Sam Paterson - Production Manager

Sam Paterson, Production Manager.

CFT: Hi Sam. How are you?

SP: Very well, thank you!

CFT: Did you have a very festive Christmas?

SP: Yes it was very good. I went home and spent Christmas with my children in Nottingham. They live up in Newark, so I spent a very long Xmas with them and then they came down here for a few days. Very good!

CFT: And how did you spend New Years Eve?

SP: It was really good because we spent it in Chichester. I had some friends around mine, and then at 12 o'clock we all went up to the Cross. There were a good few people round there and we bumped into some people there from the theatre.

CFT: Have you made any resolutions that you're going to keep for the New Year?

SP: Just to be healthier basically. I always fail miserably! Its weird because of the work and job I do I always fail. Once the season kicks in with the long hours and the job you do, you fall out of a routine, and to be healthy you have to have a routine. It's so easy to work through your lunch and dinner or just pick up a sandwich on the go but it's really, really difficult to stay into a routine.

CFT: And from the start, how did you begin your career in theatre?

SP: At the Derby Playhouse and I enquired about volunteer work and I got taken on as a casual. Before that, I was a Factory Supervisor and before that a Retail Stock-taker travelling the country, counting all the cards for Athena - it was so boring! But every week I'd be somewhere different, travelling around the country, living in hotels. I'd leave on a Monday and come back on the Friday. But I'd still do a lot of casual work at the theatre at the weekends.

But my first proper job was at the Nottingham Playhouse, where I worked with Alan Finch. He was my second production manager. He was only about 25 or 26 at the time. He's younger than me - it's very annoying!! That was a good time at Nottingham, we were all the same age, we were all young and we all came through together.

CFT: Actually, Production Manager seems such an all encompassing title - can you explain it a little?

SP: It encompasses loads, especially in this building. I'm responsible for employing all the Technical staff, looking after the production budgets for all the shows, watching them to make sure we're not spending too much and actually getting the show on the stage. Everything involved with that.

Also the Health and Safety of everybody on stage - the working practices, and not just for the actors on stage. Basically you're responsible for all the people working on the stage. From the technical crew to the actors stepping on the stage. You look at every piece of set, every flying, every staircase, every entrance and look at it as a hazard. Different things happen everyday - flying may have to come in and if an actor is stood in a different place that could mess up the whole show. Anything and everything to do with going on that stage is my responsibility. It can be a bit daunting, but you get your strength from the team you have. My Heads of Departments, Sam Gibbons, Karl Meier, Jonathan Suffolk and Jo Spooner as Production Assistant - I'm confident in them, and so that burden is shared.

The Festival season is very hard for stage people. Its long unsociable hours, but the idea is to make it as pleasant and sociable as possible - and a good sign is that people always come back and enjoy it. Also Chichester provides a lot of opportunities for people, because of the creative teams involved, so people want to work here and it's brilliant career experience as people know the nature of the work we do.

CFT: Have you had a favourite production or set?

SP: We all still flinch about the first year in 2003, with The Gondoliers and The Merchant of Venice and others. But that was very, very impressive. Merchant of Venice was an absolutely brilliant production. And, the year before last was How to Succeed in Business which I thought was a brilliant new musical. I don't have a favourite but there are definitely a few that stand out.

CFT: As we're coming close to the announcement of the new season, you're no doubt very busy - what do you do to keep calm under the pressure?

SP: Its down to the type of person you are more than anything - and its experience as well. Every year we get better at doing it. Every season will bring out new challenges and experiences, so it's down to the team you have. Once you've been in the business long enough, you know that with every production you follow the same format. It's more to do with who you work with, if you've not worked with people before. Its all about the personalities really - you need to have a very good relationship with designers and directors to make it work smoothly.

But I think it's more to do with to the person you are. I'm alright! I have my moments, but I don't run around like a headless chicken. In the position you're in, you can't do that. You need to show a fascia of calmness outside even if inside you're thinking 'Oh my God!' If problems arise you need to show calm, and show your worth by getting out of the problems.

CFT: Any funny anecdotes from last years festival - any suitable for our audiences?

SP: No - none that I can share!

CFT: What are you looking forward to in 2007?

SP: I'm looking forward to a successful season. It's brilliant because I've known Alan Finch and Jonathan Church for so long. I worked with Jonathan at Nottingham as well. He was around, always in and out as assistant director or associate.

CFT: Really? It sound like a bit like a dream team come together again!

SP: They used to be the young ones and now look at them - they're running the place! It's brilliant working together again. They're an exciting team. They know what they are doing. What they want to do and what they have to do - which is brilliant. After last year's season, which has been such a success, so I'd like to follow on with that and we're very proud of the technical standards we have here.  As long as we get through our job and get it done with everyone quoting how good we are - that would be good. That's all I want!