We run work placements within our technical and stage management teams, giving students the opportunity to earn credit for their degree or qualification and gain practical, on the ground experience to complement their learning and help them to get work-ready.

We aim to advertise all roles through at least two non-industry avenues such as via the Job Centre, LinkedIn or through more widely used generic recruitment websites. We are clear about the skills required to make it easy for people to see if their skills are transferrable and we avoid using industry specific language where possible.

We respond positively to all requests for flexible working and currently engage several artists working on a long-running commercial theatre production with bespoke contracts to suit their need for different working patterns. The production has hugely benefitted by being able to accommodate these requests.

We aim to remain accessible and would be willing to potentially act as a mentor and meet with colleges and universities to discuss our own experiences and the barriers to equal representation in the theatre industry.

We are committed to being accessible as a company and as individuals and we welcome inquiries from members or non-members of Stage Sight regarding Production Management.

Our work encompasses a variety of projects, and we are looking to set up an internship scheme through Stage Sight with a focus on Production Management. This would be aimed at recent graduates or those who haven’t followed the traditional drama school pathway.

Open Door is award winning organisation that helps talented young people who do not have the financial support or resources to gain a place at one of the UK’s leading drama schools. 

We work with people aged between 17-30 who are serious about pursuing a career in Technical Theatre or Production Arts. Our work breaks down barriers that young people may face, allowing them to compete for a drama school training on a level playing field – that will prepare them for a career in television, film, theatre and beyond.

And it’s all free!

What do they get?

Free interviews at our partner schools: 

Guildhall School of Music and Drama, RADA, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

• Free travel to all interviews
• All UCAS and UCAS Conservatoire fees paid for
• Free theatre tickets throughout the programme for theatres such as Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Nottingham Playhouse, National Theatre, Curve Theatre and more!
• A series of creative workshops
• One-to-one acting mentoring to help them with their interviews and portfolios
• Access to our hardship fund to cover any expenses relating to being part of Open Door or your audition process
• Pastoral support and mentoring from the Open Door team

We give talented and eligible young people the support they need so they can go into auditions and interviews feeling prepared, confident and without any worry of financial strain. 

Our YEP program, https://www.everymanplayhouse.com/young-every-play

We aim to ensure that job requirements and job selection criteria are clear and based only what is required to get the job done effectively. We will avoid making stereotypical assumptions based on protected characteristics about who is able to do a particular job.
We aim to ensure that no job applicant is placed at a disadvantage by practices or requirements which disproportionately disadvantage protected groups and which are not justified by the demands of the job.
For all jobs, we will draw up a clear and accurate job description and person specification to ensure that we remain focused on what the job involves and the skills, experience and qualifications which are relevant and necessary to do the job. Depending upon the skills required for the job, recruitment shall be aimed at as wide a group of suitably qualified and experienced people as possible and each candidate will be considered on his/her merits, experience and suitability for the post.
Shortlisting for interview will be done by two people using a pre-agreed marking system that is applied fairly and consistently to all applicants. If we hold interviews, we will try to ensure that more than one person conducts them to ensure that we avoid unintentional bias. Where appropriate and possible, selection panels will include a balance of gender and ethnic dimension. We will not ask for personal or irrelevant information on application forms or in interviews. We will focus instead on whether someone has the relevant skills, qualities and experience to do the job. As posts become vacant the Head of Department concerned will
review the area of work in conjunction with the Administration Team.
Where a job description already exists, it will be reviewed in light of the vacancy and to ensure that it contains no indirect discrimination. Any changes are to be agreed with the Administration Team. Candidates for interview will receive copies of job descriptions and information on the Company. The Company aims to encourage applications from and training opportunities for people from underrepresented groups in the community. Forsome recruitment and promotion exercises we may take positive action to address under-representation in our workforce by encouraging applications from people from certain under-represented groups. For example, we may target our advertising towards particular groups, we might hold open days, work shadowing opportunities targeted at particular groups or we might provide training for particular groups to prepare them for promotion. However, we will ultimately make recruitment and promotion decisions on merit and not on the basis of protected characteristics. All those involved in the interviewing procedure will be made fully aware of the Company’s Equal Opportunities Policy. Recruitment procedures shall be regularly monitored and modified to ensure that individuals are selected on the basis of their merits, experience and suitability for the post.

Backstage academy and shows for younger members, more bespoke opportunities for older members as requested. Our backstage academy is fairly unique in that we offer both design for the stage and technical and SM training, at an age appropriate level. We are developing apprentice schemes and are looking to build stronger links with larger venues in our area and drama schools to offer new experiences and access to industry professionals. We are a teaching theatre and we are committed to seeing the next generation of industry professionals have a place to work. We commit always to fair pay. We can offer shadowing experiences and regularly offer placements and work experience to young people at all stages of their education. As a small team, we are able to give people a real feel for many different roles working in a community hub like ours.

Theatre Peckham is a flagship cultural venue and a pioneering Learning Theatre, where inspirational artists meet aspirational young people. We are home to world class creative learning and performance, with, by and for young people, providing a pipeline into the creative industries. Pre Covid over 350 a week took classes in our academy. We offer a backstage academy, the chance to work on our productions, our FOH team and also are looking to develop our existing partnerships with schools to support their technical offer. We will soon be offering six month apprenticeships to young adults from our local community, to gain an insight and training in all offstage roles we offer.

As a Black Woman led theatre, we are always very aware of how we recruit and continue to challenge ourselves. We know that we are under represented in our small core team in terms of people with a disability and are looking to be more representative, including in technical roles . In terms of recruiting freelancers we have a commitment to develop emerging professionals and have also redesigned our backstage academy offer for 11-15 year olds from our local community to encompass design and core technical roles. We have rebuilt our FOH team from our own TP community, offering training and a minimum of the London Living wage per hour.

We are offering in house training in technical areas of lighting and other interactive technologies. We are aware that not everyone is given the same opportunity to access practical and on the job training and we are committed to changing that. Unusually are job requirement does not require previous industry experience. Eva Arnold eva@bailesandlight.com

In our specific area of immersive entertainment we are in a very good position to reach people outside of the traditional theatre industry. Eva Arnold eva@bailesandlight.com

We have a current workshop based, technical role and we are changing our recruitment practices in the following ways: creating inclusive job advert and description (monitoring for language and content), targeted advertising in order to reach groups that we wouldn’t have in the past, offering above the London Living Wage and naming the hourly rate in our advert. We followed Creative Access guide for a more inclusive recruitment process. We support positive action in the recruitment process. Eva Arnold eva@bailesandlight.com

We are reviewing our recruitment process to ensure that it is inclusive and accessible as possible. Interviews are being offered digitally or in a fully accessible location, job descriptions are now sense checked to remove jargon and list only what is required for the job, and the language of data monitoring forms is regularly being reviewed for transparency. Applications for jobs can also be submitted in video or voice note format if that is easier than a written format.

We are also trying to widen our net and advertise opportunities as widely as possible. We have worked extensively with Creative Access and regularly seek to update our list of places to advertise opportunities.

Contact Eman Bhatti – eman@new-adventures.net

We recently produced a series of videos called Two Minute Tales to celebrate the stories of our freelancers, artists, board and staff members and their journeys into the arts to demystify careers in the creative industries. In these micro-interviews, we find out their first experiences of theatre and working in performing arts; something people wouldn’t know by looking at them; and the advice they would give to their younger selves. Some of the roles interviewed include: Technical Director, Deputy Stage Manager, Production Coordinator, Technical Stage Manager, Electrician, Dancer, Executive Assistant and Trustee.

Watch them all here: https://new-adventures.net/two-minute-tales

In addition, in the Bourne to Dance podcast we celebrate our company’s love of dance, creativity and storytelling. We speak to members of the New Adventures family to discover the unique story of how they first encountered dance and how it has impacted their lives. The episodes so far have included conversations with Trustees, Lighting Designers, Dancers, Conductors and Resident Artists.

Listen to all episodes here: https://new-adventures.net/reel-adventures#podcast

I am committed to engaging with organisations such as Stage Sight, listing job opportunities to attract a wider potential range of personnel, and actively seeking out such individuals for any roles in future.

We are currently fundraising to run a match funded trainee programme for one non white and/or d/Deaf and disabled creative to work on every FMP show moving forward. This would be an entry level associate role on a show (could be LX, Sound, Stage Management, Movement or Director) designed to open up opportunities for early career creatives or stage management and help them build a relationship with FMP, gain experience on a show and be mentored by a member of the team. The aim is to give one person an opportunity per production. The aim is that the initiative becomes enshrined in FMP’s business model (either funded externally or from within the organisation so there is always a line in the budget).

We are developing a new degree programme for technical theatre roles that will be actively promoted to a wide range of young people in Bristol and the surrounding areas.

Teachers and practitioners involved will be selected with diversity in mind to help model a theatre workforce representative of the broader community.

We run workshops and taster sessions in schools and at open days throughout the year to promote courses and also highlight the range of technical and off-stage roles in theatre.

Production managers for our numerous performances recruit with diversity in mind to help model a theatre workforce representative of the broader community.

We are currently reviewing our internship and entry pathways to make them as accessible as possible.

We are actively working on our recruitment and company culture practices now with external consultant Tonic to address DEI. We are holding weekly racial justice forums available to all employees.

We have clear structured path for all operational positions. 65% of the operations staff had never worked in the Live Events industry before joining Christie Lites with a demographic of 18 to 62 years old.

We use the industry bodies, eg. PSA website. Work with Coventry CC Employer hub and postings on LinkedIn and other social media channels as well as the main job portals such as Indeed and Monster.

To support an inclusive workforce we have clear flexible options including working from home and flexible hours with the individual responsible for the outcome, how they get there is up to them.

We have mandated that all vacant off-stage roles in all departments must be advertised, except in those seasonal roles where the most recent incumbent has been invited to return. Advertisements will usually be placed in over 15 different outlets to ensure they might be seen by the broadest range of applicants.

We have taken general positive action by re-writing our recruitment materials to broaden their appeal and reviewing person specifications to ensure that only truly essential qualities are listed as such.

We have partnered with Creative Access to assist in recruiting candidates for paid training positions within our organisation.

We’ve recently introduced Producer & Technical Theatre strands to our early professional development programme, Northcott Futures – info on our website at https://www.exeternorthcott.co.uk/get-creative/northcott-futures/

We’ve recently started creating digital shorts introducing our general audience to people working in off-stage roles within our organisation, and explaining what these ‘invisible’ roles involve – the plan is to produce more of these during 2021, and to work with schools/colleges to highlight career paths within the sector

We’ve recently overhauled our recruitment processes as part of our involvement in the Weston Jerwood Creative Fellowship scheme. We are also working now with Creative Access on recruitment for off-stage roles – info about latest recruitment at https://www.exeternorthcott.co.uk/get-creative/work-with-us/

Get It Done Production Management: A training and career development programme for aspiring Production Managers in Bradford with a consciously diverse cohort: https://bdproducinghub.co.uk/production-manager-training/

All BPH work responds to the challenge of improving the visibility of off stage roles to those outside of the industry. We are a live arts development project which aims to support the growth of the local sector across all live arts roles and disciplines. We have a core focus on diversifying the workforce and leadership, ensuring that arts jobs of all kinds are seen as viable, attractive career options for people of all ages from all backgrounds.

Creativity Council: Decision making panel of representatives from across Bradford, devolving our power:

The Creativity Council includes people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. A bit like a committee or a steering group, they:

Imagine how live performance and creativity can make Bradford a better place to live and work.
Create new ideas and talk about how these could work.
Help the project think about all the different communities in Bradford and what they want and need.
Talk about how things are going, what we should be doing more of, and what we should do differently.
Review applications for training and funding, and help select what the project should support

https://bdproducinghub.co.uk/creativity-council/

Make Work: Bradford Producing Hub’s R&D and Grants opportunities for the creation of new work. Changing the ways people apply for commissions and grants, removing barriers to access and being firmly ideas lead – our next round will have a focus on Black and/or Disabled creative teams.

https://bdproducinghub.co.uk/make-work/

Culture 101 – a training programme in arts administration and management for ethnically diverse women in or connected to Bradford.

