Life as a trainee producer at Chichester Festival Theatre
George Waller’s first experience of theatre was on stage at Chichester Festival Theatre as an 11- or 12-year-old in the acclaimed main-house production Gypsy.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to
00:06speak to George Waller. Now, George, you've come up through the ranks at Chichester Festival
00:10Theatre, you started on the stage in Gypsy, you did a number of shows for the Youth Theatre
00:17at Christmas and in the summer, the Promenade, etc. But you're not an actor, you are back
00:22at the Festival Theatre as a trainee producer, and it sounds like you are getting fantastic
00:27experience towards your eventual career. What are you gaining from working on the shows
00:32at the Festival Theatre at the moment? What are you learning?
00:35Yeah, I'm getting loads of key experience for my future. I think the role puts me in
00:43a position that lots of people don't get to be in, and I'm really lucky to be in a fast-paced,
00:48small team that is working on these large-scale shows. It really gives me loads of experience.
00:56I have been able to produce the Christmas show, The Jungle Book, and I was managing
01:03budgets, managing professional creative teams, and drafting contracts and doing deals myself.
01:12It sounds frighteningly complex, but maybe we should go back a stage, and I should have
01:16asked you, what is the role of the producer? Because I think everyone knows what the actor
01:20is, the director, the designer, etc, etc, sound, lighting, but what is the producer
01:24on a show?
01:26Yeah, I think a producer, to me, we get all these pieces that are around and put them
01:33together to make this big show, and often make sure everyone is happy in that situation
01:41as well. We have our budget and make sure we're not going over that budget, and try
01:48to stay under the budget where possible. And then we engage all these creatives and make
01:55sure that the process is running smoothly, and that everyone's got the team they want,
02:02and everyone is working together nicely, and we create these shows that are on the…
02:10It sounds great. And the point is, you were saying you're a pretty laid-back guy. It
02:14sounds like you need to be, don't you, in this business? You can't afford to freak
02:19and get scared by all you've got to do.
02:24Yeah, I think so. I think there are lots of things going on at once, and there are lots
02:30of pressures, because you've got lots of people to deal with. So I think to be able to take
02:35a step back and be relaxed, and be able to deal with situations with a level head, I
02:43think is a really key skill to have. And I think being relaxed as well, I think, passes
02:51across to the rest of the team, and I think it helps everyone involved, especially…
02:54You're setting the tone in that respect.
02:56Yeah, I think when tensions kind of run high, it's a useful kind of character trait, I think.
03:03And when you do move on from the Festival Theatre, you will have on your CV the fact
03:07that you produced the Christmas show, the Youth Theatre Christmas show, this last Christmas.
03:12Now, what a fantastic experience that must have been. How did that go? I mean,
03:17the show was a huge success, wasn't it?
03:19Yeah, I think it went really well, I think. Obviously, it was the first time we had an
03:25external director, so we had Matt Hassell in with us, who's someone who had no experience
03:32with Youth It before. So it was different, and we had a new creative team that Matt wanted.
03:40So I had even more experience with dealing with people that didn't necessarily understand
03:45the process. So I think learning kind of those communication skills as well, being
03:51able to kind of be clear with these people that don't necessarily understand how the
03:55Youth Theatre works, because it is kind of a different beast to your standard festival
04:01season show. And making sure that everyone was happy and understanding what was going
04:06on, I think, was a really good experience for me.
04:09And that's a fabulous experience when you move on. And the fact is, the fact that you
04:13can say that you were here for 18 months will really count for something, the fact
04:16that you've done so much work in Chichester. That will help, won't it?
04:21Yeah, I think so. Chichester is obviously kind of one of the biggest regional theatres
04:26in the country. And I think we're kind of leading in lots of different things in the
04:33country. And I think to be able to say that I was part of that team, and especially in
04:38the change of kind of artistic directors and things like that, to be able to experience
04:42all those different things at once is really important, I think.
04:46And before you leave, you've got the little matter of working across all the summer shows
04:50that are coming up. That's going to be great fun and challenging too, isn't it?
04:54Yeah, yeah. We've got some biggies this year. Obviously, we've got Oliver, which is very
05:00exciting. And kind of we're in the process of rehearsals have started for our first two
05:07shows in the Minerva and in the Festival Theatre. So the ball is rolling. And I think
05:14we're starting to get busy again. So it's really good.
05:17Fantastic. It would be lovely to get back to going to the theatre again.
05:21Really to speak to you. Good luck with the summer ahead and good luck with everything
05:25that comes after that.
05:26Thank you very much.
05:28Nice to talk to you.