My internship was at a local theater in San Francisco; it was named The Cutting Ball Theater and is known for reimagining old plays and producing new works. The theater is relatively small, holding only about 50 people per performance, but this quality helps to create a more intimate experience. During my time there I shadowed a stage manager named Micky who was working on the current show at the theater. The production was an old Russian play called “Uncle Vanya,” and was written by a playwright named Anton Chekhov. During my time there, Micky helped me understand what it means to be a stage manager, teaching me the skills that one must have to do good in the position. There where many required skills but some of the major ones were being organized, flexible, and being a good the communicator. Having these qualities were the core skills to have when in production of a show, as things may change at any moment; they usually do. One example is during rehearsals; sometimes the director wants to go over something else other than what was scheduled, so you have to flexible and adapt. I had to use all of these skills as I helped alongside with the stage manager and other people when I was at rehearsals. I mainly used these skills when doing my doing my daily duties, which primarily consisted of setting up the set for rehearsal, clean the stage, and help line read for the actors during the acting portion.

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I was able to learn many other things as well besides the skills of being a good stage manager; I also what their primary job is and how to do it. The main task that they have accomplished is “blocking,” this means they note down the stage movements of all the characters in the play. This can be a little hard as some points can be very fast and sometimes the director wants to change things, so you have to be quick at writing and have a good memory. I learned how to do this by observing Micky, taking notes and asking questions about how it's done. After a while, I got the gist of it and tried it for myself by blocking out some scenes for the play I'm working on at school.  It was a little tricky at first as I was fairly new to it, but after practicing it for a while and revising it with Mickey, I got the hang of things. This was the main obstacle of my whole time at the Cutting Ball as it was the primary skill I needed to learn to be a stage manager. It was hard because I wasn't a fast writer and their many little things I had to remember, for example, how to set up the blocking page of how to abbreviate things correctly. It was a challenge, but with persistence, I got through it, and now I'm blocking the school play perfectly!

 

Looking back on my whole experience at the Cutting Ball, I felt that it was an amazing one. I didn't have any expectations going in as I had not done anything related to stage managing before, only having done some research and watched videos about it. My end perspective on the experience is very positive as I got to work in a professional setting and got to do something I was interested in. It also showed me what to expect if I go into theater as a carrier in the future.