Backstage crew - 60 years ago

The year begins with a Throwback Thursday photo that is much later than any previously seen on our popular social media posts. 

The featured photo of the backstage crew for the production of ‘Patience’ goes back a mere 60 years! For many of us it feels like yesterday; for younger Old Breconians and our current pupils (and their parents), 1964 is – in all senses – another century.

One of a sequence of critcally acclaimed Gilbert and Sullivan productions performed in the Memorial Hall (opened in 1955 and rebuilt as Y Neuadd Goffa in 2012), ‘Patience’ was staged with sets built from scratch and painted by hand, costumes crafted by helpers, and basic lighting used effectively by the well-drilled lighting crew.

The backstage crews who have undertaken this crucial work since the very first Christmas theatricals of the 1890s are too often unseen so we have delved into the Archive for more photos. 

The teams featured in the Gallery would be astounded by the technical capabilities 'the Neuadd' boasts. There is now a scissor lift for access to the rigs, digitally controlled lighting, and remote devices to activate carefully crafted special effects.

Even so, backstage stories from all generations would certainly be familiar to the current team: the tech. crew seen only under cover of darkness, working late nights and early mornings to ensure the set and the tech. all work for the actors and musicians. Sleep is for wimps, as they used to say – or ‘SIFW’ to those who were there.

When the audience arrives, these hard-working individuals are glimpsed only in the lighting box or on the dimmed stage between scenes. Not ones for the spotlight – unless they are adjusting it – they are seldom seen fully lit in action.  

We are therefore especially delighted to share with you a 2024 video of the whole crew de-rigging last term’s production of ‘Shrek’, which began as the last guest left the auditorium. It’s posted here with the kind permission of David Grant – theatre technician extraordinaire.

And in case you are wondering about SIFW, here is an explanation from DRG. 

'Sleep is for Wimps' arose in the days of the old Mem. Hall. There were fewer lights (lanterns) and all of them had to be put up and positioned individually. It often meant long hours to perfect the rig for the performance, followed by long hours to adjust the lighting for the next event, especially when a another event was due to take place the day after the end of a production run. The Neuadd now has a standard permanent rig: now only one or two extra lights are needed for a prodcution; even colours can be changed without needing to replace and adjust gels. 

Comment if you have a memory to share; if you have a longer story to tell, let Felicity or Huw know so that we can post it on the Hub.

We're sure there must be more backstage crew photos out there. Let Felicity know if you have any so that we can make arrangements to add them to the Archive collection.

Read more about the staging of productions before the Mem. Hall was built in 1955