Kerry McDevitt - Deputy Stage Manager As Deputy Stage Manager (DSM), Kerry McDevitt is one of the six-strong stage management team on His Dark Materials . ‘Every production is like a new adventure,’ she says. ‘Some are short journeys, some are exotic, but His Dark Materials is out of this world’. Part of Kerry McDevitt’s job is to create the prompt book, a copy of the text that is marked up in a kind of shorthand in coloured inks that indicate when the lighting, sound, acting, and scenery changes should take place. When the production reaches the technical rehearsal, those responsible for executing these changes, or for entering the stage at a particular moment, listen (or watch) for their cues which can be given by Kerry from her box at the rear of the theatre either verbally or by a red light (stand by) or green (go). The DSM running the performance takes on a huge responsibility. Like all the stage management team she works long hours, and has to be able to concentrate and remain calm under pressure. She describes it as ‘like conducting an orchestra’. In a complex production like His Dark Materials there will be well over 500 individual cues in each of the plays. |  | |
