Liana recently completed the three month 'Laura Head' Sound internship, organised by Sonia Friedman Productions and Masterclass.

Writing and thinking reflectively on my internship really shows me how much this experience has taught me. When I started at Harry Potter back in August, I had never so much as held a radio mic. I had no clue of the role the Sound department plays in a large scale production. At first I was very intimidated and overwhelmed, there was so much to take in, so many new faces, new technical terms, a show I’d never seen before to learn. It felt as though I’d catapulted myself right off the deep end and I was so far out of my comfort zone.

As I write and reflect on this progress, I feel so proud that I was able to take on so many new skills and practices and improve on myself. Setting objectives for myself at the start and midpoint of the internship was a really helpful way of measuring my progress while making sure I was learning what I wanted and needed to learn. It was satisfying ticking off my goals from the start of the internship at the midpoint, and completing the objectives I set at the midpoint was equally satisfying and a reflection of how far I’ve come. In just a few months I was able to achieve everything I set out to do and more!

Looking back to when I first started, a huge goal for me was to finish learning the substage plot and be able to do it confidently alone. I felt so much anxiety going into the act containing the busiest period of the plot, with a lot of moving around backstage and quick changes. Now, I’m able to do the substage plot confidently alone and am comfortable switching between the substage, stage right, and SFX plots which is more than I thought I’d achieve in my time at Harry Potter.

Another of my first big challenges was conquering mic fitting. It’s funny looking back at notes I made on my original plot cue sheets, such as where the clips should be placed and where the mic should sit, as this knowledge is all now second nature to me. When I first started, a mic fitting would take 10 mins and I’d be intensely concentrating on what I had to do and when. Now, in the final few days of my internship, I can fit a mic in less than a minute and carry out a conversation with our lovely performers at the same time. Building on these base skills over time has allowed me to move on to learning more skills, such as swapping mics in a quick change. My first few attempts were stressful and I had to let whoever was supervising me take over so that the performer made it to their next scene on time. The first time I completed one of these changes alone was so rewarding as it meant I’d finally mastered fitting a mic in a fast high-pressure situation.

SFP and Masterclass have given me so many opportunities during my time here that I’m so grateful for. I was able to spend time working with the LX and stage management departments, building on knowledge from my background in both, and had the opportunity to shadow a backstage sound plot at Mean Girls The Musical. I was also lucky enough to have a sit-down conversation with Cursed Child’s Sound Designer Gareth Fry, to discuss his experiences and have him share some of his vast expanse of knowledge with me. All of these opportunities taught me so much, especially in the context of a large high-quality production which is something I wouldn’t have had the chance to see and learn otherwise. I will be forever grateful for this internship in general. It’s been a challenging but rewarding and positive experience and has set me up with the skills I need to continue working in the West End, an eventual career goal which has now become my reality. I would really recommend an internship for anyone looking to get into technical theatre on a large scale but isn’t sure where and how to improve upon their skills and gain the experience needed to be considered for those roles.

This internship was set up in memory of Laura Head, a much loved member of the Sound Team on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.