Explore every episode of the podcast Lights Down

Episode 2: The Call Sheet

What does a working week actually look like for a theatre lighting technician — and what does decades of unsocial hours really cost, and give back? This episode walks through the typical working hours across Graham's career , and looks at the harder question: what that schedule took from ordinary life, relationships, and health — and what it gave in adrenaline, craft, and camaraderie.

In this episode: - The realities of the hours needed to put shows on - What live theatre gives you that a 9-to-5 never could - The cost: relationships, missed ordinary life, sleep and health - The benefits: skills, resilience and unique experiences.

Next episode:

“Notice” — the conversation where the retirement became real, and what it feel like to think about leaving a career built around production schedules rather than office calendars.

After 46 years as a lighting technician in theatre, Graham is retiring in

January 2027 — and rather than let it happen quietly , this podcast is

going to talk through it in real time. Lights Down is a countdown: part

practical guide to leaving a long career , part honest reckoning with

what it means to walk away from work that was both a passion and a

punishing schedule.

In this first episode: why this show exists, what a life in theatre

lighting actually looks like from the inside, and the first honest

admission of what retirement actually feels like from 7 months out.

In this episode: - What theatre lighting work really involves - Why

“Lights Down” as a title - The double loss of leaving a passion career

with unsocial hours

What’s ahead this season

Next episode:

“The Call Sheet”

— unsocial hours, and what a busy and unpredictable working week actually meant across my career, and a first touch on funding my retirment,

Intro & Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/matt-stewart-evans/final-waltz

License code: OKNFKWDRQHNFFFRG