So You Want To Work In Theatre?

Susan Elkin

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781780012414
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre Stagecraft & Scenography

An essential guide for young people who want to work in the theatre - but aren't sure exactly what they want to do, or how to get to do it.

Many young people are eager to experience the excitement and allure of working in theatre, but often this only goes as far as imagining themselves as actors, on stage in front of an audience every night. In reality, there are more jobs off the stage than on it. They can be every bit as rewarding as acting - and certainly more secure because there are invariably fewer people competing for each one.

Using her expertise as Education and Training Editor for The Stage, Susan Elkin encourages aspiring theatre-makers and workers to look beyond acting to some of the other behind-the-scenes options available: playwriting, directing, producing, designing, stage management, administration, publicity, front-of-house, stage door... *

She describes what each job entails and how you might achieve that role, including relevant courses and training opportunities offered in the UK. There are also numerous case studies of theatre professionals describing how they got where they are, and top tips for following in their footsteps.

Written in a clear, no-nonsense style, this book is an ideal starting point for students considering a career in theatre, but also a useful tool for parents, teachers and career-advisers looking to learn more about the options open to interested young people.

* And, for those of you who really must, the book does cover how to get into acting too.

'I wish this had been published when I was at school' Teaching Drama Magazine

'provides a clear overview of work opportunities in and around theatre and really should be available to young people in schools across the country' Drama Resource

Part One

First Steps

You may have caught the theatre bug long ago. Maybe you’ve been to the theatre and seen a few shows – perhaps pantomime, plays for children, performances of your school examination texts, or just theatre for fun – and wondered what you have to do to get professionally involved.

Then someone tells you that actors – and many backstage workers – train in drama schools. These are specialist colleges, often attached to universities, providing vocational training for people who want to work in theatre. Very few people succeed in technical or performance roles in this industry without that training.

Well, you won’t be taken seriously by a drama school if you turn up at an audition or interview without having had any practical experience. Seeing shows produced and performed by others is not enough, although it’s important to see as much theatre as you can.

So, if you’re serious, you need to search out and seize as many opportunities as you can to work, or at least be active, in theatre long before you consider vocational training in any aspect of the performing-arts industries.

Apart from anything else, it will give you some sense of what working in theatre is really like and how productions are created. You may, when you’ve tried it, decide that it isn’t what you want to do after all – and it’s much better to find that out before you embark on expensive, time-consuming vocational training if you realise that this isn’t the right area of work for you.

So how are you going to build up your experience?

Local part-time classes

There are many teachers and schools offering weekend or evening classes in acting, singing and dancing for children and teenagers, often as an extra-curricular activity in addition to their primary- or secondary-school education elsewhere. A ‘triple threat’ package which gives you a taste of all three is quite common.

Backstage skills are less frequently taught this way. But since there are always shows being put on, it’s worth asking if, instead of performing, you can help with stage management, sound or lighting if that’s where your interest lies.

You must first choose between the local branch of an established (or new) chain of a branded, franchised company, or an independent, stand-alone part-time school.

There are pros and cons either way, of course. A big-name franchise comes with an established, recognisable ‘brand’ and a way of working that is controlled by head office. On the other hand, an independent school is often cheaper and more flexible.

You may have an excellent local, independently run school which enjoys a good reputation. If you are new to all of this, do your homework and talk to other young people who attend them, and to their parents.

Make sure that the school you are considering has some sort of accreditation – the National Council for Dance Training’s minimum standards badge, if the school is teaching dance, for instance – so that you know the quality is up to scratch.

Check too that the teachers are properly qualified and have DBS clearance (DBS is the Disclosure and Barring Service, merging what was previously the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Agency (ISA) checks). Ensure that the premises are maintained to a decent standard. You may find that an independent school charges less than a franchised school (no head-office overheads), which is a bonus if you can find a good one.

On the other hand, perhaps you favour the equivalent of Waitrose or Tesco over a small, independent food shop, and feel happier with a branded name and a larger umbrella organisation. In that case, names such as Razzamataz, Stagecoach or the Pauline Quirke Academy are for you.

Try the public library, a business directory or use the internet to find out which franchise groups operate in your area. Unless you are in a very densely populated and extensive urban area, your choice is likely to be constrained by which franchises have schools nearby.

The advantage of a franchised school is that you know exactly what you are getting, because the curriculum is usually designed centrally and is common to all its branches. That means teachers work to specific lesson plans and term themes or topics. This is useful too if your family moves to another part of the country because, if you can find a school in the same group, you can start seamlessly from where you left off.

The common curriculum also means that franchised schools can work together in regional or national projects, which provide participating pupils with extra performance and development opportunities alongside the ones they get in their own local school – one of Theatretrain’s great strengths, for instance.

You can research any franchised chain, of course, by looking at the company’s website to find out about its ethos, way of working, group sizes, age range, charges and so on (see Appendices).

Remember that no two are exactly the same and that each has its unique selling points, so it’s worth looking at carefully. Music Bugs (classes for age six months to four years), The Courage to Sing (tuition for adults) and Soundsteps (keyboard/piano lessons in over 100 centres), for instance, specialise in music rather than in dance or drama. Others, such as New Youth Theatre, tend to be more drama dominated.

