16th September 2015
Students from Barking & Dagenham College have been helping bring a theatre production to life at the site of the old Sanofi factory.
The 10 students, who are all studying at the College’s School for the Performing Arts & Technical Theatre, based at The Broadway, have spent the last month helping to put together the production called ‘Well’.
Unlike traditional theatre audiences, visitors to ‘Well’ were in for an interactive treat. They were taken through the factory during the performance, where they were greeted by such delights as a choir, lots of special effects and actors telling the story of the factory and the history of medicine.
George Petty, 18, from Brentwood, who has just finished his production arts course at the College, was one of the lucky students to get the chance to take part. He explains:
“This has been a great opportunity for us all. I’ve been helping with the lighting and during the shows I’ve been a technician, so I get to look after all the technical side of things. We were doing 10 shows a night, so it kept us busy! Being able to help with such a unique production has been invaluable. It’s shown us how performances differ from location to location. I’ve really loved it.”
Mark Civil, Executive Venue Manager for the Broadway Theatre added:
“We always look for opportunities that allow us to help students get experience working on high profile projects. For this project, the Broadway helped in supplying things such as the box office while the students got to help on all aspects of production, from being chosen as actors to setting up the staging and lighting and all the behind the scenes technical aspects too.”
