How did you become a stage technician?
I left school with an A level in Art & Design among other things, which led to me joining the planning office of Allerdale District Council, in Workington, Cumbria, where I’m from. I worked there as a draughtsman for about 2 years before moving to Liverpool. I was in a band based in Liverpool at the time, which brought about the move.

Clearly I turned my back on stardom (ahem!) and over the years I’ve been a sign writer, model maker (had my own small business building scale models) and done a lot of stage crew work. I worked for a large number of bands in Mountford hall, the former Carling Academy and other venues in and around the city. I also did some stadium gigs with Oasis, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, R.E.M. and Elton John… Along the way I’ve gained some computer qualifications, HNC in IT, AutoCAD, etc. and I’d say that in this job I’ve probably used every skill I’ve ever picked up.

What does the day-to-day job involve?
It could be anything, but in a nutshell (deep breath): get-ins (set build), prop making, flying things and sometimes people, maintenance of everything to do with the stage, workshop and flying system, working shows, even making the odd donation box and many other “I never thought I’d be doing THAT today” moments…

What advice would you give for someone who wants to become a stage technician?
Don’t lie at your interview, seriously. From my experience, every time you mention something that you’ve done, you end up being asked to do it at some point in this job. Don’t expect it to be easy, or of regular hours. We’ve done a few all-nighters and missed daylight hours completely on many occasions. We’ve always got a deadline we have to meet. Missing them will usually mean no show, so we don’t miss them. Importantly, and I have to stress this, don’t believe Jeff Salmon (Technical Director) when he says: “it’ll only take an hour”… because it won’t!

You’ve recently made a fantastic donation box for the Everyman. How long did it take to make and what was the idea behind it?
It’s been about five or six days of work from having the idea, sketching it up, sourcing materials, and building. The idea came from the fact that I was asked to make it with a definite theme of the Everyman theatre. What it basically is, is a model of part of the front of the building, represented as a part built set on the Everyman stage. The donation slot is the trap, and the reddish-brown area around the black stage floor is to represent the colour of the auditorium seats.

What has been the most memorable production that you have worked on?
That’s too difficult to pin down to one show. Many shows are memorable from a technician’s point of view for different reasons: you can have really busy shows that are technically difficult, and therefore really satisfying to be part of, and there are less demanding shows that are so good you get the chance to enjoy the actual show. So a one-man event with talent like Daniel Kitson or Mark Thomas, where you don’t have loads to do is still great to be a part of, and then you’ll have big in-house productions like panto and such, where you’re making props and programming the automation system to fly cast members around the stage. It’s still a buzz to see stuff you’ve made out there on the stage for people to enjoy, like how often do you get to build a remote control raven or a Dalek? I suppose really it’s the variety of stuff we do that makes us enjoy it more. The contrast between productions makes them stand out individually; from stand-up, to King Lear, to The Kite Runner to panto... As a technician you can enjoy it all in different ways.