BLOG – Kevin

DAY 1 – Monday 30 June 2025

This was my first time doing work experience and I felt both nervous and excited at the same time. This was my very first time at Half Moon Theatre. I clicked on the buzzer and met Androulla (she was nice to meet me).  I then met Lydia, and she gave me a tour around this nice building. I also met many other members of staff that introduced themselves to me, which was great.  After that, I went back to my desk and did some reading whilst drinking an ice-cold bottle of water, because the weather was extremely hot.

After around 30 minutes or so, I did some tasks, such as choosing a mixture of 10 props and costumes. I also stapled some information sheets about transitions and organised a bunch of important payment documents. When I had completed these tasks, I had an hour of break. I walked towards the door that led outside and brought food (5pm). Eventually, I came back to the building and went into the ‘green room’ (which was super chill) up at floor 1. After my break had ended, I was super eager and interested to know what other tasks I had to do.

I was informed to take notes for a tech rehearsal a Youth Theatre group. I got to meet many new people such as Rachael and Lewis who assisted me with taking notes. Of course, Emily helped a lot with the lighting and music for the tech rehearsal. I introduced myself to all the new people I met and so did they. We started with warm up games like saying your name with hand and body gestures. When warm-up games were over (which I enjoyed) they got to review some videos to prepare for the rehearsal. After that, we had a 15-minute break in which I headed out into the garden for the first time. We headed back to the theatre, and I was a part of the audience watching the rehearsal. Notes that I made were about any improvements that could be made for that rehearsal. At the end of the play, we all said our goodbyes (with gestures of course) and I stared into the entrance before walking out. Today was amazing and fun. What a start to my first day at Half Moon theatre!

Day 2 – Tuesday 1 July 2025

This is my second day at Half Moon theatre. I’m genuinely excited about the day. As usual, I come around 5 minutes early to the building, greeted by Lydia, who is super helpful, and I walk towards my desk in the office. I listened to the radio whilst I wrote my first day blog. This took a while but once I had finished the first day’s blog, I did tasks like placing props and costumes back to where they should be and assisting to  prepare for another tech rehearsal coming up. At 2:30pm, I took a break (I could have gone outside to where the garden was, but it was hot – extremely hot.

At 3:30pm, it was time for the tech. This was adventure themed which was nice, so I went into the cool theatre. I met Ron, Simon, Laura, Hazel and Rachael who were going to assist with the play alongside Emily. I took my clipboard and pen with me to take notes. I took a seat as a part of the audience, I was impressed. Of course, this was practice for next week, but it was still awesome! There were many props, changing lights AND the audience could choose an option that could change the story.

I enjoyed the second day at Half Moon theatre and hope that the next 3 days will go great! At 5:50pm, I walked towards the entrance and walked out with a smile.

Day 3 – Wednesday 2 July 2025

This is my third day at Half Moon theatre! I clicked the buzzer at 11:58am to start off my day. I walk up the stairs, meet members of staff and sit at my desk. This was when I started to type my second day blog. When I was typing, I was thinking about how much I’ve learnt since Monday. After that blog was done, I went down the elevator to pack bags with treats, 26 to be exact. Eventually, that task was done.

I then took a break and bought food that I loved. Unexpectedly the weather outside was cloudy and grey. There was no sight of sunlight anywhere. Usually, the weather would be hot, and days would be quite exhausting, however this day was quite cold. This meant I could go outside for fresh air and sit down to eat my lunch. I happily watched some videos, and it was great.

Next, I ate a snack at my desk whilst finding my clipboard and pen. This was for ANOTHER rehearsal coming up. This was going to be the third rehearsal that I was going to watch. It was going to be amazing. Once I went into the theatre, I was greeted by Nichole, Fran and Ron. I waited for a bit before the session began. I played a warm-up game called ‘Splat’, of course I was the first one out because I got confused, but that is okay. The theme was ‘Kidopia’ where children had ideas that made their world peaceful and free. Happy music began to play as I watched, intrigued. Nichole wanted to question me about Kidopia at the end. I love how they interacted with the audience and how they did synchronized movements.

After their break, they went back to the theatre, and I got to rewatch their rehearsal without any help. Surprisingly, the day was over, (5:50pm) I didn’t expect this day to be over that quickly. I said goodbye to the staff and to the building. I enjoyed this day.

Day 4 – Thursday 3 July 2025

Well, this is the fourth day at Half Moon theatre. As the sun shines with heat, I entered the building. I say good morning to the staff and sat at my desk. Apparently, I like to listen to the radio, and I have no idea why. I typed my third day blog which seems to almost be a habit to me. I then helped Malachi with organising papers about the Next Steps transition programme and packed even more bags full of treats.

At around 2:30pm, Emily showed me how the lighting and sound worked, and it was fascinating. I got to see how lights change in different states. There were lighting queues (LX) and sound queues (SX).

Most of the work today was office work but I still enjoyed it. Tomorrow is going to be the last day, and I’m going to be excited for the activities. At 3:55pm, I walk down the stairs and into the entrance door.

Day 5 – Friday 4 July 2025

Today is the last day that I’m going to be here, and it’s quite sad. I’ve had lots of fun while it lasted. I walked to the entrance door and clicked that buzzer, one last time. Lydia was at a meeting when I came in, so I began to type my fourth day blog – which took around 40 minutes or so. I did tasks such as completing packing treats and refilling scrap paper into the art cart. It was such a pleasure to help out. After that, I decided to take my final break outside, it was great!  When lunch ended, I helped Malachi by gluing pictures o to large A3 papers. At 3:00pm, this was when I was typing this last day blog. I had memories throughout this journey and I’m glad to have them. I still had an hour left so I began to continue with the task I was given. At 4:00pm is where I say goodbye…

I enjoyed working and learning here at Half Moon Theatre and I really do mean it.