A Day in the Life…Charlie Morgan Jones Joins Derren Brown: Underground

Charlie Morgan Jones

It’s a miserable day in the capital. Rain lashes down hard on a sea of hooded heads and a multitude of umbrellas. Embankment is particularly busy yet it seems to quieten somewhat towards the Charing Cross tunnel. The tunnel, along with a series of cafes, restaurants and even a nightclub, is home to the Charing Cross Theatre. Today marks the first preview of its latest show, Derren Brown: Underground. The production is a workshop collection of some of the very best of Derren’s previous stage work which he is developing for future overseas productions. We’re here to spend a day with the show’s lighting designer, Charlie Morgan Jones, who offers us an insight into what a day in his life looks like…

Upon entering the theatre, it’s all stations go. People are running round on stage, marking spots, moving props and making sure everything is just so. Charlie explains: “As it’s our first preview this evening, today is all about getting ready for that”. Charlie is positioned a few rows back from the stage on a custom-made lighting desk which is hosting a range of Starbucks coffee cups, several notepads and even an empty packet of grapes: “We decided to go healthy yesterday as it’s very easy to just constantly gorge on junk food when you’re in tech. As a result, when the crew came up to see if we had any treats, they were left feeling rather disappointed!”.

The theatre awaits…

Charlie is sat next to Paul Walmsley who is programming Derren Brown: Underground; with this show marking their 20th collaboration. He comments: “I work really well with Paul. He just gets me. When I see something on stage and I inherently pull a particular look, Paul knows what needs to be changed. We have a great working relationship and when I found out I was working on this show, I knew I wanted him on board”. Charlie was approached for the show by John Dalston, the General Manager, who has worked with him before. However, this is the first time that John has collaborated with Charlie as an LD. He comments: “When I worked with John it was a few years ago and I was a board operator. As I’ve managed to grow my portfolio over the past few years, I’ve almost grown up before his very eyes. Therefore, I was delighted when he asked me to light this show”.

As preparation, Charlie immersed himself into the world of Derren Brown. He spent hours online watching videos of the psychological illusionist and admits he was “utterly blown away by what I saw”. Yet how does he prepare to light a show filled with extraordinary moments , in comparison to say a traditional theatre production? For him, it’s exactly the same: “I don’t think of shows as completely separate entities i.e. this is theatre, this is opera, this is psychological illusion. Rather I approach each one with the same amount of flexibility”.

Charlie’s lighting plan for Derren Brown: Underground.

The rehearsals took place at the Dome Room above Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End. Charlie attended a series of these along with a couple of run-throughs. He was also part of all of the production meetings. He comments: “The production meetings were just fantastic. As this is a show filled with crossroads, as opposed to working from a set script, there are so many avenues in which it can go. It was fantastic to hear all of the creative ideas flowing, as this ultimately had an influence on my own design”.

It seems as if being part of a team who regularly work create Derren’s work has been a good experience for Charlie. He notes: “One thing with Derren is that he is constantly trying to push himself. There is this perpetual strive to make their work better. As an artist, this is a level you should constantly be aiming towards”. This level of perfection has clearly transcended into the technical rehearsals in which the directors, Andrew O’Connor and Andy Nyman, find themselves sitting in various seats throughout the auditorium to ensure that everyone in attendance can see what’s taking place on stage. Charlie states: “It’s the surprise, confusion and the mystique that those attending a show want to experience. My role is helping to heighten this and ensure the audience are engaged with every single section of the show”.

The stage is set…

When we join Charlie, he has just finished the technical rehearsal and is about to embark on the dress run. He comments: “We got into the venue on Sunday (three days ago) and began to set everything up straight away. Once the fixtures were in place, we began to work through the show and recreate my design on stage”.

