Izzy is a Senior Lighting Technician at Northern Stage. Her job involves prepping for, installing, operating for, supporting and dismantling shows as well as leading teams, training staff and being the official mirrorball enthusiast of the technical department. She has worked at Northern Stage since September 2019.
Tell us a bit about your career path before landing at Northern Stage.
I’d studied theatre at university, which introduced me to the absolute fact [in my opinion] that the backstage work was much more fun than anything acting-wise. Due to needing to pay rent I primarily worked in other industries after graduating but kept doing voluntary and freelance work in addition to my main income generating employment. I’m glad now that I didn’t go straight from education to working solely in theatre, because I learned a lot of soft skills in those other jobs that I use every day here.
What drew you to Northern Stage?
I wanted to work in an organisation that makes theatre as well as hosts visiting work. It allows me to work in more varied ways than I would do in a solely producing or receiving venue and is great for my professional development. The team that I work with on a day to day basis, both in technical and beyond are also hugely important to me and I’d only every heard good things about the team here at Northern Stage.
I’d only ever heard good things about the team here at Northern Stage.
What do you like about the North East?
I’ve always lived in the North East, aside from my time at university, and it’s my home. I definitely prefer the city to the countryside and the opportunities and accessibility it provides.
What do you enjoy in your typical day at Northern Stage?
My role allows me to spit out the cliché that there’s no such thing as a typical day. Sometimes I’ll be testing equipment for safety, sometimes I’ll be putting electrics into a prop for a show, sometimes I’ll be emptying a truck and rigging and focussing lights, sometimes I’ll be planning for the shows happening in the next few weeks and one and only once, I hope, I was using a very long stick to dislodge a deflated balloon that had landed on one of our house lights.
My role allows me to spit out the cliché that there’s no such thing as a typical day
What do you get up to outside of work?
My Instagram bio says Theatre, Food and Holidays so I suppose that’s the brief version. I really enjoy the variety of places to socialise in Newcastle, and prioritise my work-life balance, which is not necessarily an easy task working in any theatre. I enjoy stand up comedy, and go and see comedians regularly. I also enjoy a good gig, although the audiences seem to keep getting younger, which someone should probably look into. I’ve also worked really hard to make my living spaces nice and to keep the majority of my plants alive and I’m more proud of this than I possibly should be.