The Season has finished!

We’ve just completed the final gets outs at both venues bringing a close to this years season at Southwold and Aldeburgh.

Tuesday 4th

Miri drove India and I to Aldeburgh on Tuesday morning at 9:15. When we arrived at Jubilee Hall the first task we had to do was dismantle the marquee in the courtyard. Hannah, Kitty and India had to leave early as they had to get ready for the 2:30 matinee in Southwold.

Folding up the marquee.

Loading the vans with our equipment.

We then walked around the corner for lunch at the Cross Keys. Afterwards we continued to clear our equipment out of the hall. Erin and I untapped the wing runners stage left and right and folded them up. Mark was up a ladder sorting out the lighting rig in the auditorium.

Unloading the vans at Brampton.

We then drive over to Brampton to unload one of the vans into the warehouse where props, furniture and scenery are stored. Rebecca, Erin said bye while Mark drive me to Southwold in the van to unload the other van at the workshop. The day ended there.

Sunday 16th

The season has officially finished!

We all had another early start today at 10am. Taking part in todays get out was Mark, his sons Andy and Ian, Alan, Tory, Miri, Erin, Kitty, India, Matt, Hannah, Ross and me. The first thing we did was take the plastic chairs we had put under the stage at the first get in out from under the stage to make space for the auditorium seats to be stored for another year. Matt, Ross, Andy and I were under the stage at first to help with this part of the get out.

Moving the auditorium seats from the steel bases.

Afterwards Ross and I swapped places with Tory and Erin under the stage so we helped put the auditorium seats under the stage as shown in the time lapse above. 

When we had completed that Mark and I went to the lorry to load rostra tops and bases that were being dismantled and carried outside by everyone in the auditorium. After we had done that we loaded the flats from the set of A Daughter's A Daughter into one of the company vans which took to Brampton as well. Kitty and India started packing props from their show.

A Daughter's A Daughter props.

The Lorry with the rostra 

Rostra stored away in Brampton

Miri had bought a mixture of sandwiches, crisps, chocolates and orange squash from the Co-Op for lunch. After lunch we drove to Brampton to unload the rostra tops and bases from the auditorium. While doing that we all sung Bohemian Rhapsody and songs from other musicals to pass the time, Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge. 

When we arrived back in Southwold we all sat down for a hard earned drink at the Blythe Hotel before saying goodbye to members of the company who were leaving us that afternoon.

Monday 17th

I arrived at the hall for 9am. Helping today was Mark, Alan, Erin and Matt. Our main tasks were clearing up what was left from yesterdays's get out. Matt was up a ladder attending to the lighting rig. At one point I had to move the chairs from one end of the hall to the other. We packed away our equipment from the hall and loaded it into the vans to be taken to the workshop.

After 1pm we went over to the workshop and unloaded the vans. We ended the day with a drink at the Blythe at roughly 1:30pm.

This brings an end to this years Suffolk Summer Theatres. Thank you to all who have been reading, hopefully it won't be too long before I write another post about another project I will be pursuing.

The final curtain call, the company takes it's bow for this year. Thank you!