James Parkinson
James first became involved in theatre while at school, helping out backstage for a few productions. He continued his backstage work at university, predominantly at the ADC Theatre. He undertook official roles in several shows including Chief LX, Stage Manager, Technical Director and Set Builder, supplemented by plenty of crewing and generally helping out for lots of shows. Particularly memorable shows include building a barn for a production of Translations, and crewing for the pantomime The Scarlet Pimpernel, where every interval the trucking scenery had to be carefully rearranged in the wings so the sequence of cues for the second act would work.
James still keeps in touch with the ADC Theatre and helps out whenever he is in Cambridge. Most recently, this has involved helping to completely strip out the auditorium in preparation for installation of new raked seating as part of the theatre's redevelopment programme.
James stumbled across Whitley Bay Theatre Company in early 2008. Since then he has been involved in four productions, looking after the lighting and sound, as well as helping out with preparing the set. Habeas Corpus, his most recent show, has proved to be the most challenging yet with 130 lighting cues in the show.
James has also been involved in several shows at the stunning Minack outdoor theatre in Cornwall. Putting on shows at Minack raises some challenges not normally associated with theatre, including building set in a barn (is there a barn theme here?), and ensuring the set is sufficiently well constructed and tied down to withstand Atlantic storms!
Despite his short involvement in Whitley Bay Theatre Company, James has recently been elected onto the Committee and is looking forward to the year ahead and contributing to the running of the society.