Blog: Shamari

Day 1

I started my day off by catching the bus to Limehouse station realising I was late on my first day, so I called in and told staff I was going to be late. Then I arrived and when I first walked up the steps I was introduced to Lydia, who gave me a talk on what they do here and what she does, and a tour of the building was given. Starting with the ground floor I met everyone in the office. Then we moved on to the theatre. Once the ground floor tour was completed, we walked down to the basement where all the storage rooms were and where to turn on the lights and sound from the basement that hooked up to the theatre. Lydia showed me how to turn them off and on. We caught the lift to the first floor where the tour continued.

Once the tour was completed, we travelled back to the office where I will continue work for the day, I got started on reading some notes on what the staff do and who they are. My first assignment was to pick a performance that was showed in the Half Moon and write a review on it. I had also been set another task and I had to count data from parents who had come to sessions here and what they wanted to get out of the sessions as a parent. I didn’t complete this on my first day but made an excellent start. I left at 5pm and made my way home.

Day 2

On day 2 I started at 12pm. As soon as I came in, I spoke to Androulla who gave me another run-down on what happens here and what she does. I was told what I will be doing today, which was working with the Youth Theatre and finishing of the data task and watching the rest of the performance so I could write the review. Slowly but surely these tasks got completed one by one. Once it was completed it was time to go help with the Youth Theatre group, I helped my college Saja bring the things they have been working on which was making puppets out of recycled material to use in their performance next week. I stood out, welcomed them in with Saja and Lydia then I went into the theatre with the staff, took some pictures and got involved with some of the activities. I was not able to stay till the end due to my leavings time, but I must say it was good fun.

Day 3

On day three I started at 12pm but was only on sight till 3:30pm because I was out with Malachi who ran a after school club in Bethnal Green, this was a change from being in the office most of the time, it started at 4pm and finished at 7pm. At the after school club group I worked with two other people and Malachi, the people that were attending were in year 7 to 9 and they were working towards making an escape room. Attending this place with Malachi showed me how working in a team is so efficient, we played games and then got onto creating some things for the escape room.

Day 4

On day 4 I started at 10am, I was a bit early, but I got straight onto updating my blog, finishing off day 2 and day 3. My teacher from school came in to ask me and Androulla how I’m getting on and what I leant so far. Once he had left I went to help set up for the show on Friday with Emily. She showed me how to use the lighting and sound box. We had also gone up and taken the curtains down. That was really it for day 4. I was mostly helping with setting up for the show then I went over some lines with Malachi for my audition.

Day 5

I started at 9:30am and today there was multiple performances going on so I was being an usher for most of today. I helped out with buggies and the lift which got frequently used today because it was an interactive show for babies. I also collected tickets when people entered the show and made sure everything was in order. I also made a video for Half Moon showing around the building and what I’ve been doing recently. When I finished my break, I edited the video and continued with my blog. I went back out after the third show was done to help again but Martha wanted me to get started on a review for the show I had just watched.  I must say I was really impressed.

This was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Androulla always checked on me making sure I was ok, Lydia always made sure I knew what I was doing. Emily showed me and gave me a understanding of how to use the light and sound box, Stephen shared lots of his wise information. Chris showed me the box office computer and I saw how it worked, Jackie would always crack a joke and ask if I want a hot drink. Saja always had a smile on her face when paired with a tiring task. Malachi showed me techniques on how to memorise lines and I also saw how to connect with people from watching him do his work and Martha showed me how to usher and the importance of kindness.

It would be even better if I got more than a week to work here to go into deeper depth to see what each staff member does.