Stage Exposed

Rachael WilliamsProducer, Treasurer of OUDSSt. John’s College, 3rd YearHow did you first get involved in producing in Oxford?I saw an advertisement on the OUDS Jobcentre for a producer for HaroldPinter’s Old Times, a straight-forward three-hander with a small budget, and thought “I could do that!” I was fairly clueless and didn’t really know what was going to be involved,but I learned pretty quickly.Is producing “all about the money”?Definitely not. Although the finances are the major component of a producer’srole, I’ve found myself building bookcases, page-turning for musical directors and cycling around Oxford frantically buying last minute props.What, in your view, is the most crucial part of the producer’s role?There are lots of really crucial things that a producer needs to do but I think that, especially in larger scale productions, one of the most important things is ensuring that your crew are happy. Just as directors want to look after their actors, it’s important that the technicians and marketing team also have some support.What do you enjoy most about it?I love watching all the aspects of the production pull together in the final couple of weeks where everyone’s hard finally comes together. One of the nicestproductions I’ve worked on was the OUDS Lamport Hall tour of Lady Windermere’s Fan over the summer vacation: the crew, the director and I all had small acting roles as well so we all bonded very well.What has producing taught you?The importance and value of strong teamwork. If you have crew memberswho’re not doing their job properly, it makes the whole productionmore stressful. You need people that you’re confident delegatingjobs to, otherwise if you try and do everything yourself, you’ll just end up doing nothing very well.Do you want to pursue a career as a producer after you graduate?Working in theatre is definitely appealing, though I’ve considered other options as well. Producing in Oxford has given me experience that you don’t often get as in student drama, which would definitely stand me in good stead if I did decide to continue.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005