The audience should never really know a stage manager exists; my job is to make sure everything runs smoothly: the lighting, sound, scene changes, props, as well as keeping the cast in line (which is sometimes a very difficult job!).

Essentially the stage manager is in charge of the production during the performances; you’re responsible for everyone’s safety on stage and have to co-ordinate all aspects of the production each night. But the job actually starts from the very beginning of the rehearsal process and you end up working closely with the director and the cast, as well as the designers and technical crew. One of my favourite things about stage management is that you’re right at the centre of the company; the link between the cast and the crew. You’re there backstage every night; the only downside is that you never get to see the show from the front.

It is important that a stage manager is ready to deal with anything and can keep calm in a crisis, even if the cast accidently skip a few pages of dialogue, or the sound effects decide not to work, or perhaps the fire alarm is about to go off during a performance while a group of freshers are watching in the wings.

I got involved with theatre in my first year in Cambridge as an assistant stage manager on a production of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, where my job entailed making the offstage ‘knocking’ sound effect and then firing a gun backstage in the final scene. Since then I’ve enjoying trying out all that stage management has to offer on all kinds of productions from May Week shows to professionally directed plays to international tours.

Being stage manager for the Cambridge American Stage Tour’s 2011 production of Macbeth has been my favourite and most rewarding theatrical endeavour to date, as I was able to work on a show for an extended period of time with a very talented group of actors, directors, designers and technicians. Or to put it another way, I got to spend 4 weeks touring America with a group of friends. I would recommend stage management to anyone, it can be a tough and thankless task at times, but there’s nothing like seeing the lights go down on a performance and knowing you nailed it because the audience won’t have even realised you were there.