Bradford Producing Hub (BPH) in partnership with Cultural Ecology Project (CEP) are delighted to launch Culture 101,  a 6-month arts administration and management training programme of masterclasses, mentoring and work experience for 15 Bradford-based women from ethnically diverse backgrounds who want to work in the creative industries. 

There is a big disparity in the people of Bradford and the artistic output, cultural leadership, existing skills set and arts engagement. And in the current pandemic induced environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for emerging and established practitioners to maintain a sustainable career.  We want to change that! 

https://bdproducinghub.co.uk/culture-101/

This autumn we are hosting our first technical apprentice, in collaboration with Manchester International Festival and the Factory Academy. This is with the hope of offering further apprenticeships in future.

We are also applying to the government’s Kickstart programme, to provide up to 3 off stage job roles across the organisation in 2021, including one role within the production department.

In October we are holding a week long course for young people aged 16-25 from Greater Manchester in collaboration with the Princes Trust, to learn more about careers in theatre.

We will also be holding workshops on theatre careers for local young people via our Academy group and with local schools.

Once our building has reopened and social distancing has been reduced, we will also be able to offer backstage tours to school groups, to help raise the visibility of off stage roles.

We have started a podcast to make careers in theatre more accessible. Over the summer we held a zoom Q&A panel about backstage careers in theatre for young people, with panelists including sound designer Tony Gayle, lighting designer Jane Lalljee, set and costume designer TK Hay and the Octagon’s chief electrician Kay Buckley. We have a recording of this discussion and will share it during the second season of our podcast.

We are looking to offer more varied ways for candidates to apply for roles e.g. the option of a video entry instead of written entry, as well as some open ‘taster’ days. We successfully offered the option of video entry applications for our recent trustee recruitment, and would like to expand this flexibility more widely.

TripleC’s Disabled Artists Network Community activity includes masterclasses and training opportunities. Each session focuses on a different area.

Booking is via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/triplec-creative-confidence-collective-16752850772

Please email Katy.TripleC@gmail.com (Katy Boulton, Strategic Development Manager) for further information. To join DANC please email TripleCManchester@gmail.com.

TripleC work in education and in the community. Our education programme delivers workshops in the education and youth work sector, supporting curriculum enrichment and youth development.

Our community arts programme facilitates workshops that integrate disabled people and other socially excluded groups, in partnership with local arts agencies. Both strands aim to offer role models to disabled people through drama inspiring a new generation of disabled artists to join our networking community.

Our network partners open up new opportunities to disabled artists so that more young disabled people get to see positive role models and go on to take up leading roles in the arts and beyond.

Please email Katy.TripleC@gmail.com (Katy Boulton, Strategic Development Manager) for further information. To join DANC please email TripleCManchester@gmail.com.

TripleC runs the Disabled Artists Networking Community (DANC) which aims to link disabled artists and disabled people working in the arts (across all career levels) to decision makers and gatekeepers. We run a variety of DANC webinars and masterclasses which are free to attend. Each webinar focuses on a different area.

Booking is via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/triplec-creative-confidence-collective-16752850772

TripleC also convenes regular roundtable events around a range of subjects relating to disability and the arts as well as an Access, Awareness and Attitudes training.

Please email Katy.TripleC@gmail.com (Katy Boulton, Strategic Development Manager) for further information.

To join DANC please email TripleCManchester@gmail.com.

We are in the process of setting up a bursary that people studying/training for any roles in the business other than acting may apply for.

We are planning school visits, with clients, to talk about the range of jobs available and information about how to train for and access them.

We are dedicated to supporting Production Managers and further diversifying the Technical and Production managers throughout the theatre and live events industry.

We have just appointed a committee member to develop our links and projects working alongside the educational sector. We also run a dedicated mentoring program which supports early stage PM’s and also those currently in education.

We are working on establishing drama (training) pathways for on and offstage in Scotland that will be fully inclusive. As part of that vision we are looking at working with others to encourage more placements and employment opportunities on and offstage. It’s a big vision but one we are committed to.

The first stage of this initiative is called Springboard and will be a mapping project to determine what drama provision exists in Scotland for those with disabilities.

We work with (young) adults who have different abilities and encourage them in their potential. We are currently mentoring a young Assistant Director on a production for 2021.

We run a number of apprentice schemes including Sound and LX, Scenic Workshop over the last 4 years.

We have an MOU with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to develop training opportunities in line with our in house skills. This feeds into our capital redevelopment as we develop our training opportunities for theatre makers of the future.

We run a whole scheme named TYFU (GROW in Welsh) offering opportunities for company and writing residencies right through to work experience.

We always say yes to those who approach for advice and shadowing opportunities.

We regularly tell the story of individual team members and their work around our building, via brochures, programmes and mail outs. More often than not this focuses on our world class back stage and making teams. We are in the midst of our micro bursaries for freelancers and due to the amount of applications we have decided to run a fundraising campaign sprint to raise money for more bursaries. This will put forward individuals stories and explain their involvement in our work to the public. We are heavily involved in North Wales business and industry partnership work to heighten awareness of our varied skills needed within our business delivery.

We have formed an Anti-Racism working group with key freelancers and core company members to drive change in key areas and to hold the Executive team and Board to account on change and improvement.

This includes:

1. Board Recruitment and representation

2. Freelance Recruitment and Representation

3. Core company recruitment and representation

4. Programming and the stories we showcase in our building

5. Representative work within our communities in North Wales

We run a workshop program called Technique, this is a set of short training sessions that people can attend to get an over view of technical skills and roles.

We have set up a task force to examine our recruitment practices and make them more accessible. Focusing on local, community and diversity.

We have developed a new relationship with a local college and are hoping to recruit some apprentices within the technical and stage management departments.

Pre covid, we offered back stage tours and a chance to chat with our off stage teams. Lighting technicians, stage manager and production staff have all been involved in the tours. We also offer school work experience schemes within production and these have proven hugely popular with those wanting to learn more about roles within the industry. Feedback has been great from those who attended, many of which say they never had any idea of the amount of off stage jobs involved in staging a production.

In the last 12 months we pledged to advertise all roles on our website in order to widen our recruitment practices and reach more people within the industry.

We recently developed and launched a Positive Action Policy and Action Plan, more information can be found here – https://www.boxoftrickstheatre.co.uk/positive-action/

Since we were founded during the Corona virus we have offered multiple free training courses and seminars with industry professionals. We also partner with manufacturers to host online training. The project will always be either FOC or affordable so as to not exclude anyone from attending the training

We use our social media presence to highlight those already working in the industry, to show our followers the skills and knowledge of those already in the industry.

We have a Pathways scheme, which is led by our Head of Participation, which involves bringing young people from across London to our building to work with practitioners to learn about careers in theatre. They also have an opportunity to meet with Donmar staff from each department, to learn about off stage/behind the scenes roles that people can often be unaware of.

RTYDS exists to provide alternative pathways into theatre for directors and theatre makers who are presently under-represented in the industry. We run focus groups so that we can feed in the expertise and insights of the artists our schemes are aimed at and have a Board made up predominately of artists. As a sector support organisation funded by ACE one of our core roles is to disseminate good practice, look to develop training opportunities that nurture and reflect contemporary society.

RTYDS specifically provides opportunities for directors and theatre makers who live and make work outside of London and are under-represented in theatre due to barriers arising from race, geographical location, caring responsibilities, sexuality, class and who identify as disabled. Our recruitment practices reflect this aim and are therefore open access and we undertake to meet everyone who applies to one of our schemes. All recruitment panels are specifically representative in terms of race and gender and disability. We provide good practice guidance to all the theatres and theatre companies we work with.

We work with schools and theatres to develop work experience frameworks. We are exploring training offers for freelancers in our network, and are exploring what Theatre Centre could offer along the lines of Associate roles (training for more senior roles).

We are working with schools and in other settings to look at raising the profile and understanding of off-stage roles with CYP, parents and teachers; supporting drama (and other) teachers with resources covering a wide range of roles and incorporating this info into our schools resources. We are developing a section of our website to profile offstage roles using our creative teams, and amplifying other resources available.

We are reviewing all Job Packs, Job and Person Specs and recruitment processes to ensure accessibility, including language and criteria used from the perspective of a young person looking to enter or progress in the industry; networks and channels for promotion; shortlisting and interviewing processes.

• We will work to ensure that Black people working at Fuel can see progression pathways through our organisation to more senior roles as well as pathways into other organisations.

• We will work with funders and partners to create new models for new roles within our team, which we pledge to recruit for as soon as resources allow.

• We will continue to work with partners to create opportunities for paid internships and work experience for those currently under-represented in the arts sector (particularly off stage), including young Black people.

• We will hold unconscious bias training regularly (minimum of annually)and include it in our induction processes.

Contact: Ines Tercio, Executive Director – ines@fueltheatre.com

https://fueltheatre.com/antiracismpledge/

• Since 2018 we have hosted 4 interns as part of the Creative Careers Academy (CCA) run by Somerset House. CCA offers paid work placements to people aged 18-25. The intention is to bring new talent into creative organisations and to offer participants credible experience and valuable insight into what makes creative organisations tick (https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/creative-careers-academy )

• We are holding regular meetings with our community of freelancers (who work on and off stage) focused on addressing racial injustice in our work and the wider sector. We will continue to hold this space and support the work that they are initiating in this area, in particular endorsing and acting on the recommendations in their Manifesto to Create a Safe Space, Free of Racism, for the Black Artist.

• This work will include working with this community of freelancers and staff to create a more actively transparent and visible process for anyone working with us to raise experiences of structural racism, discrimination, micro-aggressions, and injustice. This ‘justice system’ will build upon existing grievance procedures but go further and deeper to address their failings.

• We will share learning from our experience of touring shows led by Black artists/companies/off stage team with our current team to ensure that everyone working at Fuel has access to and understanding of what we have learned in the past, and with other touring companies, so that we can act together against the racism which Black theatre makers regularly experience on tour in the UK. This work will include creating an Anti-Racism Tour Rider with freelancers and other touring companies.

• We will use influence where we have it in the sector to push for greater representation and transparency.

• We will develop, adopt, and advocate for improved categorisations in quantitative data gathering around ethnicity, as well as improving methodologies around the capture and sharing of quantitative data.

• We are working towards the creation of a peer review group with other producing/touring companies to work together to make a greater and faster change in our sector collectively than we can achieve on our own.

• We will actively challenge racist bias in media and from theatre critics.

• We will use our influence, where we have it, to contribute to dismantling structural inequalities, and to de-colonising buildings, programmes and the curriculum.

• We will continue to actively listen to Black board members, staff and artists’ insights into how we can contribute to anti-racism, and to white staff and artists about self-education and active anti-racist ally-ship, and monitor our progress both quantitatively and qualitatively, measuring culture change as well as statistical representation

Contact: Kate McGrath, Director – director@fueltheatre.com https://fueltheatre.com/antiracismpledge/

We offer coaching and mentoring opportunities to individuals.

As we develop work, we share our theatre practices, and people, with participants and audiences, in order to demystify theatre processes, support ethnically diverse role models, and encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds to see potential roles and employment in the industry. This is built into our working practices.

We engage in sector research and awareness raising to highlight the need for diversity across the industry – in all roles, at all levels. We work with organisations to support them to change practice.

We run short mentorship programs ie. Creative Futures. We also have a Playwrights and Directors program to learn more about craft. We have a Page to Stage program which is program for playwrights. A Creative Hello program for networking and information sharing and a Backstage Pass scheme for students.

We run a mentorship program to build skills levels where there are industry deficits.

Prior to COVID-19 eStage was about to begin trialling a new Production Manager development scheme. The goal of the scheme was to (in the first stages) take people from inside the industry and give them the tools to be a Production Manager through a combination of office-based learning, practical experience, and on-the-job mentoring. We were working with Tiata Fahodzi to identify how we can use this programme to support more diversity in the industry through targeted interventions. We were also in conversation with theatres to provide financial support for the programme to both participants and those providing the training (Contact/Lead – Dan Gosselin, dan.gosselin@estage.net)

eStage is also developing an overarching strategy to support freelancers across the industry better, by implementing new polices for all the shows we work on. These include a pay guide for all producers for staff, a welfare policy to protect freelancers from being overworked, and improving mental health support. This new policy is still in development but we are keen to work with others to shape this as it develops. As a business we see our key asset being our client base, we believe that we are in a unique position to begin to implement better working practices across the smaller and mid-scale industry that allows us to make things better for everyone who works under us.

