Artistic Director

The Artistic Director is in overall charge of The Octagon Theatre’s Artistic Policy, deciding which plays and performances we will present on our main stage and our other spaces, as well as guiding the whole organisation towards achieving artistic excellence. Our Artistic Director also directs many productions, as well as choosing which other directors should be invited to work with us.

 

Casting

The Casting Officer works with the Artistic Director and visiting Directors to find the right actor for every role in every play. This job involves going to watch lots of other plays at other theatres, liaising with actors’ agents, holding auditions and negotiating and issuing contracts.

 

Production

The Octagon is one of a small number of major regional producing theatres. That is, the majority of the performances that take place are created and staged by a team of specialists. For each show, the Octagon employs some or all of the following people: Director, Designer, Lighting Designer, Sound Designer, Choreographer, Musical Director, Fight Director, Dialect Coach…. together they make up the show’s ‘Creative Team’. These people are all experts in their particular field, and they work together with the Production team to decide how the production will look and sound. The Creative and Production team are often working on planning the production for months before rehearsals even start, and are heavily involved throughout the rehearsal and building process.

Under the Head of Production, the Production team have overall responsibility for co-ordinating all of the technical elements which go into producing a piece of theatre. The Head of Production must co-ordinate the departments that build and paint sets and props, as well as the lighting and sound teams, wardrobe, and stage management, to make sure that all of these elements come together on time (and within budget!) to create the spectacular finished products which you see on our stages. You can see an overview of the roles that make up our in-house Production team below.

Stage Management

The Stage Managers make sure that the rehearsals and live stage performances run smoothly. They organise all practical and technical aspects of rehearsals and performances, and make sure that crew, performers and props are in the right place at the right time. Our Stage Manager oversees the Stage Management team for each production which normally includes a Deputy Stage Manager and an Assistant Stage Manager.

 

Lighting and Sound

The Lighting Department works with a Lighting Designer to create all of the lighting and pyrotechnic effects needed to make a performance come to life. Their duties involve rigging and focusing all of the lights needed for each show, creating special effects where necessary, and they operate the lighting for every performance.

The Sound Department is responsible for the sound requirements of all the shows that we produce. This involves constructing sound effects and recording cast members and musicians, setting up and operating theatre shows and musicals, using radio microphones, mixing consoles and computerised show control software. The Sound Department is responsible for creating sound designs for in-house productions and co-productions.

 

Workshop

The workshop staff uses the designer’s model and technical drawings to make each component part of a set, which are then assembled in the workshop area. As we have a flexible auditorium they are often building sets for very different spaces for each Main House show. Workshop erects the sets on the main stage and advises on set requirements and builds for touring shows. Once the production opens they begin building the set for the next show.

 

Wardrobe

The Wardrobe department implements the designer’s costume designs and buys, hires or creates the costumes. They ensure that costumes get made properly and on time. There is a huge amount of organizing to be done to prepare for a production, such as taking inventory of all the costumes needed and preparing a schedule for when different costumes will be ready. Once performances start, the wardrobe department is still busy. Costumes have to be laundered between performances, and there are often repairs and alterations to be made, and in addition to all of this, they are starting to create the costumes for the next show.