Then, if you find one you like the look of, you can search to see whether there’s a school a convenient distance from where you are. You can find a list of some chains of part-time class providers in the Appendices at the back of this book.

Local youth theatre

Youth theatres are essentially clubs dedicated to developing and presenting shows with young people. Within a good youth theatre, there is usually scope for young people to get involved with every aspect of the production, including all backstage jobs, front of house and marketing.

Some youth theatres are based in venues and led by adults who work in the venue in other capacities, often directing.

For example, there’s a youth theatre company with about sixty members aged nine to eighteen at Helmsley Arts Centre in Ryedale, Yorkshire which meets weekly in term time to take part in workshops, to rehearse for productions, or to devise projects.

Members are encouraged to develop their acting skills and to learn about the technical and backstage aspects of theatre. It costs £28 per term at the time of writing – which makes it far cheaper than any part-time class.

Recently, several members successfully auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and were cast in productions at venues such as York Theatre Royal and West Yorkshire Playhouse. Some have gone on to drama school in London or to university to study theatre.

Or take the youth theatre run by Dorset School of Acting, which is based in the Lighthouse at Poole. It runs sessions for everyone aged from three to twenty-one and gives them lots of training and opportunities to perform or to support performance.

These are just two examples picked at random from the many similar youth theatres all over the country. Contact your local theatre and ask if it has a youth theatre you can join.

Youth theatres are also sometimes run by secondary and primary schools as an adjunct to the curriculum or as some sort of after-school club. Sometimes a drama teacher will lead a youth theatre in his or her own school at weekends – and typically it would be open to all young people, not just the ones who attend that school.

National opportunities in youth theatre

In addition to taking part in your local youth theatre, once you have some experience, and if you’re still keen, you might consider applying to one of the organisations which offer youth theatre nationally.

National Youth Theatre

The most famous of these is the National Youth Theatre. Every summer it brings together some of the most theatrically talented teenagers in Britain to engage in classes and workshops and to create a show during a two-week course.

Some of its members are actors, others are passionate about backstage work and technical theatre – they have all undergone a rigorous selection process.

Founded in 1956 by Michael Croft, a south London secondary-school teacher of English and drama, NYT’s first ever production was Henry V. Since then it has helped to train performers such as Helen Mirren, Derek Jacobi, Matt Lucas, Romola Garai, Jamie Theakston and many more who have gone on to glittering professional careers.

Students who audition successfully for NYT are enrolled on one of the two summer courses – one for over-eighteens and the other for under-eighteens. These courses, on which places are limited, are very intensive and lead to an end-of-course performance which is not open to the public. Those who complete the course satisfactorily are invited to become NYT members.

Members also get the chance to take part in productions on the West End stage and in major venues around the UK and abroad. In recent years, opportunities have included performing in Beijing at the 2008 handover ceremony to the London 2012 Olympics, in Abu Dhabi at the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, and in Shanghai at World Expo 2010.

In 2012, NYT members took part in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic’s Team Welcome Ceremonies, a bilingual adaptation of a Shakespeare classic and a filmed documentary drama about the 1948 Olympics – among many other projects.

NYT, which reaches twenty thousand young people every year, also runs free courses and workshops for non-members. Talking to Byron, for instance, was a show about knife crime devised and performed by ‘creative assistants’ who toured schools in and around London with their work, supported by the Home Office. It ran a similar project in Birmingham, with support from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Based in offices in Southwark, near Tower Bridge, and with large rehearsal rooms on Holloway Road in North London, NYT runs its courses and activities all over Britain – with a strong network of regional groups – in order to be as inclusive as possible, although the core of its work continues to be showcasing the theatrical abilities of exceptionally talented youngsters. So it is not easy to get in.

Youth Music Theatre UK

Another youth theatre operating nationally is Youth Music Theatre UK (www.youthmusictheatreuk.org), which was founded in 2003. It is one of the National Youth Music organisations supported by Youth Music.

YMTUK runs one-week summer schools for eleven- to twenty-one-year-olds in the South East and near Edinburgh, where it has an office in addition to its main office in London. It also offers training opportunities for recent graduates and emerging artists.

Jon Bromwich is the YMTUK’s Executive Producer.

‘We work almost exclusively with new work, either by commissioning new musical theatre from experienced writers and composers, or through the devising process. To this end we employ active industry professionals at the top of their game. Creativity is at the heart of the work and we actively encourage as much participation as we can from the young people who join the company.

Most, although not all, of our work is residential. So we have a substantial duty of care to the seven hundred young people who stay with us on our courses during each year.

We seek to make the company open to a wide range of young people from different backgrounds, and try to promote outreach and local projects as much as possible, and to provide hardship funds and bursaries to help those who cannot afford the courses.’

Royal Opera House Youth Company

In 2010, the Royal Opera House launched its first Youth Opera Company. It made its debut in May that year in a specially commissioned new work called Beginners by composer Richard Taylor and librettist Jane Buckler. There was also a newly devi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Part One: First Steps
• Part Two: Anything But Acting
• Part Three: Acting – If You Really Must
• Appendices
• About the Author
• Other Titles in the Series
• Copyright Information