Since 2003, Sweet has produced close to 500 shows from its performance venues at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
With ten high specification performance spaces in five venue locations:
Sweet ECA, is a complex of five spaces at the Edinburgh College of Art
Sweet Grassmarket, based at the Apex City Hotel on the Grassmarket hosts two studio theatres and the Grassmarket Pool
Sweet in the Firth of Forth, The historical and magical Island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth, home to an ancient abbey
and a new venue – the SweetHeart – added right at the last minute!
So . . . a diverse collection of venues and spaces hosting up to 81 shows!
In return for free accommodation and three meals a day, the multi-skilled Sweet volunteers can try their hand at pretty much any element of the theatre process. Staff are actively encouraged and trained in the use of lighting desks, sound systems, basic technical etiquette, stage and production management plus a multitude of other skills. Whilst they don’t make their fortunes, they do get unique hands on experience in a dynamic environment that’s fun, friendly and welcoming.
Sweet is by its nature a youthful company – who else could afford the time and energy to live in Edinburgh for the summer and work long hours for little remuneration?
The company’s various spaces host up to ten shows a day including: open mic, musicals, theatre, comedy, club and a whole host more. There is certainly plenty to keep the volunteer staff occupied for large chunks of the day.
Most of the dedicated and capable team are under 26 years old and hail from a range of different backgrounds and experience. Many are self taught or are in the process of learning from others who’ve worked for Sweet before. Some are actors turned techs – the technical manager is about to go into his third year of Chemistry at Oxford!
Whilst I’m not entirely convinced that working the hours these people put in is entirely healthy or sustainable, I do remember how satisfying it is to push oneself to ones personal limit and discover your breaking point. Not something I would advocate on a long term basis or if you have a delicate nature! However for a month in the summer holidays, as long as it is well supervised, it’s a great way to step out of the comfort zone, learn about working and living with all sorts of people, 24/7, teamwork and your own inner workings of mind and body.
At the helm of this phenomenal operation – in terms of production and operations – is the surprisingly alert Alex White. He discusses his demanding and physically challenging, multi-role position at Sweet. He also gives us an insight into what someone could expect if they fancied giving over a month of their life to Edinburgh Fringe next year!
As you’re probably gathering the vast majority of venue set ups – technically speaking – are fairly simple.
Popular at the festival is the Zero 88 and ETC range of consoles, low wattage lamps such as the ETC and Selecon ranges and, in terms of sound, there seems to be a fair amount of d&b and Yamaha kit around.
Key to the specification of kit for most technical managers is reliability and efficiency. For most venues the major challenges are limited fit up and get out time, fast turnarounds between shows and the often low levels of power available in a venue.
Technical manger for the Sweet Venues, Nick Lloyd has had more than his fair share of challenges this season – he tells us what his daily routine involves.
I discovered that his dedication knows no bounds – he tells me that he worked himself to an exhausted collapse, recovered in hospital for a day and was back at work just days later – some people just don’t know when to stop!
Anyway he seems healthy enough now and I am sure he learned a valuable lesson – how to pace himself in future.
