THE loud chatter of the audience, the dim lighting and the last minute cue checks. This is the day that Stage Crew works towards – from the announcement of the play to the final checks of light and sounds.
Stage Crew are the pupils that you will only glimpse through the curtains.
We take responsibility for the technical and backstage work in school.
This doesn't just include plays; our work includes assemblies and special occasions like the fashion and talent shows and many more events.
Stage Crew are solely responsible for the technical side of these events so you'll find us setting up microphones, rigging lights and sticking things down with tape.
During a show, it is essential we maintain a professional and organised team and we recently organised the technical elements of the lower school production, The Roses of Eyam, in November, which was a great success.
Our next big event is the senior school production of Macbeth in February.
My personal preference is managing scene changes – making them as slick and quiet as possible, which requires planning, a cool head and most important good communication (which I can usually manage).
This position also allows me to talk to the light and sound desk through our communications network and make sure that the timing is perfect.
We are very proud of what we do, even though audiences often only notice our work when something goes wrong (which it rarely does).
Fellow sixth former James Holgate and I are heads of the Stage Crew this year.
We've both been involved almost since we arrived at St Edward's we're pretty confident that no matter the challenge this year our elite team will be able to tackle it with a positive attitude, humour and lots of tape.
Michael Robson, pictured