Previously eStage has also been responsible for the Backstage Professional Development Conference. The conference focused on providing professional development and continued learning at all stages of backstage work. We wanted to make the conference an opportunity for professionals of all experience levels and skills to come together, share knowledge and discover new thing while making contacts and even friends. We hope to be able to bring this conference back when funding permits. (Contact/Lead – Dan Gosselin, dan.gosselin@estage.net)

eStage works hard to improve the visibility of roles and works closely with the PMF to promote production management. We are currently looking to develop partnerships with London based schools and other organisations to try and discuss the role of production Managers and backstage staff to students when training and to show that there are opportunities beyond being onstage and that they are sustainable careers.

(Contact/Lead – Dan Gosselin, dan.gosselin@estage.net)

eStage also supports OffWestEnd by providing their website, alongside sponsoring and running the Offies for them.

eStage does not have any employees directly, however as a collective and as an organisation who works and selects employees for productions we are committed to improving the representation of our freelancers and working with producers to support this.

We have many plans in the pipeline we are planning to announce in the future which will include:

1) Improving our diversity monitoring of the freelancers we work with.

2) Undertaking targeting recruitment activity to increase the diversity of our freelancer database

3) Asking those who work with us to try and offer the employment opportunities to a wider range of staff rather than consistently using similar groups.

SBTD launched the website in June 2020 to mark the start of a re-structuring process that will focus our intentions going forward into being a fully representative, accessible and inclusive organisation. To date, the following Working groups have been established to explore, develop new learning and training experiences through discussions, talks, blogs and so on in the following groups:

– Access and Aesthetics

– Designers Taking the Lead

– Education

– Mentoring

– New Collaborations

– Publications

– Sustainable Design

To find out more, click on the Working Group on this webpage http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/about-us/

In advance of the Staging Places exhibition at PQ2019 and the V&A, SBTD established a network of seven hubs known as ‘Regional Hearts’ across the UK each led by a designer and supported by a venue along with an HE institution to run a series of workshops or ‘SOUP for designers to connect and share knowledge. Each Regional Heart organised a SOUP event, an informal gathering that reached out to the widest of practitioners in each region including carnival groups in cities like Leeds for example where designer David Shearing is working with Leeds Playhouse and Joslin McKinney from University of Leeds http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/regional-hearts/leeds/

The upcoming Staging Places residency at the National Centre for Craft and Design (NCCD) will be supported by a physical and digital programme of professional development and education projects with the Regional Heart: East Midlands. https://nccd.org.uk/exhibitions/staging-places

The Society of British Theatre Designers actively promotes, creates awareness of the off-stage role of the Set and Costume Designer through exhibitions, Roundtable events, workshops (including online) and mentoring schemes to open discussions, be more visible and actively engage those within the industry and with those outside.

As a registered charity, we have a responsibility to share and celebrate our work with the public. We do this via our exhibitions which take place every four years to coincide with the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space.

Staging Places, our most recent exhibition, celebrates the diversity of performance designs made locally, nationally and internationally by designers based throughout the UK across a wide range of spaces and genres. It shares behind-the-scenes processes via set models, costumes, props, photos, drawings and videos and acknowledges the impact of designers’ work on a wider sense of place-making and community. During this residency at the V&A, SBTD ran a series of Roundtable events to hear from a diverse range of practitioners across the sector, gauging interest in key topics in order to restructure the organisation from ‘the ground up’ to inform how we move forward with an increased sense of collective ownership.

With this, SBTD has implemented an Equal Opportunities survey to gauge the demographic of designers we were reaching. There were six free bursaries offered in order to remove this barrier to participate due to lack of income. Designers were able to choose to make their whole submission by video or audio if they wished in the event writing was a barrier in making a submission.

Staging Places represented the UK at PQ2019 before returning to take up residency at the V&A, London from July 2019 – March 2020. It will start a further residency at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford, Lincolnshire from 19 Sep 2020 – 10 Jan 2021.

An example of our practice to implement representation can also be found on our ‘Accessibility and Aesthetics’ page were audio recording and transcription is available on the website http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/working-groups/accessibility-inclusive-aesthetics/

Furthermore, SBTD is developing our Mentoring Working Group as a network for designers to encourage connectivity, communication and community between the generations. It is for both artistic and career development and to foster a culture of knowledge sharing by providing a structured, sustained framework. This autumn, there will be a series of one-off sessions titled ‘Coffee on the King’s Road’ throughout September for the opportunity to hear journeys by a wide range of Designers then there is an opportunity to join a longer programme with several one-to-one mentoring sessions. All Mentors are members of SBTD, experienced and professional designers who are supportive, broadminded and constructive with a range of experience between them. For further information on the Mentoring Working Group visit http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/working-groups/mentoring-group/

The Society of British Theatre Designers actively welcomes members as well as recruits’ members of the Committee to be more inclusive, reflective and representative of our audiences and society.

Fiona Watt – Chair of The Society of British Theatre Designers admin@theatredesign.org.uk

We offer a rolling 6-month paid production internship based here in our company’s office. Please visit http://playfuluk.com/recruitment to download the job description. There is no fixed application period and submissions are always welcome. However we will usually aim to recruit 1-2 months prior to the start of the internship. If you would like to apply, please send a covering letter and your CV to Janet Powell at aboutus@playfuluk.com with the subject line ‘INTERNSHIP APPLICATION’.

Playful staff have provided talks and information sessions on backstage and off stage roles for organisations including Arts Emergency, Stage One and local school and university groups through Inspiring Future Theatre, in addition to giving presentations at TheatreCraft. If you feel your organisation could benefit from something similar, please email aboutus@playfuluk.com

Playful are committed to advertising vacancies for off stage roles more widely and in locations which are not ‘pay to view’ to improve accessibility.

Vacancies are advertised at http://playfuluk.com/recruitment

If you would like more information about a vacancy, please email joinus@playfuluk.com

We are planning summer and short courses in technical theatre for young people.

We are planning regional workshops in technical theatre for young people from under-represented backgrounds, to take place in Spring 2021.

We are reviewing and diversifying recruitment practices for all freelance creative and production staff posts.

We have recently validated our Foundation Course in Scenic Construction https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/study/courses/foundation-degree-scenic-construction which has been developed in response to the acute shortage of suitably qualified entry-level technicians to work in the rapidly expanding stage and screen industries in Wales and beyond.

We have joined ‘Inspiring the Future’ https://www.inspiringthefuture.org and are going to be encouraging staff to do the same – staff also give self initiated talks to local schools/ Brit Schools. We attend many careers fairs across the UK such as Theatre Craft and Daz ABTT, often attending with students. We have hosted the Creative Pathways Careers event at the college the last two years. We recruit students across drama from Open Door https://www.opendoor.org.uk/london-backstage-applications- over the last two years 5% of our students in Design have come through this scheme.

We provide opportunities for students by way of our extensive liaison with Guildhall Live Events (part of curriculum activity for some students, with opportunities for other students to work on specific projects). GLE undertakes digital/innovatory projects with external partners, including commercial organisations (see https://liveevents.gsmd.ac.uk/). For example, projects include Beasts of London (a fully immersive digital installation in partnership with Museum of London), Light Odyssey (part of Blackpool’s 2018 Lightpool Festival), and Tower Bridge Blackout (video projection and sound installation for the Bascule Chamber, Tower Bridge, London).

We are developing greater use of and sophistication in live streaming of performances, and extending the archive of Guildhall performances available online (see https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/weareguildhall/). These include digital/online projects along with a wider range of live performances that showcase the work of students involved in offstage roles.

We are establishing a BAME Advisory Group to help us consider our recruitment practices, and will do more work on this as a key activity over the 2020/21 academic year.

Getting Ready to Roar: Watch the video
Join the Crew: Watch the video

10 episodes of behind the scenes at The Lion King are freely available at https://www.lionkingeducation.co.uk/video-hub

We offer career insight events with members of our production teams at venues on our Lion King tour.

We will be offering one year paid traineeships in area of Sale&Ticketing, Marketing and Production from June 2021

Chiara Lari interviews the team backstage at Disney productions in automation, production and technical management, Lighting, sound, mask and puppets, costume, makeup and wigs  and more. Chiara finds out how they got to where they are today as well their tips for those looking for a career backstage and finding out about a few mystery objects along the way!

The podcast can be found here: 

https://open.spotify.com/show/1l4qKy0o33W6Vwo23tueAs?si=9vAWSwZcSoWjaIhK5DbpLg

Rehearsing ANNA at Mulberry University Technical College, East London to inform communities linked to Mulberry UTC about the range and viability of careers in theatre

Mulberry UTC is a new University Technical College in Bow, East London, specialising in health and social care and performing and production arts. The National Theatre is an Industry Partner of the UTC. The local community know about the career paths available in health and social care, but they are far less aware of the creative sector as a viable employment prospect. Mulberry UTC has been looking for ways they can use their newly built theatre to raise awareness of the types of careers available in the creative arts sector. This would hopefully encourage applicants to that strand of the UTC. Due to the importance of its sound design, ANNA needed to be rehearsed on the full set, with the sound being included from the start of rehearsals. No rehearsal space was available at the National Theatre which would enable this. It was therefore agreed that the NT would rehearse ANNA in Mulberry’s theatre. In addition to rehearsing on site at Mulberry, the NT also delivered six workshops to UTC students. The first workshop – ‘What are We Doing Here?’ – was an introduction to why the NT was rehearsing in their building and what we would be doing in the rehearsal room. The subsequent workshops focused on specific areas of backstage work and the different types of jobs available for people in those areas. The ANNA Sound Designers delivered a workshop on Foley sound and the production’s Director hosted a Q&A about directing. Workshops delivered by NT staff included a costume workshop, and a wigs and blood workshop, which looked at how make-up need not only be about beauty and weddings. The NT’s Head of Company Management and Director of Technical and Production also attended an open evening and spoke to parents and prospective students.

How many project participants were there?

Each workshop was delivered to 15–20 students of Mulberry. Students also attended a run through of the show. Once the show opened at the NT, some students and teachers also came to a performance in the Dorfman Theatre.

What resources did you require to deliver this project? 

Time was the biggest resource deployed, mostly given to planning the whole project and to the delivery of the workshops. For the rehearsal room: risk assessments were developed, including safeguarding risk assessments, which enabled NT staff and actors to be on a school site. Control measures included enhanced DBS certification for core staff and restricting some areas of the school to rehearsal personnel only. Non-DBS checked staff were briefed about the control measures, including strict signing-in procedures and a buddy system, that meant they could attend rehearsals, costume fittings and production meetings only when accompanied by DBS certificated staff. Colour-coded lanyards were used so that DBS certificated staff were easily identifiable. For the workshops: the biggest resources were people’s time and effort, plus relevant kit, such as sound equipment, blood bags and costumes to display.

What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge was all the safeguarding work that needed to be done beforehand. We also needed to find the balance between maintaining an efficient and productive rehearsal room, whilst enabling the rest of the project to happen. At the start of the project, there was great enthusiasm from everyone involved, but as the realities of the rehearsal process started to bite, people needed to be reminded that they had signed up to the whole package, and why it was important that we fulfilled our commitments.

What impact has the project had? How could it bring about long term change?

Mulberry UTC staff said: The impact of having the National Theatre rehearsing here was extremely positive. Having a professional theatre company rehearsing here created a buzz around the building and the students were really intrigued by what was going on. In terms of our student recruitment it had a very positive impact. Several of our current year 12 students came to the open evening when the NT was in residence and cited the NT being so closely connected to the school as a reason for applying.

Here are some quotes from the students:

• We got to know about jobs that we wouldn’t normally hear or know about, like all the people who make the costumes, the work of the wardrobe teams and the people who dye fabrics.

