BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre Production 2021 graduate Holly Beth has been working with Pilot Theatre as an Assistant Stage Manager on their national tour of Noughts and Crosses. We were interested to gain insight into the production and the role which has seen Holly working in the industry shortly after finishing her degree.

Read on to find out more!

You are working with working with Pilot Theatre on their national tour of Noughts and Crosses, tell us about it!

For the production of Noughts and Crosses I am working with Pilot Theatre as their Assistant Stage Manager with wardrobe responsibilities. Noughts and Crosses is a play based on the novel by Malorie Blackman and adapted for the stage by Sabrina Mahfouz. It’s a modern-day tale of star-crossed lovers, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world, which has a really important message surrounding the production.

The set has a really exciting and interesting design, and the use of sound, lighting, multimedia and movement really adds to the tone and significance of the story.

The tour will be visiting various cities around the UK, coming to Newcastle mid October, and as my first national tour I am excited to experience travelling to and working in different venues and locations.

Throughout the rehearsal period, I have been preparing props ready for the show, this being recolouring items and making a range of paper props including: a newspaper, identity card and various letters that are used throughout. As well as tracking where the props enter and exit the stage and by who. This is important for me as during the show I will be backstage running stage right making sure that actors have the correct props with them, getting any set and furniture pieces ready to go onto the stage, so that transitions run smoothly. I also keep track and know when quick costume changes will be occurring and will be there to assist the actors with these. With having wardrobe responsibilities in my title, I will also be checking for any repairs that will be needed in costumes and fixing these where needed.

What’s special about the northern school of art?

I really enjoyed studying Film, TV and Theatre Production due to the hands-on nature of the course and the opportunities it offered me, including training with industry standard equipment, work experience with a local film production and using performance spaces outside of the university to put on productions, and The Northern School of Arts connection with Arc in Stockton was very useful for this. I thought it was really helpful learning different roles within the film and theatre industry as it gave me the opportunity to discover roles I didn’t know existed but found I had a passion for. The collaboration between courses really makes The Northern School of Art special as it highlights well the importance of working with different creatives on productions in the future. I found this particularly useful with the collaboration between the acting course due to the opportunities it gave to work with them and really delve into the working relationships between creatives.

 Any advice for prospective students?

The main advice I would give for any prospective students is to do things that you enjoy and have a passion in, as it makes learning and your experience more fun and something you look forward to doing everyday rather than it feeling like a chore. This is also really useful for when thinking about the future and what you want to do after you graduate, as the course you choose should help guide you into a career that you’re passionate about. An extra piece of advice I would give to any students looking to join or just starting would be to take any opportunities you are given, as a lot of employers like to see what work you’ve done outside of your university course, as well as you being able to gain these contacts who would have future work for you.

Keep up to date with Holly on her twitter: @hollyxbeth 

If you are interested in studying BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre Production we have a well established course that offers the skills and opportunities needed to secure a position within the industry. Find out more now!