Certificate of Achievement in Technical Theatre

[Hilary Watts]

I am involved in the local YMCA theatre which is a 297 seat proscenium arch theatre with a flytower and a reasonable stock of lighting and sound equipment. It is used by many local organisations for musical theatre shows, dance school productions etc as well as musical theatre productions run by the YMCA itself. We have a paid general manager but otherwise the theatre is run by volunteers in the form of FOH staff, backstage staff, sound and lighting technicians etc..

 

Many of the volunteers are young people – indeed the aim of the local YMCA, which is a charity, is to run the theatre so far as possible using young people in order to enable them to develop practical and social skills etc. – and several of the more able ones have gone on to careers in the theatre, working both at local venues and farther afield.

 

We are presently discussing the introduction of some form of 'certificate of achievement' scheme to mark the progress of our young people and to avoid re-inventing the wheel I wonder if anyone has come across such a scheme and would be willing to share details.

 

The certificates would be task based – eg 'Is able to name the parts of a follow spot , describe their function and the use of the spot in a show, and operate it during a live performance taking cues as necessary from the LD' or 'Is able to explain the functions of the components of the sound system with a basic understanding of the mixing desk and set up and operate the sound system for a performance of a dance show using backing tracks on minidisc or CD with a single handheld wireless microphone for the compere'. We would expect to include elements of basic Health and Safety guidance/instruction – eg electrical risks and risks of burns in the case of the follow spot and electrical risks and trip hazards of trailing cables etc when using sound components and emphasise the need for good practice.

 

The breadth and depth of understanding would be significantly less demanding than BTEC level 3, which seems to be the lowest level at which you can study backstage disciplines and probably around the standard of the Explorer activity badges used by the Scouting movement - ie aimed at the 14-18 age range or the more demanding scout activity badges – eg look at the mechanic's badge . We need to bear in mind that any scheme must not be too time consuming since the scheme will itself be administered by (adult) volunteers.

 

The scheme would be for internal use only – there is no desire at present to have it externally moderated or accredited, simply to provide a record of achievement for those who receive the certificates and to enable us to record their progress (or otherwise!) and review as necessary the opportunities and instruction etc that we are providing.

 

Any help or suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

Hilary

[paulears]

BTEC Level 2 criteria and expectations are clearly where you need to be - but the Level 2 is now quite different and the inclusion of Level 1 in it, means that it's now breathing and present that is covered at the bottom, and the hours are cut and content all mixed in. However, you can easily 'steal' their grading system, and apply it to the Level 3 (which is being messed with) for next year. So take the list of things to do from the Level 3, and just adjust them. In fact, if you could lay your hand on an old version of the Level 2 lighting unit it would be ideal. I may well have this somewhere - as I wrote the damn things. This could be very useful.

 

I will have a hunt through old files when I get a moment.

Paul

[Hilary Watts]

Thanks. Prior to seeing your post I hadn't realised that a level 2 specification still existed but I've now been able to find Edexcel Unit D16 - "Crewing for Stage Performance" at Level 2 and also Unit 65 "Technical Stage Operations" at Level 3 both of which contain quite a lot of material useful for 'inspiration'. In addition we could modify some of the contents of the more specialist units at level 3 but if you can find your Level 2 lighting unit that would be great, thank you, particularly as I can emphasise the fact that it was produced by someone who actually runs a theatre rather than simply being an amateur's potted version of random material gleaned from the internet (aka 'research')!

 

Hilary

[J Pearce]

You'll find most (but not all) of the BTEC units have a more school type academic task (typically a critical analysis/comment task), a number of practical criteria, and a H&S criteria. You could certainly take inspiration from Units 56, 59, 65, 66, 68, and 71, discarding the more academic paper based tasks as desired and adjusting your grading to match the level you are working at. This could create something similar to the Level 2, but quite practical skills focused. Some element of group work/communication/professionalism assessment would be worthwhile in developing transferable life skills for employment.

The Schools Theatre Support Group were working on something similar to be used where students work backstage in extra curricular groups, but the work deserves recognition. As it is our conference on Saturday I shall enquire where this got to.