• It was interesting to see the designs on the mood boards and how they were translated into the final pieces.

• It was interesting to listen to the Head of Costume and how she got to be in that job and it made me think that there isn’t a typical route into working in theatre. It showed us that we have lots of options.

• It was interesting and fun – we were able to apply what we learned about blood effects on stage to our sci-fi unit in Media Studies.

What advice would you give to others wanting to embark on a similar project?

In the planning stages of a project like this, there must be open discussions involving all stakeholders, where people are free to say what they really think, so that they can be reassured, or genuine solutions found to their issues. The planning at all stages needs to be meticulous and detailed, with the safeguarding of the young people as a priority. It’s important that the entire production team, including the creative team and the actors, trust in the value of the project – their eagerness to participate is vital to its success. Everyone must understand and be committed to the idea that this is a single package: rehearsal plus workshops, not one or the other.

Have reduced audition fee by over 75% to £12 – making the application process for all courses more accessible. Those who we reach through our Outreach work are eligible for full application fee waivers.

Currently looking to work with organisations that work with young people showing an interest in technical theatre. Outreach@lamda.ac.uk

For more information contact Outreach@lamda.ac.uk

In the Autumn of 2020 the School for Wise Children will run a course introducing the Production Departments. 50% of places on the course will be free. We will work with our theatrical and charity partners to ensure a diverse range of participants. To ensure inclusivity the School for Wise Children offers additional financial and pastoral support to applicants.

Our School for Wise Children has a Production Course coming up in the autumn. The School is committed to inclusivity and offers at least 50% of the places on each course for free. We will continue to work with our partners, including Clean Break, Cardboard Citizens and the Creative Youth Network, who refer applicants to us and help us recruit diversely.

Our last course in the summer of 2019 had a wonderful, and diverse, group of students recruited from partners in London and Bristol. Over the three week course they were given an in-depth introduction to creating ensemble musical theatre, including workshops on props and design.

We are keen for our audience to understand the breadth of expertise that goes into creating one of our shows. Wise Children’s podcast, hosted by our Artistic Director Emma Rice, explains every step in the process of creating theatre. This includes interviews with stage management, the designers and the Production Manager. We also feature interviews with our Production team in our programmes.

Our presentation for the Sound Trainee role was very successful and we’re planning more free talks introducing the technical departments. These will feed into future Traineeships and our Production Course.

Wise Children are dedicated to diversifying our workforce. The School for Wise Children is our training and outreach branch. The School is running a programme of paid Traineeships to allow those who can’t afford traditional training to gain invaluable experience working on one of our shows.

To find our Sound Trainee on Romantics Anonymous we recruited from local technical colleges and sound courses run by local charities, including Knowle Media Centre. We used our connections in local diversity charities to spread the word. To make the opportunity as accessible as possible we then held a free presentation, delivered by Sound Designer Simon Baker, so those with little or no experience of theatrical sound could understand the role and decide whether to apply.

We will be challenging each course leader or head of department who regularly engages visiting lecturers or professionals, to engage at least one new person from an underrepresented group within the next 12 months.

We will be developing and delivering three new staff development activities around accessible front of house, unconscious bias and boundaries and consent.

We will be piloting and developing three types of accessible performance (Audio Captioning/ BSL Signed/ Relaxed Performances) during the next twelve months as well as well as exploring the aesthetics of access through new dramaturgies, sharing the knowledge and generating resources. For this pilot, course and production budgets will initially be supplemented by an additional £5,000 ‘catalyst’ budget.

In Spring 2020, the Unicorn is excited to host a 15 week, part-time, paid placement in the Wardrobe Department, generously funded by the Drapers’ Company.

The Drapers’ Company Costume Placement allows someone under 25, and from a background typically under-represented in the theatre sector, to learn about all areas of theatre costume. They’ll see professional productions develop from beginning to end, working with Designers and Directors, and being developed and supported by one of the strongest Technical teams around.

In terms of recruitment, we organise outreach programmes to women’s centres, probation services and prisons, through which we connect with individuals who could benefit from our services. They then make initial contact (sometimes via a key worker) and come in for a visit of our building, a meeting with the Support Team and eventually an assessment during which their individual circumstances and needs and aspirations are taken into consideration.

Through our Young Artists Development Programme, we are providing women between 17-30 with experience in theatre-making, industry structures within the arts, production experience and mentoring opportunities, which result in the participants’ pursuit of independent careers in the arts. In addition, our Members’ programme offers training across various drama-based disciplines, which result in our Members (women with lived experience of the criminal justice system, or at risk of offending due to substance misuse or mental ill health) obtaining work and volunteering opportunities within the theatre sector.

A free business support and mentoring programme from the Mercury Theatre for small to medium enterprises, freelancers or self-employed artists working in the creative industries and associated to the performing arts across Essex, East Sussex and Kent. Programme includes mentoring, development events and access to the theatre’s facilities.

For more information, please contact Elodie Gilbert – Project Coordinator, Mercury Creatives

The RSC runs technical apprenticeship schemes in Automation, Sound, Scenery Construction, and Prop Making. We try and recruit individuals that haven’t taken the university route to enable more candidates from under-represented backgrounds to apply. We ask for them to have an interest in one of our technical areas rather than any formal qualification.

Recruitment is done via an assessment centre so we can see a range of skills that the candidates have, rather than just an ability to answer questions.

The apprenticeship schemes range from 18 months to 4 years and during the time that the apprentices are with us they are given the widest possible experience of theatre. This means that they are able to shadow other RSC technical departments and have a placement to another creative organisation. They are also able to take advantage of internal and external training provided by the RSC.

Equity commits to help share good practice emanating from the work of Stage Sight. When we host events we will consider how and whether a Stage Sight element is relevant, and we will look to raise the profile of the Stage Sight initiative where appropriate, for example through Equity’s magazine.

Equity shall support positive collaboration between Stage Sight and the union’s Stage Management and Directors and Designers Committees.

Equity seeks, for example in relation to pay, to help consolidate any commitment into a binding collective agreement, thus ensuring long-term positive impact of commitments in improving terms and conditions of employment of those employed off-stage across the live performance sector.

Equity commits to work in collaboration with Stage Sight, and partner organisations, to support the assessment of commitments given, and ensure that these can be translated into effective working practice in live performance spaces. We will achieve this by identifying organisations which may be willing to become StageSight supporters and work collaboratively with them to (a) agree on commitments and (b) a timescale to implement these.

tiata fahodzi documents both our internal and external activity across all our digital platforms to demystify the production process and developing understanding about what it means to be – and work for – a theatre company. Our team are encouraged to write blogs about their jobs, what a day in their role looks like and the things they’ve learnt.

http://www.tiatafahodzi.com/blog/

For more information, please contact Natalie Ibu

tiata fahodzi has a dedicated budget line in core budgets to provide a learning and training experience on every production in produces. This sits outside of our production budgets to ensure its a priority irrespective of the producing partners or financial journey of the production. The budget line allows us to respond strategically and make an intervention to the specific absence of that moment.

For more information, please contact Natalie Ibu.

tiata fahodzi initiated and produced a photo library of stock photos featuring people of colour in technical roles because if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. The image library – created with The Stage and in association with Watford Palace Theatre – has 207 photos free for use.

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/tiata-fahodzi-and-the-stage-launch-backstage-photo-library-featuring-people-of-colour/

For more information, please contact Natalie Ibu.

We actively work with specialist recruitment organisations such as Creative Access to encourage and nurture people of colour into the sector. We are keen to recruit the skills and personnel we need from outside of theatre sector in order to make sure that our work reaches those its made for, so will often engage with consultants and networks outside of the traditional arts recruitment routes. Our job packs aim to be open and inclusive and we aim to remove all theatre jargon using clear and straight forward language. For example, when recruiting for our digital content producer – we focussed on storytelling rather than the word theatre.

For more information, please contact Natalie Ibu.

We work in the most deprived areas of Derby giving young people the chance to develop new work, covering all roles in theatre-making.

https://www.derbytheatre.co.uk/derby-reimagine

For more information please contact Caroline Barth

A year-long course run by our professional technicians, that looks at all aspects of the technical side of theatre including lighting, sound and design. For 11 – 18 year olds.

https://www.derbytheatre.co.uk/young-technicians-0

For more information please contact Caroline Barth.

Undergraduate degrees in Technical Theatre and Costume and Set Design based in a professional producing theatre. Led by University of Derby and integrated into the professional process of the theatre.

For more information please contact Caroline Barth

Careers Days for young people to work with all departments in the theatre

For more information, please contact Caroline Barth

Theatre Unwrapped invites the public in to help with the production process as we prepare for produced shows e.g. rigging lights, coming to the get-in etc. https://www.derbytheatre.co.uk/whatson/get-involved

For more information, please contact Caroline Barth

We are developing the following recruitment initiatives: accessible applications using BSL, questions written out in the interview room for candidates, and a positive action policy.

For more information, please contact Jenny Langlands

We are continually opening up areas at the RSC where students can spend their placement period, shadowing and observing theatre, day to day. These areas include Lighting, Voice, Stage Management & Costume.

Please contact Deborah Pendleton for more information

We are working with CC Skills, venues and our Associate schools to provide careers fairs that are interactive, interesting & show the range of careers that are off stage.

Please contact Deborah Pendleton for more information.

We are moving away from solely using interview questions to test a candidate’s ability to do the role. We have started to use assessment centres in some areas so candidates can also demonstrate their practical and team working skills.

Please contact Rachel Lloyd for more information.

We are planning to recruit our first Technical Theatre apprenticeship (Creative Venue Technician – Level 3) in Autumn 2019.

For further details contact: Tracey Wainwright, Head of HR & General Management

Alongside our Youth Theatre show we create a young company who shadow in-house professionals to deliver aspects of the production such as marketing (including contribution to social media channels), theatre design, stage management, operating lighting and sound.

For further details contact: Lynn Parry, Education Project & Administration Manager

We support and encourage staff and freelancers in offstage positions to talk about their roles in careers advice session with potential new entrants. This includes our Education Department run ‘Meet the Experts’.

For further details contact: Lynn Parry, Education Project & Administration Manager

We offer careers days through our Borderlines & Education Department where we invite schools and groups from marginalised communities to find out more about working in the theatre industry. The day includes a theatre tour and a presentation about working in the theatre. Also, staff from a range of departments meet with the group for an informal conversation about their role and what their department does as well as offer advice about potential career routes into their area.

Our Education team regularly attend careers events hosted at local schools across the region.

For further details contact: Rachel Reddihough, Borderlines Project & Technical Manager or Lynn Parry, Education and Project and Administration Manager

Our next open day is planned for 14th September 2019.

Self-guided tours of the venue will take in all areas of the theatre, including set and costume workshops, rehearsal spaces, lighting/sound box, foyers, rehearsal rooms, costume and props store, auditorium and backstage areas. In each area, visitors will have opportunities to talk to staff working in those department. This year’s open day includes open rehearsals to our Christmas production, participatory events and workshops with as well as demonstrations from production-making departments. There are opportunities to find out more and sign up to our Front of House Volunteer programme.

For further details contact: Kay Wilson, Marketing Officer

We offer open backstage tours to the public and local education settings. These cover all areas of the theatre including our props, costume and set workshops and we hope to include access to technical rehearsals when possible.

For further details contact: Lynn Parry, Education Project & Administration Manager

We are working with the RSC on a pilot of their Backstage pass programme to offer work experience to primary aged school children. Over the week, students are placed across a range of departments including Marketing, Stage Management, Technical and Front of House to support a performance piece by RSC actors and director as well as shadowing members of the in house team.

Scheduled to take place in March 2020.

For further details contact Jill Rezzano, Head of Education

Through REP Foundry we are proud to identify, nurture and develop new stories, new voices and new artists from the West Midlands. Now in its sixth year, our award-winning development programme offers year round support to writers, theatre makers and directors. They receive mentorship, have access to the staff and resources of The REP and have budgets to make, share and test work.

