大象传媒

Sophias Forest

I was brought on to this project by my professor Wladimiro A. Woyno R., who was the lead production designer on the piece. Many fellow students and alumni joined me; it was lovely to be working with familiar faces. This was my very first opera and I will not lie, I was a bit nervous going into the first rehearsal! However, having Emma Hammond, the Stage Manager for the show, as my mentor and friend was incredibly easing.

By observing how Emma worked, I picked up many valuable tricks that I made sure to practice during Eyes of the Beast, the show that followed. The biggest thing I took on was the beauty of transparent slim sticky notes for script work, such as writing in technical cues and blocking. There is truly nothing better than looking at a clean script with colour coded sticky notes, but maybe I鈥檓 crazy.

During the actual show run, I was backstage hiding in the shadows. I helped cue actors for entrances and exits, aid with costume changes, and ensure props were where they needed to be. One of my tasks included squeegee-ing the water out of all the wine glasses after the show, for which I used a fish tank pipe cleaner. My most fond memory was having a backstage buddy with me, the extremely talented Arya Yazgan, who played Young Sophia. I had never worked with kids closely before and it felt so special to bond with her. I felt like a proud older sister!

This opera was unlike any opera I had experienced. The set was entirely made out of cardboard materials and repurposed to look like this magical yet ghastly forest. The sound sculptures created beautiful melodies from simple everyday objects, bicycle wheels and wine glasses. Even though I was not apart of the creation of the sound sculptures, projections, and cardboard set, I was incredibly proud. It felt empowering to know my work helped other鈥檚 creative work reach an audience. That is a feeling I will chase for the rest of my life.

Eyes of the Beast

This production was tied into CA 485, taught by the SCA's James Long. The show itself had been produced previously at UVIC with the same production team at . For this new rendition, the script had shifted, and we had a blank playing space with the lighting and set design. Having freshly finished Sophia鈥檚 Forest, I felt confident and up to speed going into this next show. The rehearsal period lasted only three weeks, with the hours of 10 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. It was a fast and hard process, but you left everyday feeling accomplished and on schedule.

Even on days near the end of the week, where we are all exhausted, the cast and directors managed to put a smile on my face. There was a positive and light energy to our rehearsal room. Many giggles were shared in between the work. The entire team at Neworld was such a delight to collaborate with.They are a theatre company that stays true to their mission. There was never a day that I did not feel supported. Even during tech week, which can be the hardest period of it all, I always knew I was seen and mattered amongst all the chaos.

The show itself was an extremely difficult one, both its content and technicalities. It is less than an hour long show but holds around 200 sound and video cues, as well as around 100 lighting cues. With the other shows I have done, you learn the script enough that you know where you can take a little breather 鈥� a small break to sip some water or stretch your neck during the run. With this show, there was truly never a moment to do so, as you constantly had to be on and getting ready for the next cue. While it sounds intimidating at first, I was so eager for the challenge.

When the show is harder, the emotional pay off you feel when you can call it a success is something that is incomparable. The show also vastly changed my understanding of climate change. It is easy sometimes to think that it is far away and cannot hurt you, but it can, and it will if we do not do anything about it. Listening and learning from the stories of BC local climate disaster survivors personalized what the words 鈥渃limate change鈥� mean to me. That is something I think every other student who worked on Eyes of the Beast can agree with me on.

A chance to grow

Both productions allowed me the chance to grow both as a stage manager and as a person. The things I learned have shaped the leader I want to be. Even now as I write this, I look at the cards written to me by the cast and crew of both shows and smile to myself. I will cherish their words and the memories that come with them forever. Now, I cannot wait to keep working hard and put some more productions under my belt. I end this with a final thank you to everyone involved in both Sophia鈥檚 Forest and Eyes of the Beast. Too many to list but you all know who you are, and I love you!

For more about Vancouver City Opera's Sophia鈥檚 Forest, please visit . For more about 's Eyes of the Beast, please visit .