The Front Room - Nathan Friend

Today we are speaking with Nathan Friend, a current student on the Theatre Practice: Stage Management and Technical Theatre, BA about his work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Can you tell us what you have been working on?

I was a Technical Stage Manager for The Front Room, a venue run by Assembly Festival at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The venue was a small thrust theatre space that hosted 10 shows over the Fringe.

For those that don’t know, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. In the Front Room, this gave the benefit of greater intimacy between the performers and the audience, while also allowing companies to come up with unique blocking for the space so that they can still be seen from all three sides.

Did you get involved with writing this play through Central?

Yes, I got involved through talking to other people on my course who were also going to the Fringe and then applying for the job by myself.

What made you want to get involved?

As well as wanting to gain experience in a different theatre setting than what I’ve worked in before, I wanted to experience Edinburgh during the Fringe for the first time.

The whole city undergoes an incredible transformation in the time leading up to the festivals and the Royal Mile is filled with people all day every day!

How long were you in Edinburgh?

I was in Edinburgh for about 6 weeks. This included 2 weeks before the festival to build the venues and run tech rehearsals for shows, about 3 weeks for the actual run, then a week afterwards to help pack down the venues.

While in town I was able to see a few shows, including Randy Feltface’s new show, a show my youth theatre from home took up there called Who The F*** Is Don Quixote?, and Intelligence by Dutch Kills Theater from New York.

What have you been getting up to?

I was helping companies make sure their show run smoothly, along with the other Technical Stage Manager assigned to the venue.

This ranged from programming the lighting for some of the shows, running the set turnaround where needed, and operating some shows during the run. This included working on Gash Theatre Needs Some Space, by Central alum Maddie Flint and Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn.

What advice would you offer someone going to work at the Fringe Festival for the first time?

My advice to anyone going up there in a backstage role for the first time is to be really open to learning new things. The most unique thing about Fringe, to me, is that most of the venues are made from scratch. For example, my venue was in a container, and there was a lot of build work beforehand - I never knew how to build rigging truss before the Fringe, but it’s used a lot there!

Everyone is doing their best to get these shows up and running and there will almost always be someone you know who has a unique skill or specific knowledge that can fix a problem, and you learn a lot from those moments.

How has this related to your course work?

The things I was responsible for during the run and did during the build and get-out periods will help me be more confident and more informed when making decisions during productions at Central, especially when I’m in Stage Manager / Deputy Stage Manager roles.

What has surprised you most about your experience?

The amazing team spirit from everyone working there was something I didn’t expect. All of the technicians and Stage Managers were always willing to help out if there were any issues with the equipment we were using, and it absolutely helped people get their shows up on time.

How did you find out about Central and decide to study with us?

I was looking for Stage Management courses through UCAS and asking my teachers at secondary school, and found out about Central’s course. I considered it alongside a few others and felt Central provided the best facilities and opportunities for specific equipment training on the Stage Management and Technical Theatre, BA course.

What are you planning to do after graduation?

I’m planning on becoming a freelance stage manager and showcaller. I’m not entirely sure exactly what type of Stage Management I’ll go into, but I definitely want to keep the Fringe as something I do each year!

To learn more you can visit Nathan’s website and the Assembly Festival website.

For more information about Central students in Edinburgh, you can listen to the Series 3, Bonus Episode: Central in Edinburgh 2022 or read our Central at Edinburgh Fringe 2022 blog post.