Rather than a climatic connection, what is common to every one of these diverse settings is a GDS Stage Manager's Console. Every production must be steered with absolute precision by a stage management team in whose hands can rest a show's success or failure. The audience sees only the plain sailing of the entertainment, whilst behind the scenes, the unseen hand on the tiller executes the cues that steer the ship. GDS SM Console has become the first choice of many of the world's leading performing arts institutions. The quoted examples are just some of the latest destinations for this custom-built product that was developed with the direct involvement of leading practitioners, for the wider benefit of their high-pressure profession.
When RADA followed LAMDA, Rose Bruford College, Central School of Speech and Drama, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and The Royal Scottish Conservatoire in taking two SM Consoles on board, it made a statement about the training of the stage managers of the future. As GDS SM Console becomes the first choice of the world's premier entertainment venues, it is little surprise that it should find its way into the foremost theatre-education centres.
At GDS's Bristol headquarters the next batch of custom-crafted SM Consoles are wheeled into the loading bay ready for dispatch to the four corners of the globe and upstairs, orders continue to roll in. For The GDS SM Console, all the world is rapidly becoming its stage.
(Jim Evans)
