When being a railway volunteer comes in handy....

Picture the scene...the opening night of a big budget opera, in a theatre somewhere in the South West. The production is Puccini's "Suor Angelica", the venue is the theatre on the campus of my university, and I am playing in the orchestra. Tension is running high, lots of hysterical people in the (all female) cast of Nuns, and a predictably stressed director...but so far, all is going well for 7.30pm, and "curtain up".

6pm, and (mild) disaster strikes: as the lights go down for the audience to enter, there is a "pop", and one of the lights fails. As it happens...one of the most important ones! It has a bright gold colour filter, and is trained at the font, centre stage of the set. It is integral to the storyline, when the water in the fountain turns gold, as God descends down from heaven (or something - after two weeks of doing the show, I still didn't understand the storyline!). Cue panicky director, and stressed out lighting technican...with no gold light, the actors would be looking at a simple, plain, papie mache prop, rather than a heavenly font...and the climactic point of the story would be ruined.

So what to do? The only way to change it would be to climb a ladder to the lighting rig, remove the filter, and fit it to another light - but with all the associated blocking, filtering and swearing etc, there was simply no time - curtain up at 7.30, fully booked opening night, remember...

Cue various fruitless attempts with torches and bits of yellow crepe paper, to try and get the desired effect....none of which worked. Suddenly...a brainwave! I'm a volunteer guard on a preserved railway in Wales: and my leather kit bag is in my room, in halls on campus, a mere few hundred yards away. I wonder....a quick dash over there, and I return with two four aspect Bardic lamps, presenting them gingerly to the director....

Never have so many young attractive women been so thankful or full of praise to me! Lots of cries of "you've saved the show" etc etc, before being swiftly despatched to the theatre balcony, Bardic in hand, to await events at 7.30pm. Script and lighting cues in hand (and with a friend kindly covering my part in the orchestra), at the requisite time, the climax of the story arrives....a cast full of nuns are on stage, as the lights go down, and the stage goes black. Heavenly music fills the air, a nod from the director: and I shine the Bardic, signalling the presence of God as the water turns "gold". It didn't look too bad!

Luckily the problem was solved by the next night, so my services weren't required again: but it just goes that being a pres line volunteer can have its benefits - and when you least expect it! The cast and crew clubbed together for the last night, and bought me a bottle of champagne too - in exchange for a wadge of leaflets for my railway, and a brief explanation of what I do there, and hence the appearance of the Bardic.

Methinks I got the better part of the deal there...

 

I have to say thats a good story. I spend my spare time at school mending lights for the school plays etc and technical problems are absoultly awful to deal with....one of my mates gets texts every other day from the drama teacher asking him to come down and sort something out! It's quite funny when she hasn't realised its been like that since the lighting set was put in!

Climbing on engines I must admit is very useful, I appear to be the only one in the school these days that dares go up the hall ladder or use a pile of blocks as a ladder. This is bearing in mind the fact that the hall is a good 30ft from the floor to the lights....and I do alot of leaning in windsurfing anyway!

Another way in which the railway was helpful was using the calling on hand signal in order to get some lights in position one day...was along day of shunting that!

 

Hmmm... Im sure there are some regulations or at least procedures to govern safe working at heights...

I remember reading that the majority of falls from heights causing injury are from lower than 4 feet!

 

Really? well by health and safety I'm not even supposed to touch the ladders but if it wasn't for me and the over "monkey boys" school would not have any performances....

Oh and the block thing was about 10ft as some bastard had nicked the ladder and I needed to pinch as many lights as possible in the shortest time in order to get a talent show sorted...