History
The Lighthouse opened in 1978 named Poole Arts Centre. Their main aim was to entice residents of Poole to see and be influenced by a wide range of cultures. It was built as a response to the council wanting to have more of a culturally fulfilled community. Around the same time, the Poole Arts Trust was set up to manage Poole Arts Centre.It was a registered charity, coordinated by a board of voluntary directors. Nowadays they are linked with the Borough of Poole investing money into the upkeep of the venue and the acts featured.
1988 saw The Lighthouse attracting the Arts Council England whom organised events and workshops at the venue for all ages to increase the goal of an enriched community.
After celebrating it's 21st Birthday, in 1999 Poole Arts Centre went under a £9.5 million transformation to update the facilities including public areas. It reopened in 2002 when it was renamed The Lighthouse Poole. The transformation included a modern glass bar and also the building from the outside which at night has different coloured lights exaggerating its phenomenal, swave structure.The Team
The Lighthouse has several departments whom make sure the events, programming and upkeep goes well. The different departments include; The Ticket Office, Stage Door, Marketing, Programming, Finance, HR, Development, Technical, Front of House and Bar and Catering.
Ticket Office
These people are the ones whom the public see at the venue or speak to on the phone to book their tickets. They also organise the online deliveries. They also arrange for people such as the disabled whom have specific needs that can be catered for. Also, they organise group visits to the Lighthouse and discounts.
Stage Door
Is the receptionists whom welcome artists and arts organisations whom are performing or tutoring. They are on duty throughout the whole day; manning the phones, organising post and the security. They also offer general knowledge about the establishment to offer to the public/ artists whom are not from the area.
Marketing
They encourage the residents of Poole and others to visit the Lighthouse and their attend the events. Their main aim is to entice new audiences and tomake sure as many people as possible can enjoy the experiences they offer. They also work closely with the ticket office and make sure the process of purchasing the ticket and attending the performance runs smoothly.
Programming
This department find events and groups that would attract audiences. Their aim is to develop relationships with artists and organisations. This is mainly so that they can have meetings to organise these spectacular events by visiting companies and agencies. They also aim to create opportunities for all to learn and participate in workshops and events.
FinanceThis department has to run such a big charitable establishment, it requires careful financial management. They have to calculate and predict the amount of ticket sales compared with the events they organise and wages for staff. They also deal with creating invoices and comprimising with partners.
Human Resources
They make sure The Lighthouse employ the right people with the right skills for the positions. They also ensure everyone feels valued and enjoys going to work. They are involved with the training, recruitment and development of staff.
Development
This team helps organise the fundraising for The Lighthouse. Public funding and box office tickets can only cover so much. So they try to raise additional funds from individuals, companies, trusts and foundations.
TechnicalThey help with moving lighting rigs, building sets, managing props, sound and dressing the performers.
Front of House
This team welcomes the audience into the venue. The hosts also make sure that each customer is provided with guidance, safety and comfort. They ensure that the public's experience at the Lighthouse runs smoothly.
The Lighhouse offer a catering service to business people, artists and the public. This team makes sure the cafe and bar provides the best service to the visitors.
(research: 1 hr 1/2 including write up)
Diary of Work experience
Day 1: 14/02/12 (10am-4pm)
First of all, I signed in at stage door and was introduced to Julie Gosling (Human Resources Officer). In the foyer we sat down and I told her what I knew about the Lighthouse; I mentioned that I had performed there several times with school and Stage Coach and did my Bronze Arts Award here too. After this, she talked me through a brief history of the Lighthouse (Poole Arts Centre) and what departments there were such as Programming, Marketing, Ticket Sales, Finance, Catering and Technical. The technical crew are the biggest group of employees at the Lighthouse and are all male. Once we had this conversation I had to fill out a few Health and Safety forms and the Student Agreement Pack (which is located in my scrapbook as evidence.)
Following this, Julie took me on a tour around the Lighthouse which I had seen before but she took me backstage, into all the nooks and crannies. I also went into the crew room where Jake (the technical manager) spends most of his time. From here, he took me backstage of the theatre to the where James was. James was in charge of the staging and he told me about how the ropes and booms are coordinated. The ropes have a weight on them which balances out what is being held by the booms such as black screen or a wooden 'windmill'. James said that originally he wanted to do lighting and sound but found it too complex. He got into his field of work by an Apprenticeship course at the College. I also asked the lighting technicians how they got to where they were now. The lighting and sound team were not part of the Lighthouse but part of a touring crew called Brighter Productions whom are hired by the Amature production company performing. One of the technicians gladly told me how he became interested in lighting. He began his anecdote by saying that when he was a child he was fascinated with the kettle lead and plugs in general. Later on in his life, he pursued his career by doing Drama for GCSE and A level where he presented his technical attributes to performances. After this, he did a college course to get to where he is now. He has toured around the country to places such as Liverpool but also travelled internationally; most recently to Spain. He did not realise how much travelling theatre technicians do. He also explained to me how the lighting desk worked. He said that the bars were used to turn the lights on and off depending on what channel. Also they had to be 'patched' meaning coded into the designated numbers of the plugs and lights. In addition, there was a spinning rota which was where they would stick white tape to write down the order they go in and what the transitions are. He explained that their desk cost around £4-5 thousand. But the top of the range ones cost above £30 thousand. Contrastingly, he mentioned that you could get ones for £30 but are simple and limited; can only patch a few lights.