We are fundraising to begin our first technical youth theatre in early 2020, providing monthly sessions exploring backstage disciplines including stage management, lighting, sound and set design so that participants can then assist with the delivery of Young REP productions, gaining practical experience working with professional teams to then choose a specialism. Our hope is that some will then access apprenticeships and make a career in technical theatre.

Partnerships with Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme (RTYDS) to create Introduction to Directing courses for d/Deaf & Disabled Directors.

https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/news/ramps-on-the-moon-directors-weekend.html

We are a Ramps on the Moon partner and run artist development programmes for d/Deaf and Disabled creatives, most recently offering four Directors paid associateships at The REP. More info here: https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/news/meet-our-ramps-on-the-moon-directors.html

We have recruited two apprentices in backstage positions (one in Stage Management and the other in the Stage Department) with the hope of recruiting a third apprentice in the Wardrobe department as soon as the apprenticeship becomes live. The apprenticeships will last 18 months starting in September 2019. When recruiting for apprentices we see everyone who applies who lives locally and try to advertise on other recruitment sites such as Indeed which are not just focused on arts recruitment.

Before starting recruitment for our apprenticeships, we host a drop in at our open days so that anyone visiting the building can get more information on back stage roles and how to get into the industry. Additionally we attend the All About Theatre stall at the Big Bang Exhibition held at the NEC. The Big Bang Fair is an annual event where many employers exhibit the different ways in which you can have a career in Science and Technology to schools. We send an array of our technical staff to help on the stall and to talk the different technical careers available in the industry.

We have ongoing relationships with The Hive and Queen Alexandra colleges to support neuro-diverse and physically disabled pupils into work through supported internships.

We support diversity in our workforce. We target employment opportunities to those underrepresented in our workforce. We use community engagement to create employment pathways. Our recruitment processes are based on competence and aptitude. We are targeting recruitment through Birmingham Institute for the Deaf, Focus on Blindness and other disability led organisations. We welcome and celebrate neurodiversity in our workforce.

For our next production and onward we intend to have open recruitment for at least one creative post. We will look to engage emerging talent and support them with a mentor.

Another initiative which we have decided to drive forward at Autograph is around mental health. As a hidden disability, we strongly feel that creating a workplace that is supportive of mental health issues helps us to achieve greater inclusivity.

We have enrolled several of our staff in Mental Health First Aid training due to take place in August 2019 in order to equip more of our staff with the right techniques to recognise and support colleagues who are struggling with mental health. This initiative around mental health is there to reassure not only our staff, but anyone interested in our workplace and industry that mental health should not be seen as a barrier.

We are an ACE NPO specifically geared towards supporting East Asian creatives and professionals. We run up to six workshop/training events a year in partnership with organisations like Young Vic and Southbank etc to raise profile and practice. This year (2019) one will specifically focus on off-stage roles.

We will advertise all off-stage roles on our website and social media and across recruitment sites, as well as the East Asian forum for creatives on Facebook.

For all tech, production and off-stage roles we actively seek East Asian and Chinese cultural heritage people.

Senior Producer: Ruth Holdsworth

• We make sure that any job opportunities are shared via a wide selection of networks who have a broader and more diverse reach than us.
• We have removed a required level of Education, Qualifications and Training from the Person Specification section of Job Descriptions.
• We outline on Job Descriptions that we are happy to discuss solutions that allow people to balance their caring responsibilities with their working lives.
• We remove an applicant’s personal details when shortlisting candidates.
• Assistance with travel costs for interviews is available if required.
• For interviews, we make sure candidates know who they will be meeting and what is expected of them.

ETT Forge is a support network for producers and companies based in the UK with a commitment to touring. Through in kind support, skills workshops, and online resources, ETT Forge is a toolkit that aims to provide the support and building blocks needed to help nurture touring companies and producers and encourage touring in the UK.

ETT have teamed up with MGC Futures to offer a bursary for a trainee Assistant Production Manager. The bursary offers a unique training and mentoring opportunity to gain first-hand experience as Assistant Production Manager on ETT’s upcoming touring production, Reasons to Stay Alive. https://www.mgcfutures.com/

We have created some videos to raise awareness of and improve the visibility of off stage roles the public, and we are engaging with local schools. We have also taken on a Live events apprentice.

We have removed “Essential” and “Desirable” from person specs and replaced them with “Skills and Experience that we regard as highly desirable” and “Skills and Experience that we regard as desirable”.

We recruited apprentices using a workshop format avoiding formal interviews to make them less intimidating.

We highlight welcoming applications from the wider community but we also stress that we welcome applications with people with “caring responsibilities’. Another change that we are going to make for the next job advert is to include a statement about being “religion friendly” to increase the reach of the advert.

National Theatre Young Makers is hands-on, week long course for 14-18 year olds exploring prop and costume making in the summer holidays.  This free programme launched this year and aims to open up the worlds of prop making and costume to young people from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the industry including young people of colour and young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Young Makers will run from 12 – 16 August 2019, with recruitment opening in May.  For more information see www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/young-people.

National Theatre Young Technicians is a completely free training programme for young people aged 14-18 exploring lighting, sound, video and stage. The programme launched in September 2017 and aims to increase diversity within the technical theatre industries by supporting more young people of colour and young women to explore, and access training in these areas.

Young Technicians runs annually from October – March, with recruitment opening in May.  For more information see www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/young-people

We can offer training in personal branding, copywriting and social media for small business. We also have a passionate interest in why visible representation is crucial if we are to encourage diverse workforces in any sector and the kind of strategies people and businesses can adopt to ensure people really feel like they belong somewhere rather than feeling like they have to change themselves to fit in.

We work in PR and content production in the backstage and production business and often document the roles available across all sectors of the business. We are happy to look out for people and businesses that would make good case studies for Stage Sight.

We are committed to employing people based on their skills and knowledge alone. Our intern policy is that we clearly outline the role, the learning opportunities and the time frame. We have an up to date staff handbook and clearly described company policies. All staff members have a job description and a contract. We have a continuous professional development programme. We always pay our interns the national living wage. We are happy to have our recruitment and employment terms scrutinised and documented. We value our staff and we trust them, we know our business is our staff.

• University placements offered where possible, where it forms an accredited part of a University course. Eight placements offered in 2018, ranging from Assistant Director to Lighting Design to Stage Management to Community Assistant.
• Several staff members, particularly junior and casual staff, are engaged in external mentoring – some of those relationships introduced by UK Theatre’s mentoring scheme, and some suggestions from the staff team here.
• Attendance at free / low-cost conferences and events actively encouraged by line managers, eg. Pushing the Boundaries: The Living Legacy of Theatre for Young Audiences, Spektrix / Stagetext Open Day: Developing Your Audience Through Access, Tonic Connects.
• Attendance at peer-to-peer networking sessions encouraged, e.g. London Theatre Consortium working groups, the HR Working Group, STAMP network.
• Shadowing internally and externally is actively encouraged. In the last year, marketing have shadowed Learning, FOH have shadowed the General Manager, Finance have shadowed the BAC Finance Department, Stage Door have shadowed the National Theatre’s Stage Door.
• Ad hoc meetings and interviews set up when people reach out to us e.g. Company Stage Manager recently met two students from Southwark College for an interview about her work here, and someone looking for a career change into Stage Management from hospitality.
• Ad hoc shadowing days set up where possible e.g. in the rehearsal room.

• Several staff members are signed up to Inspiring the Future of Theatre, and participate regularly in schools events and talks
• Regular theatre tours, workshops and post-show Q&As for primary and secondary school groups.
• Two staff members take part in annual BRIT School careers day.
• At least 10 week long work experience placements offered to Year 10 students. Priority is given to students living or working in the borough of Southwark.

• Personal details and referee information removed before applications are handed to the shortlisting panel, to mitigate against unconscious bias.
• Support from staff members linked into social networks that reflect different aspects of diversity in publicising recruitment.
• Option of interview via Skype to save on potential travel costs / time off work.
• Care and attention to wording of job descriptions to encourage applicants from other sectors to apply.
• Bulk order of recruitment postings from Working Mums.
• Recruitment postings with Escape the City, Good People, A New Direction and Disability Arts Online to improve the visibility of the role.
• Careful thought given to the make-up of interview panels, and what signals that may send to candidates meeting us for the first time.
• Reasonable adjustments are asked for in advance, and made. Examples include: sight of the interview questions ahead of time, and a reduction in the number of people on a panel.

We recognise that one of the barriers to having an inclusive and representative workforce is a lack of opportunity and exposure to careers in our industry.

We have begun collaborating with the charity Speakers for Schools who are an organisation working to address educational inequality and improve the career prospects for young people. As part of their S4S:NextGen programme we have begun hosting work experience for secondary school students with our sound designers and engineers on projects we are working on around the country. Our first placement is scheduled for July 2019 and we intend to continue offering placements where possible for all major theatre productions which Autograph is involved in. Also as part of Speakers for Schools, our in-house sound designers have begun giving career talks to state school students around the country with the aim of demystifying the off-stage industry as well as hopefully sparking an interest in careers in sound design and the wider world of theatre.

We are continuing to explore opportunities for partnerships with organisations and schools addressing educational inequality and we hope to provide more young people with opportunities to enter our industry.

We are evolving our recruitment practices to ensure we continue hiring exceptional staff at Autograph. By modifying our current recruitment policy and procedures, revising our job advert template and broadening our areas of advertisement we aim to be more inclusive and open, maximising our potential to recruit talent from a more diverse pool of applicants.

This focuses on entry routes into the sector, creating real world working environment placements to offer insights of the different roles within an operating theatre venue. This includes apprenticeships, short term placements and opportunities which support study.

Contact: Lesley Owusu, HR Manager

This is a two week programme that aims to connect diverse talent to creative and cultural organisations in London. It looks to raise awareness amongst young Londoners, of the cultural offering on their doorstep, connecting them to job and training opportunities in the sector. It also supports organisations access diverse talent for entry-level roles and opportunities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1THGKUwVxQ

Contact: Lesley Owusu, HR Manager

STEP is an innovative access scheme which provides London Living Wage paid jobs alongside industry relevant training and development. The programme promotes a collaborative approach, bringing together a group of leading creative and cultural sector employers to host 12 months of employment. Alongside this, a series of masterclasses, skills workshops and industry mentors enhance learning and further development. https://www.createjobslondon.org/programmes/step

Contact: Lesley Owusu, HR Manager

On an annual basis we provide bursaries to young people from backgrounds underrepresented in our current company to cover interview and course fees, accommodation, travel and subsistence.

We are currently working on a new commission Imaam Imraan which will be playing at Bradford Literary Festival this coming July. Accompanying the show is an outreach programme where we will be visiting schools in Bradford, which have a large Asian population, with workshops in textiles and costume making surrounding the show. As a result of programming this show in our 2019 Summer Season, we will also be providing Assistant Stage Manager and Deputy Stage Manager positions for local young people and shadowing positions for school pupils from these partner schools. These positions are specifically created for young people of Asian backgrounds.

We are hiring a newly-funded Digital Apprentice to join us in our 2019 programme. The Digital Apprentice will learn about digital marketing, assist the Marketing Department in the communications of the National Youth Theatre and assist in delivering exciting work to current and new audiences across the UK and Internationally.

In 2019 we will appoint our first apprenticeship roles, with funding supported by John Lyons Charity. Intended to address the diverse of the core staff team through the introduction of a new entry level programme. Three apprenticeship roles will be offered in partnership with City & Islington College.

Contact: Amelia Oakley, Membership and Participation Coordinator

In 2018 we launched a new Inclusivity Programme designed to make National Youth Theatre more accessible to disabled and neuro diverse young people, in partnership with Diverse City and Highshore School in Southwark. The project follows previous inclusion work at NYT, including the 2012 Paralympic Team Welcome Ceremonies. We’ve also commissioned a series of productions exploring themes with disability at their core, directly creating lead roles for cast members with disability. These shows by Nessah Muthy and Athena Stevens will be developed in 2019 ahead of R&D productions in 2020.

