Trip to the National

A couple of weeks ago Sarah Hunt was kind enough to get us a on to a tour of the National Theatre, it was a great experience giving us a chance to see one of the biggest and best established theatres in the country. We got a tour of the whole venue: front of house, backstage and the admin, and had a chance to meet some of the people who work there, from editors working on the recordings of shows and carpenters designing sets and props to Charlotte Wilkinson (Art Director) and David Sabel (head of Digital Media). It was interesting for me to see such a large theatre company because for the last three summers I worked for a small summer theatre company, and being able to compare how the two were run was pretty cool. I was particularly impressed by the Olivier Stage and the drum lift they have there, especially the fact that it had been in operation since the 70's, although I feel sorry for the engineers below the stage operating it, barely getting to see the light of day. After the tour we got a chance to watch a couple of plays put on by the National Theatres connection scheme called Children of Killers and Frank & Ferdinand. Both were very well written and directed, dealing with difficult subject matters in a mature and interesting way, and I think the young actors did a very good job with the materials they were given. All in all it was an insightful experience, in a place which has a lot to offer and is run by intelligent people.