Way out West (incorporating Way up North)

education departments: bah, humbug!

Elsewhere I have recorded my prejudices about theatre education departments, as ever, it is funnier to be unfair than to be fair, so don't expect me to be otherwise.

In my experience, theatre education departments are usually staffed by failed actors and aspirational ex-nursery nurses, their outlook and their lives are permanently scarred by having to be optimistic and positive about everything. This inevitably effects their attitude to their co-workers in the theatre, which is often borderline psychotic. Two other factors which need to be mentioned, 1) many theatres depend on the income which a community and outreach program brings in, needless to say, this funding doesn't all percolate down to the intended recipients, its amazing how many things can be classed as 'educational' within a theatres budget, 2) because their work is in the community, no-one is ever surprised that the education department aren't in the office very much, and they often seem surprised that other people have to work very long hours for little reward.

My current project has, as I have mentioned, an educational involvement. The children, apart from my sound workshop, have been producing shadow puppets, with a view to exhibiting them in the lobby of the tent, alongside an interractive soundscape developed in the forementioned workshop (I hope you appreciate my packing in as many funding buzz words in this blog, I'll stop soon, I promise).

Four weeks ago, I gave Wilf (not his real name, but he looks like a Wilf), the head of the education department, a drawing of a shadow puppet booth, and a piece of very expensive back projection screen. He agreed to get one of the theatre chippies to make it (an afternoon's work, it was very simple). Yesterday, my liaison at the theatre called me and said they wanted the booth and interractive stuff for the opening tonight, but no-one had made anything, indeed the chippies had positively refused. It transpired that Wilf had only asked them yesterday morning, and now they are all full-on fitting the panto up, a time of maximum stress and demand in the industry, so it isn't surprising that he got a dusty answer.
So, today we have a hasty compromise, to be honest, I don't think he ever grasped the concept of shadow puppets anyway.

Oh, and the tree has been so badly butchered that it looks like someone let a bomb off next to it. Thankfully you can't see the scars in the dark.

posted by Lampy @ 11/30/2005 09:09:00 am