Meet Cally and Jessica
For every performance of Where is the Green Sheep?, there is a huge amount of planning, problem-solving and care happening behind the scenes. As the production travels to venues across Australia, Company Stage Manager Cally Bartley and Technical Coordinator Jessica Pizzinga play key roles in making sure the show runs smoothly, safely and beautifully, no matter where it lands.
In this Q&A, Cally and Jessica share what it takes to bring the show to life on tour, from adapting to different venues to maintaining the magic of the production for young audiences and their families.
How do you maintain the quality and consistency of the production across 80 venues?
Cally: With robust planning, clever compromise, patience and lots of tape and labels! Every venue on tour is different. The lighting bars are different distances from the stage, the backstage wings can be smaller or bigger, or there might be a big fat pole on the side of the stage. During a bump-in, I am constantly thinking on my feet about how to fit the show’s requirements within the venue’s resources in a way that means there won’t be too many drastic changes for the cast to work through onstage and off, which helps maintain consistency with blocking, technical cues and safety.
Jessica: By having great communication with the venues. Every venue has a different technical setup, whether that’s incandescent versus LED lights or two speakers versus six. I create venue-specific technical documentation and schedules, which provide venues with all the necessary information for pre-rig and are a great starting point for establishing effective communication.
However, everything doesn’t always come across completely in paperwork, so having phone conversations while generating the paperwork, as well as continuing the back and forth on the day with the crew, means we can create the best possible show in each venue. At the end of the day, I know the show best, but they know their venue best.
What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at a new venue?
Cally: The first thing to do is find the venue’s stage door and the loading dock with our freight truck. Our truck driver is often waiting with a good story from the drive from the last venue. We then meet the venue crew who will work with us that day. As we work with a new crew at each venue, memorising the crew’s names is very important. I was told once that repeating them three times is the trick! After catch-ups and introductions, we do a toolbox talk, unload the truck and get started on bump-in.
Jessica: The first thing I do when I arrive at a new venue is say “hi” to our truck driver power team, John and Julie. We introduce ourselves to the venue team and get inducted into the venue. Then, while marking up the venue stage, I get to take in the space, assess the lighting rig and the position of the masking, and get a sense of what we will need to do to get the show up.
Why is this work important to you?
Cally: Bringing Monkey Baa shows to children and families all around Australia is an incredibly rewarding job. Where is the Green Sheep? is exquisitely designed and crafted with the youngest audience members in mind. Knowing that just one child might have this show as their first theatre experience is very special.
Jessica: Where is the Green Sheep? is important to me because it is truly an amazingly accessible work. Accessibility is something that I endeavour to always include in my practice, and the reason I love Monkey Baa is that they create works with many angles of accessibility in mind from the beginning.
Every time we put on the show, you see it touch so many different people. Although we have a young target audience, no matter where we are in Australia, what their age is or what they are dealing with, everyone can find a moment of joy and peace watching this show.
