BLOG – Piera

Day 1- 23 of June 2025

Today was my first day of work experience at the Half Moon Theatre. Lydia greeted me when I came inside and gave me a tour of the rooms throughout the building. Although I am taking Youth Theatre here every week, there were a few rooms that were new to me. It was very interesting discovering the whole of the theatre, and the environment felt warm and welcoming. Once I had finished the tour, I completed and edited a couple of documents for a show that was the week after. The room I was in was air conditioned, so I was comfortable without being overheated. Following this task, it was my break. I went back home to eat my lunch quickly (it was delicious), before going back to the theatre. The moment I arrived there; Lydia introduced me to some other teachers in the main lesson space at 6pm. Even though the only people I knew were Rachael, Saja, and Isaac, everyone else was very kind whilst we were waiting for more Solar students to come.

Unfortunately, there was a bus hold-up, so the class had to be delayed for an hour. I helped to unload some of the props for the rehearsal, and all the clothes and accessories were unique. Once all of the class was together, we started to do a name circle and an action, which I was familiar with from my Orbit classes already. It was fun to learn everyone’s names and since we didn’t have much time left in the session, we moved straight onto the rehearsal. The play was about dreams, and it was basically a reenactment of what their dreams were. Towards the ending, one of the groups held up a giant tin foil sheet, waved it overhead with neon lights and bells. Overall, my first day of work experience was fun and welcoming.

Day 2- 24 June 2025

For my second day of work experience, I went straight onto finishing my blog from Monday and organised some papers. Lydia wasn’t in, but she had given me a list with my tasks for the day, which included editing some documents, finishing my blog, and printing out files and laminating them. Once these were finished, it was already 2pm, which was my break. I went to go get some lunch and arrived back at 2:55pm. In spare time before going to the Eclipse group, I completed additional tasks from the list that Lydia had given me. By 3:30pm I was called into the main room where all the Eclipse teachers were. Like yesterday, the environment and people were very inviting and kind.  The children in the class were still quite young, so I was not so sure what to expect. Although they were quite hectic, they were well composed when it came to following instructions and listening. Throughout the first part of the session before the break, they were creating posters for their play, which was an audience-involved play about a diamond quest. It was fun to watch the play, and I really liked the use of props to demonstrate the challenges in their story.

I’m excited to see how the rest of the week turns out, and I’m also excited to see other groups plays.

Day 3- 25 June 2025

Once I arrived at the Half Moon theatre for my third day of work experience, I was then greeted by Lydia and sat down to complete previous blogs. After I was done with this, Lydia asked me to use the guillotine and trim slips of paper and place them in the lanyards. Although I had used a guillotine before, I found it satisfying to make sure the papers were the perfect squares. Next, I was asked to laminate large sheet of paper, which was kind of difficult as I had not used a laminator in a while. Eventually, I got the hang of it- this made it easier for me to do the other sheets. By the time I had finished this, it was already break, so I went out to go get some sushi for lunch. When I came back, I had been given the task of sticking gems onto the printed-out symbols and numbers that I had done on Monday. Even though it took me a while to do and it was very fiddly, it was quite relaxing as I was sat in the corner, and it felt like I had my own little space.

Towards 3:30pm, it was time for the Equinox class. Like the previous classes I had, the children were still quite young, but they were well behaved and quite energetic. I watched over their rehearsals, and their play was about a world with just kids called Kiddopia. I thought their acting was so good, and they demonstrated what Kiddopia would feel like if you went there.

The session ended at 6:00pm, which was enough time for me to relax in the foyer for a bit before I entered my own drama class, Orbit. Overall, this day had a positive and calming atmosphere.

Day 4- 26 June 2025

When I walked into the theatre, I got up to date with my blog, and then I was greeted by Lydia once again to complete another task. The task was to staple one pamphlet onto each of the 90 flyers. It took me quite a long time to complete this, but it was worth it upon seeing all of it organised and neat. After this, Emily asked me to usher in children on a school trip into the theatre space. We both made sure everybody was inside and in their seats. Additionally, I also watched the play, and it was about three girls who defeated a troll. It was a fun experience. I took a little break from 12-1pm and got some lunch. When I came back to the theatre, I looked over the evaluations that had been given out throughout each Youth Theatre class, and I wrote down the answers to some of them in a computer file. I did this so the Youth Theatre tutors could look over it at the end of term and identify the weaknesses and strengths in each session and figure out how to improve it. I left the Half Moon Theatre at 4pm, right before the Next Steps class started.

Day 5- 27 June 2025

As usual, I walked in right on time for my last day (around 9:55am). I had to finish up a lot of tasks and finish my blog from the day before. I did that, and that took me all the way to break at 12:30pm. Once I came back from break, I was told to laminate some sheets. Unfortunately, the laminator, jammed up so we had to wait a bit of time before we could find the problem. I then sorted some papers out, and after that Lydia asked me to pose for a picture that was going into my school’s newsletter. I also wrote a short paragraph that was going to go under it, about the overall atmosphere of the work experience and if I would recommend it to others (I would!). I then took a short five-minute break whilst Lydia and Emily were trying to sort out the laminator, and I hoped that I could laminate again as I enjoyed it. Throughout the whole week of this work experience, it has been really nice to have the opportunity to know how it is like for staff who work here. I feel that I have a better understanding of what happens to prepare for a theatre show and work backstage in an actual theatre. It has provided me with lots of knowledge on the theatre itself, like the timeline and backstory of how the theatre started. Generally speaking, it has been an enjoyable work experience, and I would do it again if I could.  The staff and the children here are also kind towards others. Id say my favourite part of this would be going into the other classes and watching their rehearsals, because it is intriguing to see the different themes across all of the groups and how they interpret it. I would recommend this theatre or the work experience if you are into any sort of acting, performing in shows, or you just want to try something new.