If you're a keen theatre-goer you'll know a fair bit about what happens on stage but have you stopped to consider just how all the action comes together? As we discovered from key members of the backstage crew at Salisbury Playhouse it doesn't all happen by magic (or mirrors)!

With around twelve productions every year, the Salisbury Playhouse is one of Wiltshire's busier theatres and as a result requires a dedicated team of professionals to get the show on the road.

And talking of being on the road, the recent Playhouse production of Jamaica Inn was designed to go on tour, whicih presented the technical backstage team with a number of interesting problems to overcome - including how to build a set that would travel easily to the numerous theatres included on the tour.

A selection of those who don't share the actors' limelight talked to us about their respective backgrounds, their current roles at the Playhouse and how they tackled some of the technical aspects of two recent Playhouse productions - Jamaica Inn and Alan Ayckbourn's House and Garden - the latter being two plays that run simultaneously on two different stages in the theatre!

Click on a role to find out more...

Christine Piper - Production Manager
What's great about the theatre is when the various elements come together. People don't realise that the first time this happens is just two days before the first night! So we only have a couple of days to make any changes!

Sue Houser - Production Designer
There have been some challenging designs. For example, at Bristol as a young designer I designed Peter Pan. Thankfully my memory has erased a lot of that, but I will never forget the thrill of seeing Kirbys fly Peter and Wendy through my nursery window, or the visits to the wonderful prop maker who created Nana the dog.

Matthew Bugg - Music, Movement and Sound Designer
Sound is a neglected art form within theatre. We're probably about twenty years behind lighting in terms of the availability and use of technology in venues and there are huge problems in terms of the perception of sound within the industry. A frightening number of actors see lighting as something that helps them and sound as something they have to accommodate, tolerate or at worst, fight against.

John Manning - Casting and Literary Coordinator
It's fun to be at the beginning of a project and see what it becomes. When we first started on Jamaica Inn we visualised how much music it would contain as we went along - and it ended up with more music than originally. It's a very visual adaptation with several physical aspects so we had to do a bit more work with actors on the movement involved.

Rachel Candler - Deputy Stage Manager
Jamaica Inn is technically complex and definitely has its challenges - some of the venues are smaller than the Playhouse and so we have to mark out the stage area on our stage to show the actors the space they're working in. Some of the set won't always fit on every stage we're going to and some things can't be flown in so they have to hang there.

Georgina Greathead - Wardrobe
The costume designs are decided between the designer and the director. The script, i.e., the period, social status and character descriptions etc, will dictate aspects of the final designs. Also, actors often have their own ideas of how their character should dress.