Interested in joining our Young Technicians course? Members of our last cohort who went on to do work experience on the Young Company production are sharing with us their experience - first up is Jam. Read on to find out more, and apply to join the Young Technicians Course here.

My name is Mollie, I am a Theatre Creative at the beginning of my career. Originally, I trained in Musical Theatre. Through my training I worked backstage/in wardrobe on a few productions and decided I wanted to get some more experience and training in Technical Theatre, so I signed up for the Young Technicians Course with Stratford East! Through this course I was lucky enough to do some Work Experience with the fantastic Stratford East Young Company production of HERE, HERE, HERE.  

I originally came into the HERE, HERE, HERE rehearsal room to learn about and support the Stage Management Team. But the first day I was observing was also the first day the company were working with costumes and running quick changes – I volunteered my help and was subsequently invited to be a dresser on the show.  

The whole process was super interesting to view from a stage management perspective, since I have only experienced it from a Costume Department point of view before. From being shown how you would write up your DSM copy of the script for calling the show, to how to make drinks look realistic on stage (e.g. wine and beer) - all these skills will be very useful for me as I go into my career in theatre, especially as an Assistant Stage Manager.  

I think learning how to make edible/drinkable props was also the thing that interested and intrigued me the most from this week. To start off with, it is not something you necessarily think about needing to substitute in, but it is critical both from a technical point of view and as an actor to have things that look like the real thing but aren't. 

Working with the Crew, Cast and Creatives and seeing what the show was like in the rehearsal room and then getting to see it on stage is always such an exciting thing to get to see a show's progress and it was a joy to be able to see this one and be a part of it.