It was at this point where Charlie first realised the major difference between this and your more traditional theatre productions: “We’re essentially lighting the various moments on stage. When we notice something that needs amending or I spot something I would like to change, we adjust this and then have to run the scene from the top. However, as some of the sequences are ten, fifteen even twenty minutes long, this can be extremely time consuming when trying to run a tech”. Once everything is in place, Charlie then talks the director through his various plots as the show begins to take shape: “I sit down with both Andrew and Andy and run them through the cues to ensure they aren’t surprised by any of my sets as well as hear their own thoughts. Whereas I normally allow myself some flexibility with a rig, I did more so than usual on this particular production due to the fact that the entire production is so flexible; with the audience participation aspect meaning things are changing all of the time”.

Derren enthralls his audience from the very start.

Talk naturally moves onto the rig that Charlie has drawn on. Supplied by WL, it features a range of his favourite fixtures along with those he feels are needed on a show like this. He comments: “I have used the Martin MAC TW1s and they really do a lot of work on this show. For me, I just love this fixture. It’s reliable, flexible and the output is incredible. I also love the colour”. It’s at this point where Paul points out that he’s not their biggest fan but Charlie is adamant of their importance: “I was one of the many designers who was outraged when I heard they were discontinuing the units. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one and the petition hundreds of LDs signed ensured that they continued making them”. Around the space is a series of ETC Source Four Minis which have been specifically chosen to illuminate certain props that are an integral part of the show (the fixtures being a suggestion of Production Electrician Andy Murrell). The entire front of house consists of ETC Source Fours whereas Par Cans are used as eye candy and for the pre-set. All of this is programmed on an ETC Ion Desk, something that Charlie says he “understands”: “It makes a difference using a desk that you are comfortable with and knowing, more or less, how it works”. Alongside this, there is are two followspots on Derren throughout the entire show. Charlie adds: “A lot of my role is creating a text and mood for each scene whilst keeping the focus on Derren. With the followspot permanently fixed on him, I have to ensure that the entire stage is brought to life and it all plays an integral part”.

As we’re speaking, Derren himself enters. And, as he does, he makes sure he acknowledges everyone present before immediately heading straight to the stage to rehearse some key moments for tonight’s show. Charlie adds: “Derren, and in fact everyone on this show, has been an absolute pleasure to work with. It really is an incredibly friendly company and I’m relishing every moment. The theatre itself is also a great venue for an LD. I particularly love the textured brick which forms the set. It’s a great canvas to work on”.

Charlie’s desk…

Derren and director Andrew run through certain sections and occasionally ask Charlie to light a certain moment or change something slightly. It’s the final moments of tweaking before a live audience arrives for the first ever live run through. Charlie notes: “This is a great show but it needs an audience. It’s 99% audience participation and we’ve only seen it with Derren so far. Today will be the real test to see how they respond to it”.

So after the quickest of lunch breaks, we find ourselves back to an invited audience who are eagerly awaiting the start of the show. The pre-set is the subtlest of oranges which perfectly sets the tone before the start of the show. Charlie states: “As an LD, I think you can tell different designer’s various work. With me, I have a specific colour palette which I work from in order to create a look that is unique to me”.

Another mind-blowing show from the psycholoical illusionist.

The show begins and while we obviously cannot give too much away, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Derren Brown. The whole 90 minutes are filled with gasps, awe and mesmerisation as the audience witnesses the seemingly impossible take place right in front of them. After dazzling everyone in attendance, Derren takes his final bow and exits the stage. The houselights come up and the audience begins to depart. And while they may get to leave, the crew’s work has only just begun; in particular Charlie’s. He is sat at the back going over his notes with Paul and Andrew, talking through the various sections and what their thoughts were. Once the auditorium is cleared, he finds himself on the stage, getting into positions and working out the best way to light these now an audience has participated.

He eventually stops and allows himself a post-show moment of contemplation: “Overall, thanks largely to the amazing team around me, that went really well for a dress. There were no major disasters and the audience’s reaction was exactly what we wanted. However, there are still some tweaks to be made. I’m not sure whether it’s my background in music but if a cue is one second long and would be better at 0.8 seconds then it should be changed. I’m not saying I’m a perfectionist – I just know when something works for me”. And judging by the look of the show and the audience’s reaction so far, a lot has definitely worked on this particular production…

Photos courtesy of Paul Walmsley.