EVENT CLEAN-UPS
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Melissa Thomas, Marketing Coordinator at the Clean Space spoke to Regional Manager April Collingwood about how to manage cleaning at a theatre.
Taking a trip to the theatre can be quite a high-profile, prestigious occasion, for those who want to get dressed up and take in a bit of culture. Because of this, standards of cleanliness can understandably be quite high. But what goes into cleaning a theatre? Melissa Thomas, Marketing Coordinator at The Clean Space, spoke to Regional Manager April Collingwood, to find out more about cleaning up after a night at the theatre.
Melissa Thomas (MT): I understand you manage the contract of a major theatre in Central London. Take me through your average day.
April Collingwood (AC): We have different teams of front-of-house cleaning staff working throughout the day to ensure that the theatre is always suitably clean and tidy for the public, staff and actors.
One of our teams starts at 6am. First they clean the ground floor’s bar area, then we clean the box office, floor, toilets, walls and skirting in time for the theatre’s 8am opening for breakfast.
Our second team start when the doors open at 8am. That team take care of the two upstairs bar areas, the upstairs toilets, the big upstairs staircase and floor, and the edges and ledges. We must ensure consumables are fully stocked in both bathrooms, so members of the public are never without hand towels, soap or toilet roll.
56 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning August 2016
Our final morning team looks after the auditorium. They vacuum and dust before 10am, so that the theatre is ready for rehearsals, matinees or evening performances. Nothing on stage is touched just in case it is a prop.
MT: What happens if there are two shows in one day?
AC: If there are two shows, we have an afternoon team come in. They empty bins, vacuum and clean or litter pick in the auditorium. They also restock consumables in the bathroom in time for the evening show.
MT: Is there anything else you must take into account?
AC: This is only the front-of-house team – this does not take into account the back-of-house team, who clean all of the backstage areas, including the actors’ dressing rooms.
We also have to be aware of issues that arise during the evening, due to the outside of the building being close to bars, restaurants and a major transport hub. It’s common to have to clear up beer bottles, cigarette butts, or bodily fluids from doorways so we often have to wash this off by hand in the morning, and at times book in pressure washers to clean the outside of the theatre during the early hours.
We quite often need to book in specialist cleans, for example to clean spillages on carpets, or to prepare for special events and award ceremonies. Being able to coordinate blocking off
areas to clean without disrupting the flow of the theatre is a must.
MT: This all sounds very challenging!
AC: Yes, it’s definitely one of the most demanding environments to have to clean.
We have to ensure every area of the theatre looks good to the public at all times, and things need to work like clockwork to manage this.
That said, we have managed the cleaning at numerous events, so our ability to handle the demands of such an ever-changing, fast-paced environment is testament to all the hard work involved.
MT: What traits do you look for when recruiting an operative to clean a theatre?
AC: A cleaning operative who cleans an event or public space must be hardworking, and flexible to such a changing environment’s needs. They also need to be proactive and responsive, quickly reacting to any requests the client might have, and identifying things that might need to be cleaned, before being told to clean them.
We pride ourselves on having a really trustworthy team of staff at the theatre, so staff and actors fully trust the members of our cleaning team with their work and cleaning around their possessions. One of our cleaners was even rewarded by an actor for finding their lost wallet!
www.thecleanspace.com
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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