Summary: 

Twice a year, the school holds a Gala, one in spring and one in winter. However, due to covid 19, there has not been a gala for the past 2 years. However, restrictions being lifted allowed the school to organize a spring gala. Along with the performers, a stage management crew was needed. In total there were 5 stage management crew members including me. 

 

There were 2 whole days of rehearsals, in which we needed to create a plan on how to organize, move, and set up the stage for each performance. Each of the 21 performances required different setups, and everything needed to go smoothly.

 

We created a document in which we clearly outlined the required chairs, stands, instruments, and mics. We also stated which person had to deal with which item to limit confusion. We also had a booklet with a hand-drawn layout of each of the setups, noting down the microphone, stand, and chair placements. 

To help us with the placement of the items, we had to “spike” the stage. This involved taking pieces of duct tape and marking down the placement of items for each performance. We developed a system for labelling the spikes using different colour markers for different items. 

The actual day of the Gala was very stressful, we made sure to check everything, and make sure everyone knew what their jobs were. We had some issues during the setup of a few performances, one of the mic stands was broken, and had to be switched out. 

IB learner outcomes:

This whole 3-day experience taught me a lot: The first primary ib learner outcome was “Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.” Stage management was very challenging, it was extremely tedious to create an organisational system in which everything was accounted for. However, I did develop organizational skills, and the ability to develop detailed plans and strategies. 

 

Next to the learning outcome was “show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences”. The whole 3-day process was 18 hours of work, it required a lot of perseverance, and commitment, as the entire gala performance depended on us. 

 

The final main learning outcome was “Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.” As a group, we were able to collaborate and develop our plans together in the most effective way. Without teamwork, we wouldn’t have been able to have effectively operated as a stage management team.