The stage management team consists of four key players who provide vital support services for the cast and creative team during rehearsals, and who run the shows in performances. Each stage managment team is headed by a Stage Manager, who is assisted by one Deputy Stage Manager and two Assistant Stage Managers.
Matt Watkins, an 'ASM' first gets involved with the production about
a week before rehearsals start. On
Women of Troy the
first few weeks of the rehearsal period, filled as they were with lots of unexpected requirements from the cast's improvisations, were particularly busy and
challenging.
One of the Stage Manager's jobs during the rehearsal process is to
liaise with the people building the set and making the props and costumes, which is often done via the Production Manager in the production office. It is through these channels that solutions to practical issues such as
what form Astyanax's body should take, or
how to recreate a fire on stage are discovered.
Stage managers require many qualities, not least of which are being approachable and well organised.