Contact: Amelia Oakley, Membership and Participation Coordinator

We’ll be working with young people with disabilities on backstage and offstage roles and shadowing opportunities on our NYT REP Season at Southwark Playhouse. This follows a successful pilot last year in conjunction with our performances of The Fall and DNA at Southwark Playhouse, where we facilitated work placements for young people with disability in partnership with Southwark SEN school Highshore.

Our work with Highshore School, a SEN School in Southwark, was a four stage programme working with every pupil in the school; partnering on inclusive productions at the National Theatre, delivering work experience at Southwark Playhouse and after school club drama training. The programme is returning in 2019.

To find out more about our work with Highshore and wider Inclusion programme please visit : https://www.nyt.org.uk/inclusion

Contact: Amelia Oakley, Membership and Participation Coordinator

In January 2018 we began a partnership with our friends at Diverse City to develop our disability access and inclusion programme. Diverse City worked with us to deliver free Inclusion Training to our pool of NYT Associate Artists.

Contact: Amelia Oakley, Membership and Participation Coordinator

Equality and inclusion are at the core of our charitable aims and we are committed to removing barriers that might prevent young people from accessing our opportunities. We want our company of UK-wide young talent to represent and celebrate the diversity of Britain’s youth in all its forms. Alongside our nationwide auditions and interviews we run targeted programmes to create access routes into the National Youth Theatre for young people with characteristics that are currently underrepresented. As part of this commitment we are also a Cultural Inclusion Manifesto supporter. You can find out more about the Cultural Inclusion Manifesto here: https://culturalinclusion.uk

Contact: Amelia Oakley, Membership and Participation Coordinator

BECTU has launched the Theatre Diversity Action Plan which over 100 theatres have signed up to. The plan is a step-by-step guide for employers to help them address under-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic workers in their workforce. Alongside the plan we are inviting the employers to join in a working group whose sole remit is to divide up the work involved in finding alternative sources of
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent.

Find out more

Our Frontline programme gives 16-25 year olds the opportunity to discover more about careers in theatre and develop key transferable skills through paid placements with our Front Of House team. See https://www.oldvictheatre.com/join-in/for-young-people/front-line for more details

Our Frontline Facilitators Programme is for young people aged 18+, offering advanced hands-on experience in creative facilitation and the chance to develop key transferable skills. See https://www.oldvictheatre.com/join-in/for-young-people/front-line-facilitators for more details.

Contact: Hannah Fosker (Education and Community Director)

We encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply for our roles and we offer guaranteed interviews for disabled candidates who meet the minimum essential criteria. We have removed the need for filling in an application form when applying to roles. We proactively advertise our roles on various platforms to attract a diverse pool of talent. We have a recruitment policy which states our commitment to equal opportunities and fair recruitment processes.

Contact: Amir Sheikh (HR Manager)

Open Door’s core aim is to improve access to drama school training for people from low income backgrounds for on and off stage roles. In the process of preparing participants for their drama school interviews and auditions we offer a range of training experiences. Open Door backstage participants receive a programme designed around their specialism including one to one tutoring sessions, studio visits and work experience days at some of London’s leading theatres.

Open Door is a project designed to tackle the escalating problem of under-representation of people from low income backgrounds within the industry by increasing access to drama schools. We level the playing field for our participants as they make their drama school applications by removing existing barriers including financial. Open Door participants are age 18-25 with exceptional talent within their field and with a household income of less than £30,000. We believe that fairer access to drama school training will ultimately lead to higher representation of people from low income access working within the industry.

In 2018 Open Door expanded it’s work to include working with young people aspiring to train at drama school in off stage roles. Our backstage programme includes one to one tutoring, studio visits with leading professionals and work experience days at some of London’s and East Midlands leading theatres. As with all Open Door programmes, financial barriers to applying are removed allowing our participants to apply to a larger range of schools than they might otherwise have been able to and without the associated stress of financial strain.

We have developed a new model for work experience which aims to provide a diverse and engaging programme for young people and one that is sustainable for arts and creative industries organisations. Working within the current school 5 day format, we have created a shared Creative Industries placement, where organisations offer a taster day for a group of 8 young people, for 4 days and on the Friday each will offer 2 students a mentoring day. This experience will be recognised through issuing an open digital badge to the young person which provides rich information on the skills developed through the placement.

We are trying new ways to recruit staff with our new recruitment material – leaflet and banner, attendance at careers fairs within the local community such as the BME volunteer fair / the AMEX city careers fair / Disability Open Day etc., reviewing where we advertise to ensure that our vacancies are promoted across the city and reviewing our recruitment documentation and policy (including our application form, monitoring form, short-listing form and interview evaluation form).

We interview all BAME and disabled applicants who fit the job description. Most recently we have posted our jobs on Creative Access and the Talawa job boards. We also hosted an open afternoon so that potential employees could come and meet the team so they felt more comfortable before applying, and interview questions are sent in advance to applicants for entry level roles so they feel more at ease.

We provide DET and creative access workshops/training. These are flexible training courses that we can adapt and use to discuss disabled people in all roles within the theatre.

All Birds of Paradise productions & projects include a mix of disabled and non-disabled practitioners. We are actively looking to include more disabled people in off stage roles when hiring new team members.

We run work placements within our technical and stage management teams, giving students the opportunity to earn credit for their degree or qualification and gain practical, on the ground experience to complement their learning and help them to get work-ready.

Contact: Dimple Pau, HR & Education Administrator

All staff who take part in recruitment are provided with unconscious bias training.

Contact: Catherine McKinney, Head of Finance and Administration

We have reviewed all of the language in our recruitment information, to ensure we’re not unknowingly putting up barriers to people in how we describe working at our theatre and the kind of shows we put on.

Contact: Catherine McKinney, Head of Finance and Administration

Our Young Artists Programme for participants aged 16-25 includes a Young Critics group and a Young Producers group and we have plans to expand this to include a Young Directors group. We ensure that at least 70% of our groups are made up of young people from our local boroughs, and that 50% of the groups are BAME.

In March 2019, we launched recruitment for our first Resident Designers program. We are hoping to create opportunities for emerging designers who may otherwise struggle to make their first steps into the industry whether due to financial resource, ethnicity, gender or disability. We have based the scheme on our successful Resident Directors scheme which has been running for the past few years and we hope that the 2 programs will complement each other.

The program will bring together emerging theatre set/costume and sound designers to become part of a network of designers attached to the Almeida Theatre for 12 months to develop their skills and their craft for a year with the support of our Artistic and Production teams. We will expand the programme to include lighting designers in 2020.

For each of our main-stage productions as well as some additional projects, the set, and sound designers will be asked to select an assistant from the network of designers. This assistant will then work with them and their team at the Almeida for the length during the planning period, of the rehearsals and show opening.

The pool of designers will have a budget to support and enable them to see plays; attend conferences and/or training and to develop ideas for their own project. Other opportunities include working with our Production team, attending workshops and readings, the possibility of designing for our Young Company productions and mentoring from an established designer.

Our Schools Programme offers young people in both Primary and Secondary education the opportunity to visit the theatre and meet members of our technical team, enabling them to gain an insight into the production process and the multitude of off-stage careers available within the industry. We also run a Careers Programme for our Partner Schools which consists of workshops that focus on off stage roles e.g. producing, directing, set design, sound and lighting design and movement direction.

We recommend group interviews for all entry-level roles, including internships, at the Almeida. This allows us to meet a larger and more diverse field of candidates. For the candidates, it gives them a chance to practice interview technique, get to know the Almeida and they get constructive feedback even if not invited to second round interviews.

When arranging group interviews, we speak to applicants on the phone as much as possible. This is in an attempt to:

• Make us more approachable
• Give clear information on group interviews to candidates on what they can expect
• Enabling applicants to feel more comfortable to state access needs if required; we give examples of access needs.

We encourage the interview panel to look out for introverts and give them the opportunity to speak and put a lot of effort during the group interviews to make applicants to feel comfortable.

Feedback we’ve received:
“The interview process was very positive and reassuring so thanks for making it such a comfortable environment for us all. I definitely felt like I was able to represent myself and what I could bring to the role as truthfully as possible.”

“Thank you very much for the opportunity and for inviting me to the group interview. It was my first professional interview and certainly my first group interview, so thank you for giving me the experience. It was absolutely lovely meeting the entire team, hearing about your work and learning more about the Almeida. It felt like you wanted to get the best out of us, and it was a really supportive room, thank you.”

Graeae’s Ensemble training programme is for young D/deaf and disabled artists who wish to train in theatre making skills. It’s run in partnership with RADA, LAMDA, Rose Bruford College and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Students from past years have gone onto further training in mainstream drama school, or gained careers on stage and off within the industry. We are currently fundraising for a third year. Visit www.easydonate.org/stage

Contact: Jodi-Alissa Bickerton, Creative Learning Director. 020 7613 6900.

Write to Play is an initiative to develop the skills of D/deaf and disabled writers across the country. We are currently in the sixth year of the programme, which is running in the South West of England, with five D/deaf and disabled writers working with mentors and leading theatres in the South West, including Stage Sight member Bristol Old Vic.

Graeae contact: Jodi-Alissa Bickerton, Creative Learning Director. 020 7613 6900.

Bristol Old Vic contact: James Peries, Literary Associate

At Graeae, we run several training programmes to help improve both on-stage and off-stage diversity within the theatre sector. One of these is Dare You, an inclusive leadership training programme, delivered by Jenny Sealey MBE (co-director of the London 2012 Paralympic Games). Explore authentic communication, discover hidden talents amongst your workforce and develop self-awareness. This is a bespoke package that can be delivered tailored to your needs.

Contact: Jodi-Alissa Bickerton, Creative Learning Director. 020 7613 6900.

We are actively seeking women of colour and in particular BEA (British East Asian) creatives and production teams.

We plan to bring in free technical training as part of our annual summer school for actors; Yellow Earth Academy

We will be redesigning our online content to celebrate off stage training experiences and career paths, and highlighting the opportunities available in these areas within our member schools.

We represent the FE sector on the Leeds Cultural Education Partnership, which is working to develop a through line of learning from school to industry.

Our BTEC L3 in Production Arts has evolved to have pathways in Lighting, Sound, Stage Management, Theatre Design, Front of House, Costume, Hair and Makeup. This is delivered with the support of professional partners across Leeds.

We work with local industry partners and Leeds City Council through The Grand Futures project to organise specific events, awareness building and opportunities to promote off stage opportunities to young people.

The National College will be inviting professionals from across the creative and cultural industries to talk to students and apprentices about their job roles and professional practices.

The National College actively works with employers, many of whom are dedicated to increasing the diversity of their workforce. The National College supports this by encouraging employers to recruit from non-traditional backgrounds as well as supporting learners who may have learning difficulties and other needs through the support of their Industry Practitioners (assessors) and through a dedicated pastoral and welfare lead.

It is a long-term aim of the college to encourage more employers within the industry to create apprenticeships that will lead to permanent employment within their organisations.

We offer apprenticeships both in the office and in the warehouse. These provide opportunities for people from non-traditional routes to join the industry.

Raising the awareness of careers backstage is a key part of the White Light marketing strategy. We work with the National College and Skillscene as well as multiple other organisations, especially around recruitment of apprentices.

We are working with Kiln Theatre who have an initiative to ‘find’ local people interested in being backstage technicians. We will be offering a combination of work experience & work placements to anyone they find.

Contact at the Kiln is Alix Rainsby

In summer 2019 Tangle launched AMPLIFY, a new a talent development project aiming to grow sector skills off-stage. It includes:

1. Educator Training: delivered in partnership with Prime Theatre, an annual training programme for emerging and established theatre professionals to develop workshop practitioner skills.
2. Regular opportunities for Resident Directors and Project Managers to work on upcoming projects
3. Specialist placements in recorded sound and practical lighting design as part of our touring productions. Recipients receive a cash bursary and the opportunity to design their own programme of work in collaboration with Tangle’s creative team.
4. Tangle Artist Support Network, a regular open forum for theatre makers of all kinds to come together, share practice, exchange ideas and problem solve.

Our 2019 report TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES describes Tangle’s progress in raising awareness and visibility of off stage roles. A further report will be published in 2021 with regular updates at https://www.tangleinternational.com/ in between.