After this, I went backstage to where most of the technicians were, whom finished setting up the staging for the dance show. I asked what the machine resembling a computer like device did. This was called the prompt caller. It was used for bigger productions such as the pantomimes to call the actors from the dressing room for their cue. The DSL technician usually mans this machine but for the dance show they had their own little computer showing the songs and cues. They mentioned that the children do not need prompts as much as the older artists.
Before I left for the day, I walked around the Lighthouse complex admiring the exhibitions. On the top floor was 'The Beatles and Bournemouth'. Showing pictures, newspaper articles and comments about The Beatles. I did not realise The Beatles visited our seaside resort on any, let alone many, occasions. The pictures depicted them as teenagers/ 20 year olds at a hotel in Bournemouth, eating, partying and playing. It also showed John Lennon and his family walking across the Sandbanks ferry. Furthermore, the exhibition included records including a gold one. In addition, an essay a 16 year old girl in Bournemouth had written about The Beatles for which she got an A grade. Along this top foyer also were the Leisure Artists whom come in about once a month. They painted mainly scenery and were inspired by books that the organisation had provided as well as their own imagination. On the ground floor behind the Cafe situated the Puppet exhibition. (leaflets in scrapbook). The bigger puppets created by Stuff for Nonsense were very Tim Burton like and there were also benches from which you could have a go at creating your own puppet show.
(time spent: 6 hrs work experience, 1hr write up)
Day 2: 15/02/11 (10am-4pm)
The next day I reported to Jake in the morning and he referred me to Paul who was working in the Studio. Paul's duties for the morning included setting the lighting up for the puppet show performance of Pinocchio created by Cube productions. First of all, Paul showed me how you patch lights. There is two different types of patching hard and soft patching. The studio uses hard patching (meaning plugging each light manually), the theatre however uses soft patching (all plugged in but channelling which ones are relevant using a computer). I helped patch some of the lights by putting the numbered plugs into the designated numbered sockets (the numbers are given by the production company.) Then these numbers should correspond to the numbers on the desk.
The next task was to change the coloured gels in the lights. I got on a ladder, tilted the light down to then pull the current gel out. Then I pulled the new gel through the top of the lamp. Following this, I tilted the lamp centre stage to highlight the carpet and characters when performing. I did this process for three more lights (the red, blue then green on the middle boom). Paul then showed me how the specials work; these are more streamline lights which you can manoeuvre the flaps to alter the size and length of the beam. When changing the second boom's lights, I was sat at the desk and flicking the light switches when Paul was changing the gels so that he could see where to manoever the light to.
I then helped by getting the extention leads from the cupboard which was dubbed the name 'the dolls house'. This was then linked to three 'birdie' lights; the production company's own. We then had to patch these lights to coincide with the desk. The final task was to plug in the artist's desk so that both desks were synchonous. Her lighting desk was hidden from the audience by using a briefcase (similar to the other props on stage).
After my lunch break, I helped Lawrence whom was working in the concert hall. I had to wear a hard hat to climb up the ladders to go up into the concert hall's roof. It was like tunnelling in a mouse trail, there were so many 'corridoors' to all the different lights and cables. And through the gaps you could see how high we actually were. Whilst there, Lawrence pulled up one of the cables which was hanging through the roof.
When we got down from the roof, I asked Lawrence how he got to where he is now. He originally wanted to be in the police force but once trained it was not final to whether he got the job there or not. During this time also, he used to help out at his church by doing the lights. He then went for an apprenticeship, recording his work at the Lighthouse. He believes that is the best way to get into the technical aspect of the theatre. He has now been working at the Lighthouse for 6 years even though he is one of the many temporary, casual technical workers at the Lighthouse.
The subsequent task was to go to the ticket sales office and ask which seats ordered are disabled. if so the chairs would have to be taken out or some have to be drilled in. But there was not any the be changed.
Around 2 ish I was allowed to watch one of the shows being performed so I chose to watch Pinocchio which I help set up earlier. It was a small cast of three people; two women and a man. One woman played the Blue Fairy, the other was Pinocchio and the man was Geppetto. They based the play on the original tale of Pinocchio which excludes the character of Jiminey Cricket (he was only present for two pages, the Blue Fairy is his conscience). They changed characters and setting swiftly and has little staging. They transformed briefcases as stepping stones, a fire and even a train to evoke the imagination within the children. When entering, the characters broke the fourth wall automatically; interacted with the audience. This was probablly because their target audience were children. They were asking questions such as who likes cheese? and who has a birthday this year? They even put a scarf on a child 'for good luck'. The puppetry was quite conspicious as the actors were dressed in black to present that they were absent from performance but from where I sat I could see them holding the puppets. Overall, for a child aimed play it was pretty good with a good moral story and clever theatre works.
Half an hour before I went home, I got to know what the people at the stage door do. They are quite like a reception desk, organising artists and visitors whom enter the Lighthouse. First of all they are in charge of whom signs in and out of the building. It is also home to all the walkie talkies the technical team use (which also has to be signed for) and all the keys to the rooms/lockers at the Lighthouse. In addition, they keep all the paperwork for fire drills and visitor tours of the building.
(work exp: 6 hrs, write up: 50 mins)
