 30th birthday, Les Miserables.
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:00AMThursday, October 22, 2015
When the Plasa Show took over Excel London’s exhibition centre last week, Rob Halliday took a look at the entertainment technology showcase…
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:01PM 