Summer 2019 will see tangle launch a Recruitment Good Practice Guide that outlines our commitments to best practice in recruiting and staff support.

We are developing new video content to celebrate the successes of our Postive Action Trainees. We open up our tech rehearsals to groups to see what the roles do. We have a page in our programmes to unpack the roles backstage.

We have reviewed our recruitment processes and have now removed the need for application forms. We have held more careers days to develop opportunities and all staff play a role in recruitment. We advertise our jobs on all our doors to the theatre.

Open Exchange is our programme to engage local emerging talent. We are currently reimagining this work to include new pathways for a broader range of artists including designers. https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/open-exchange

Local Exchange is our programme of work within the communities of our city and Greater Manchester. It sees us share and develop skills with these communities and help break down some of the barriers that prevent access to theatre and that the careers that make it.

Our priority for this programme is to reach people who may not otherwise feel that theatre is for them, and to bring together diverse groups and individuals – a true reflection of the environment in which the Royal Exchange exists. https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/local-exchange

Our Young and Elders companies both encourage and develop offstage roles.

The Young Company is our award-winning resident company for anyone aged 14-25. It offers 12 months of in-depth training for Digital Content Creators, Directors, Facilitators, Performers, Producers, Technicians and Writers. https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/young-company

The Elders Company is for people aged 60+ who take part in regular workshops and one-off projects to develop performance skills and learn more about theatre, create performance outcomes, and work inter-generationally with our young company. https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/elders-company

We regularly host backstage tours.
https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/backstage-tours

We run a successful programme to engage young people in offstage roles, and one of our initiatives is ‘Behind The Scenes Work Week‘, during which we share different offstage disciplines.

We have been evolving our recruitment practices to seek applicants from all communities and to ensure that we have significant and regular entry level positions available.

We are looking to attach emerging designers of colour to our creative teams, and to expand our training and pathways for production staff.

We are part of a Local Cultural Education partnership, which includes careers days and work experience with local schools.

We already run an extensive programme of talent development for 18 – 25 year olds creating alternative pathways into the arts for young people from the widest range of backgrounds. We are developing new opportunities for creative and backstage roles within this.

In March 2019, we’re hosting a two day intensive bringing together 10 early career Directors and 10 early career Set & Costume Designers to explore that relationship and process.

We have just hosted our first ever Trainee Sound Designer, a ten week placement supported by Brighter Sound which was targeted at female early career Sound Designers. We will host another of these placements with Brighter Sound in Autumn 2019.

Related case study: Trainee Sound Designer

We are a Regional Heart for SBTD‘s Staging Places. We recently hosted a hugely well attended Soup event which welcomed Performance Designers from a range of disciplines and career stages to meet, chat and network. We look forward to hosting more of these events in the future.

We have run a successful training course through our Technical Skills Training Program.

Related case study: Technical Skills Training Programme

We are opening up more accessible interview practices, including video interviews.

We have developed a new LinkedIn page which also now includes a “Life” page. We are focussing on greater visibility of off-stage departments and roles, including videos highlighting off-stage departments. We run departmental instagram take-overs, including technical departments, across CFT social media and LinkedIn channels and Prologue (initiative targeting 16-25 year old audience) and Youth Theatre channels. We also have a CFT Podcast promoting off-stage roles.

Contact: Eugenie Konig, Head of HR

We have developed of a database of organisations with a broader and more diverse reach with whom we share all employment opportunities, including Disability Arts on-line, Creative Access, ABTT and local colleges and universities. We are also aiming for broader advertising of employment opportunities, advertising nationally rather than locally. Through these initiatives we have seen applications for our seasonal technical roles increase by over 100% in all departments between 2018 and 2019.

Contact: Eugenie Konig, Head of HR

SOLT and UK Theatre’s training course, The Business of Inclusion, is designed to to help participants understand why inclusion is business critical, and to help them develop the inclusion conversation within their own organisation after the course. It is suitable for anyone with people responsibilities. The course is delivered by The Centre for Inclusive Leadership.

Contact: Miriam Nicholson-Butcher, Training and Events Executive

We will seek to develop training specifically targeted towards young professionals and engage communities in sound that have likeminded individuals who may practice sound outside of the theatre.

We will continue to promote the work of the sound world to those outside of the theatrical community and through educational work, seminars and suchlike to encourage those from backgrounds less likely to have been exposed to theatre careers.

As an association we are predominantly non-employing but we will seek to encourage our members and membership associations to actively seek to advertise positions, making them more accessible to the wider community. We will encourage them to work with us and Stage Sight to diversify their own recruitment policies.

UK Theatre’s Mentoring Programme aims to help individuals enhance their skills, gain confidence, and expand their networks. The programme lasts around 6 months with 3 to 4 meetings (in-person or via telephone/Skype) happening during that time. Mentors will help participants to set objectives – from career planning to building new skills – and create a plan to help the mentee work towards their personal goals. The mentor offers to share their time and expertise with the mentee, acting as a sounding board, a source of information or friendly words of encouragement, support, and advice.
Find out more

Contact: Miriam Nicholson-Butcher, Training and Events Executive

TheatreCraft is the UK’s largest free careers event for young people seeking an off-stage career in theatre. More than a careers fair, TheatreCraft is free and open to anyone aged 16-30. It offers attendees the opportunity to take part in workshops and talks led by inspirational and leading theatre makers, explore a vibrant marketplace of exhibiting arts organisations and education providers, connect with peers and potential employers through various networking opportunities and speak with experts in one-to-one advice sessions.
Find out more

Contact: Harriet Usher, Senior Audience Development Manager

UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre’s Inspiring the Future of Theatre campaign is an industry wide initiative which aims to show young people the huge range of off stage careers available to them. We have recruited over 1000 ambassadors across the country who have volunteered to visit a local school and tell pupils about working in theatre.
Find out more

Contact: Annie Waugh, Project Coordinator

SOLT and UK Theatre have developed and run a suite of training courses around the area of disability equality, with the aim of helping organisations develop best practice on access for d/Deaf and disabled people in the workforce as well as theatre audiences. Our modular course provides learners with a solid foundation on which to base planning and policy-making around disability equality in their organisations.
Find out more.

Contact: Miriam Nicholson-Butcher, Training & Events Executive

For young people we run technical workshops, week-long projects that provide a practical insight into different off stage roles and skills. For young adults between ages of 18 – 25 we run Backstage Pass -an intensive two week exploration of all technical departments that culminates in the chance to put those skills into practice by creating a short fully realised piece of theatre.

Contact: Rob Lehmann (Head of Participation)

Guaranteed interviews for all candidates for LX, sound and technical stage roles provided they meet the essential criteria.

We are actively pursuing new places we can advertise, and ways of advertising roles – we are particularly interested in advertising roles without strong reference to the theatre industry or the fact we are a theatre.

Will be launching a new series of online articles championing PoC in offstage roles, in partnership with Stage Sight.

This year Theatre Deli has launched an organisation wide initiative, ‘Unity in Diversity,’ with ACE funding. It includes an artistic programme of work by marginalised voices presented by 2 guest curators from BAME and queer backgrounds and addresses issues in organisational structure to ensure we have full representation both on and offstage.

Central is actively engaged in reviewing the inclusivity of its curriculum, and is committed to identifying and addressing any structural exclusion. This ranges from play choices and critical theory to training internal staff on best, inclusive practices in relation to stage hair and makeup.

Central has a broad range of outreach initiatives in all aspect of its training and will be developing these over the course of the following year. It runs a number of activities to profile off-stage careers in various underrepresented communities, and to address the profile of all career options in live performance work to counterbalance the decline in drama and theatre studies in the national curriculum. This includes regional outreach and student ambassador schemes. Please contact Verna Rhodes for details, or Peter Rice for specific queries about technical and design initiatives.

Central has recently undertaken an external review of race equality, diversity and inclusion and will be developing an action plan to increase representation from underrepresented communities through targeted student and staff recruitment activities. For staff recruitment initiatives please contact Nuala Conway and for student recruitment initiatives in relation to off-stage work, please contact Peter Rice who will confer with relevant departmental heads.

Anyone involved in apprenticeships is now included in our lowest cost student membership (including a trial for only £7.00).

We will broaden our outreach to prospective members to FE colleges and schools to reach people who are less well represented in our membership.

We continue to offer professional development training to those stage management members who need it most – at a discount price of only 25% of the regular members price –  to improve skills and  employability for those who are least able to pay for their own training or have it paid for them.

We continue to experiment with different recruitment methods – such as removing personal details from application forms, changing the kinds of questions asked on application forms and different interview formats ,and evaluating the results of these changes.

Contact: Kath Geraghty

We commit to forging partnerships with social enterprise and charity organisations, as well as FE Colleges, to develop a work placement scheme which offers successful and meaningful placements to people from underrepresented groups. This will run alongside our existing relationships with the Drama Schools and Universities.

Contact: Kath Geraghty

In partnership with other arts organisations we commit to participating in high profile, high footfall careers events, such as Skills London and Big Bang, to inform pre-GCSE students, parents and teachers/careers advisers, of the range of careers available in the sector.

Contact: Kath Geraghty

We have helped create over 7,000 apprenticeships opportunities in the sector since 2008. In 2016, on behalf of a consortium of employers and industry organisations, we established the first National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries to offer industry-led apprenticeships and higher level technical qualifications for the creative sector. This College now runs independently of Creative & Cultural Skills. We introduced the first creative apprenticeship frameworks in the UK and are now developing new Apprenticeship Standards (in England) to ensure apprenticeship routes into our workforce exist. We connect training providers to industry experts and enhance their offer to students. We lead the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural, a network of partners committed to improving the quality of vocational and technical education in the creative industries. Through this network, we reach over 600,000 young people.

The Creative Careers Programme (CCP) is an integrated industry-led programme of activity across England that is working to ensure there is a larger and more diverse intake of talent and a broader range of routes into the creative industries, a commitment of the Creative Industries Sector Deal. 

This DCMS supported programme will directly engage young people at school and college, and careers advisers, to raise awareness of the employment opportunities in the creative industries and the creative economy (including creative occupations in other industrial sectors); strengthen education-industry partnerships; develop entry routes; and improve employment outcomes and the sector’s recruitment practices.

Further information on the Creative Careers Programme

Creative & Cultural Skills works closely with employers to help them consider their approaches to recruitment, from how and where jobs can be advertised to help extend reach to where unnecessary pre-requisites for entry can be removed. We encourage workplaces to analyse their skills needs and nurture workplace cultures that promote staff development.

We have been provided with a bursary of £4,500 to enable backstage workshops / summer school to take place at very low cost for young people interested in finding out more about these ‘invisible’ areas.

We are working with Missing Pieces to provide opportunities for young people interested in backstage careers access to work placements; we currently have a directing placement on our production of Clybourne Park to start opening our doors wider.

We are creating videos for our websites to highlight the different backstage jobs and environments. We will aim to do this in programmes as well but still looking at the best approach for this as we appreciate that purchase of theatre programmes by audiences is diminishing locally.

We are working with local theatre and media training organisation, Boomsatsuma, to develop and promote their new diploma course in Production Arts (Stage and Screen) for 16-18 year olds. Boomsatsuma has had great success working with young people from a wide range of backgrounds in the south west.

Our Artistic Director mentors an individual through the Stepping Up programme, a Positive Action Programme run by Bristol City Council aimed at improving the representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, disabled people and women in senior leadership roles within Bristol and the wider region.

Contact: Catherine Morgenstern, Producer

We are holding one or two workshop sessions in the next academic year through Future Quest for BAME young people interested in backstage and tech roles.

Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

We are exploring a collaboration with Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) on a series of tech/production workshops in July 2019, covering a range of backstage skills, and investigating other opportunities for collaboration with BOVTS to support the development of new pathways.

Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

We are offering technical/backstage placements where possible on Bristol Old Vic and BOV Young Company projects – examples to date include hosting a Japanese Director on a 6-month secondment at BOV supported by British Council/Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs; hosting a stage management placement from China on Touching the Void; a young BAME female on placement The Garden of Earthly Destruction, A BOV Engagement project with Headlong Futures.

Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

We are holding a yearly Big Work Experience week for 25 Year 10 students, which offers experience of a range of roles across theatre including producing and production roles. During the week, the young people gain an insight into the everyday working of a leading regional theatre, learn about the diverse range of jobs available in the theatre and take part in a variety of workshops led by different departments, and complete the Bronze Arts Award. Priority is given to applicants from Bristol schools and academies and those who would otherwise not have access to the arts.

Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

Delivering a Tech Training project through NT Connections, giving the opportunity for anyone interested in technical or backstage aspects of theatre the opportunity to work on the NT Connections Partner Theatre Festival at Bristol Old Vic in April 2019. Those on the placement will gain practical training alongside the BOV staff team in roles including stage management, sound design, AV, lighting, costume, design and producing. Four placements are available and no previous qualifications or experience are required, with selection being made via informal interviews taking place as part of an open Tech Training Info Session comprising an In Conversation with theatre industry professionals where candidates can ask questions, gain advice and have a tour of the theatre.

Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

We have introduced work placements for disabled individuals in the FOH team and are hoping to work with WECIL to continue this, with the aim of being able to offer continued roles in the FOH team after the completion of the placement.

Contact: Liz Hebden, FOH Manger

We have committed to seeking alternative forms of advertising to reach a more diverse range of applicants for roles at Bristol Old Vic, and guaranteeing an interview for applications with protected characteristics who meet the job’s essential requirements.
Contact: Kathryn Cleave, HR Manager

We have run open days and moved to shortlisting only on essential criteria for usher recruitment, ensuring that these frontline roles are open to all and leading to the recruitment of a more diverse staff team.
Contact: Liz Hebden, FOH Manger

We have run an open day for volunteer recruitment and currently have a pool of over 50 individuals actively involved in our volunteer programme, working alongside the Front of House team to welcome visitors and support the heritage engagement programme. The volunteer pool comprises people from all backgrounds including some with additional needs.
Contact: Lucy Hunt, Engagement Director

We have established an equality action group comprised of representatives from across departments who will meet regularly to discuss and drive forward our goals in improving diversity across all areas of the organisation’s activity including improved representation in the in-house and show-specific teams.

Contact: Catherine Morgenstern, Producer

In line with Stage Sight’s goals, Warwick Arts Centre, the Belgrade Theatre and a number of Coventry partners are teaming up to create Backstage Youth, a series of workshops, courses and opportunities that form a clear alternative pipeline into technical theatre in Coventry and the Midlands.

This summer, we are introducing weekly drop-in sessions for technical theatre, taking place at the Shopfront Theatre, Coventry, and in collaboration with Media Mania. These are introductory workshops in lighting, sound, stage management, wardrobe and other roles, to incite interest and have a hands-on learning opportunity. Those expressing a commitment to technical theatre will have more in-depth sessions (with the introductory sessions continuing to run alongside them), leading to a small number of fully funded places on an ABTT Bronze Award course. We hope to be able to offer opportunities of shadowing and work experience for those that haven’t taken the ABTT course, and assistance for applying to work or university for those who have. There are 2 committed apprentice positions at Warwick Arts Centre for the Backstage Youth scheme, and other venues will be made aware of the participants’ achievements to consider them for future opportunities.

With the aim of nurturing talent in the city ready for City of Culture 2021 and beyond, we want the pool to reflect the diversity of Coventry and promote off-stage roles to young people.

We are currently investigating whether we can develop a way of utilising our professional members to talk more about their careers and work. These may be at open techs, or as stand alone events at schools or platform performances.

Our whole remit concerns those who work in lighting and video / projection for live performance, and the promotion of these disciplines as an integral part of the production process and creative team. We have members from 16 to 80(+) who are either working or interested in these areas, and we do what we can to promote them outside the industry. The SaveStageLighting campaign in 2018 did a lot to raise awareness of the lighting industry to the public with many articles and images in the mainstream press explaining why the proposed changes in legislation would affect all areas of the entertainment industry.

We are developing a new course for young, local people to gain an insight into off stage roles at a basic level, including construction, lighting, sound and stage management. In a series of Saturday workshops they will learn the skills to allow them to be employable by local theatres at an entry level. Taught by our own staff, it will also incorporate masterclasses from practitioners at other Southwark theatres.
https://www.mountview.org.uk/

Contact: Geraint Pughe, Head of Production Arts

The Arts Council requires National Portfolio Organisations in receipt of £250k or more to develop Equality Action Plans, outlining specific aims and challenges in regards diversifying their workforces and audiences, which includes backstage roles. More information and resources to support this work can be found here including Equality Action Plan Guidance in conjunction with Stephen Lawrence Consulting.

Arts Council has implemented a range of new recruitment internal and external approaches with the aim to make the process more inclusive. This includes unconscious bias training for staff and recruitment training for hiring managers, the culture change toolkit and advertising all permanent posts externally at the same time as we advertise internally. We have also reviewed where we place job adverts to reach a diverse candidate pool.

Art Council is a Disability Confident employer and member of Business Disability Forum to inform best practice on recruitment and employment of disabled candidates/employees.  Arts Council guarantees an interview for any candidate with a declared disability that meets the essential criteria for the role.

We have removed the Criminal Records question from our application form, and have removed dates and name of school/ college/ university – candidates only need to declare qualifications which are relevant to the role they are applying for.

We have redesigned all interview record forms and shortlisting matrix documents and have written new guidance for hiring managers to reduce the potential for unconscious bias in our selection process. You can read more about Art Council’s changes to recruitment in CEO Darren Henley’s blog ‘Changing our Recruitment’

ETT are a partner organisation of COMMON, an arts organisation which supports theatres to achieve greater socio-economic diversity. ETT recently attended COMMON’s ‘Routes in’ event which explored some of the socio-economic barriers to employment in the arts and ways in which organisations can improve inclusivity. Following the discussions from the event, ETT have decided to update all job descriptions to ensure that there are no barriers which may prevent a person applying. Examples of this are removing any reference to university qualifications and a passion for theatre. We are also ensuring that we are clear about the parameters of the job, and that all touring costs (including travel/accommodation/per diems) will be covered by ETT and are not incurred by the individual. To learn more about COMMON visit, https://commontheatre.co.uk/

Alongside our Chichester Festival Youth Theatre we run a Technical Youth Theatre. Members meet weekly and explore all aspects of technical theatre and work alongside professional heads of departments on CFYT’s main stage Christmas production, our bi-annual promenade production and NT Connection productions.

Chichester Festival Theatre has apprentices in its stage, sound and lighting departments.

Contact: Georgina Rae, Head of Planning & Projects

We have established a Mid-Career Artists Programme – a privately funded programme supporting up to 4 mid-career creative artists annually to break through glass ceilings and develop their practice. Funding supports CFT in engaging mentors for those engaged in the programme.

Contact: Georgina Rae, Head of Planning & Projects

We are currently working with The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Guildford School of Acting to offer ongoing placement opportunities for students.

Contact: Nancy Shakerley

Getting Ready to Roar: Watch the video
Join the Crew: Watch the video

We are re-shooting our 10 episodes of behind the scenes at The Lion King which will be freely available on lionkingeducation.co.uk

We have a Designers Network which runs alongside our Genesis Directors Network, and creates opportunities for emerging designers and directors to learn and work together.

Contact: Sue Emmas (Associate Artistic Director)

The Young Vic has a Young Associate Scheme where young adults from Southwark have nine months of paid work experience at the Young Vic. One of the four participants is based in our production department and works on productions in the three performance spaces.

Contact: Sue Emmas (Associate Artistic Director)

We are working with colleges across South London to offer T-Level placements within our production team for carpentry, textiles and construction students, broadening pathways into these roles.

Contact: Rob Lehmann (Head of Participation)

The Young Vic regularly runs projects and initiatives through our Taking Part department that raise awareness of the different career opportunities and roles available in technical theatre. For schools and colleges we run career workshops as well as on stage workshops providing a hands-on experience of sound, lighting, and stage management on our main stage.
Visit the website

Contact: Rob Lehmann (Head of Participation)

We have piloted recruitment initiatives within our technical and production department that aim to expand our existing pools of off stage workers by seeking out new staff and freelance contacts. As just one example, our wardrobe department has used an open recruitment process in the last six months for makers and dressers to expand their pool of contacts. This is an ongoing and regular initiative.

Contact: Stuart Robertson (Technical Director)

The Young Vic has a Recruitment Policy that across the organisation aims to make our work force more representative and inclusive. We are also a disability confident employer. This policy covers all areas of recruitment including job descriptions, advertisements, selection process, interview panels and retention. We also have ongoing training and staff panels that ensure we continue to improve the conversation and understanding within our organisation.

The Mercury is one of four regional theatres taking part in a new programme providing a full-time, paid placement for an Associate Producer of colour wishing to develop their skills and experience. The programme, which is supported by Arts Council England’s Sustained Theatre Fund, provides high-level support and mentoring for the producer over an 30 month period. The Associate Producer on placement will produce a new show, as well as delivering community engagement and artist development activities – all reflecting a strong ‘sense of place’. IGNITE is the name we have collectively given to these productions and projects. The programme’s ambition is to diversify the cultural workforce and reach wider diverse audiences across England.

We offer a week-long course (So You Want to Work in Theatre) for young people aged 14-18 interested in the theatre. This gives young people the opportunity to meet and work with industry professionals to find out what goes into producing a Mercury Theatre production.

Throughout the week, they will get a chance to work with:

• The Wardrobe Department
• Marketing
• Scenic Construction
• Technical Theatre Lighting and Sound
• Scenic Arts Department
• Audience Services
• Stage Management

Visit the website

We have held an open Creative Day to meet Creatives who haven’t worked at the Mercury before, particularly those of colour and from under-represented/protected groups in the hope that we can be more inclusive. This will become a semi-regular event.

Bridge the Gap is a new pathway to support creatives that are currently producing work in theatre. It is a year long programme that give participants training in commercial theatre. It is aimed at people who have experience in subsidised theatre and gives them the networks and skills needed to create in the commercial world. Each participant is given a mentor and a free place on our 3 day workshop. The training sessions are designed to fit around people’s full time commitments and for people who live outside of London.
Visit the website

We are aiming to demystify the role of the producer and are careful when using language to make the role as accessible as possible. Attention has been paid to people working in theatre that may not realise they are producing, the role has been referred to as managing the show from conception to performance, with focus on stage managers and artists putting on their own work.

Bridge the Gap is a new programme launched in 2018 for aspiring theatre producers. The application form is two open questions, applicants are not asked about their previous experience or qualifications to ensure the recruitment process is as inclusive as possible. The programme was promoted using non-traditional platforms such as social media and shared with companies that work with creatives from unrepresented backgrounds.
Visit the website

For Hull Truck Productions, we have started digital foyer exhibitions which include insights to the production team and their process.

We are undertaking open designer days to meet new designers across disciplines.

We feature Q&As with creative team members in our touring programmes and also feature articles written by members of English Touring Theatre staff on our Medium blog.

We work with our Press Consultants, Kate Morley PR, to create opportunities for interviews with artists in off stage roles:

• Guardian – interview with Ned Bennett, Director of Equus
• Arts Industry – interview with Chelsea Walker, Director of A Streetcar Named Desire

English Touring Theatre create behind the scenes video content to raise awareness of off stage roles:

• Othello 2018 – behind the scenes
• Interview with Tanya Muneera Williams, Workshop Facilitator, Poet and Producer
• Othello stage management video feature on Digital Theatre + platform

English Touring Theatre have worked in partnership with Creative Access to recruit staff for positions in our office. So far we have recruited three staff members through Creative Access; one is currently a member of our team and two have gone on to work within the theatre industry, one as a Producer and the other as a freelance theatre Director and Creative.

Creative Access fills a gap in the current creative landscape by helping young people from black, Asian and other non-white minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, as well as those with a lower socioeconomic status (SES), to secure both jobs and paid training opportunities in creative companies.
creativeaccess.org.uk

We provide training bursaries for members of minority communities not well represented in the technical and production sectors.