Live in West London and interested in backstage and technical roles in Theatre?

The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) are looking for young people aged 14-19 who live in West London to take part in Future Technicians, a free eight-week technical theatre course!

You will receive:

We are particularly interested in hearing from young people from the global majority, young people who are D/deaf and disabled, young people from low-income households (measured by access to Free School Meals in the last 6 years) and young people in care / care leavers as we recognise these groups are currently underrepresented in the technical theatre industries.

If you’re serious about a career in makeup artistry, our 4-Month Hair and Makeup Course is the perfect choice.

Led by award-winning makeup designers at CBMA Makeup Academy in London, this intensive, hands-on program covers everything from beauty makeup to special effects (SFX) techniques. You’ll work closely with industry professionals to master the essential skills needed for film, TV, and fashion. By the end of this course, you’ll be ready to create a wide range of looks, from classic beauty to intricate special effects, giving you the tools to launch your makeup artistry career.

Are you aged between 16-21 and have a passion for history, heritage or events production? Then join the Young Heritage Producers!

Join the Young Heritage Producers Project and be part of a team of young creatives shaping how Jacksons Lane’s stories are told. Whether you’re curious about history, heritage events, or just want to try something new, this is your chance to gain skills, meet new people, and celebrate our community.

Together, you’ll co-create a training programme tailored to your interests, explore local stories, and design exciting events that bring history to life.

What’s in it for you?

On this course you will study:

Performance workshops are all designed to help improve your skills, confidence and performance ability.

This one year course is for anyone with and an interest in learning more about acting. Whilst experience is useful, we welcome anyone with an enthusiasm and passion for the subject area.

Successful students can work in a range of roles, these may include working in creative industries such as screen acting, stage performance, directing, teaching, script writing, producing, designing or working in arts management and administration.

START is the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre's free 6 week programme for young people aged 16 to 25, who live in West London, who are not currently in education, employment, or training.

START provides a space for you to creatively explore the world of performance, working over six weeks to create a new piece of theatre that responds to the themes of a Lyric Main House production, led by theatre professionals. Through engaging with drama activities, skill sharing, and watching live performances, our START cohort will build on their self-confidence, collaboration skills, emotional resilience, and self-esteem. Through this, the cohort will cultivate a group ethic of inclusivity, accessibility, encouragement, respect and affirmation. This project is underpinned by a Bronze Arts Award accreditation.

‘START let me explore my interests without anyone judging me, I just tried everything! It was so validating to just be myself, how I want to be. START was like making a family- now I feel like I can do anything.’ – Participant, 2024

What is START?

British Youth Opera runs several programmes for people who are looking to build a career as a conductor, assistant conductor, music director or repetiteur

The Collaborator Strand
If you have musical experience (particularly working with singers) and excellent repetiteur skills, but you'll still be building basic skills and knowledge, the collaborator strand of our summer programme is for you.

You’ll be paired with an established musician who will inspire and mentor you and give you tailored career support and advice. Much like an assistant conductor or repetiteur, you'll spend time in the rehearsal room, working with and learning from our professional director and playing for rehearsals.

2025's summer programme will tackle a semi-staged version of Peter Grimes. Working with a professional director and conductor, you'll create a professional-standard show to be performed twice – at London's Cadogan Hall and Saffron Hall, just outside Cambridge. The programme will take place during June, with performances on 5 and 6 July. You'll need good availibility throughout June, but we're aware that you may still have conservatoire or university commitments – schedules will be built around the people who are offered a place and as a result might make good use of evenings and weekends.

The Serena Fenwick Programme
The Serena Fenwick programme started out as a course for singers, providing 6 months of bespoke mentoring, group sessions, one-to-one sessions , advice and support. It was specifically targeted at people who needed something extra – whether that was because they'd had a different route into singing or something was holding them back or slowing them down, like financial or personal problems.

It was so successful we rolled out a version for stage managers, and now we're doing the same for directors and conductors. If you get a place on the Serena Fenwick programme, you'll get 6 months of personal mentoring from industry professionals, bespoke career guidance, CV advice and introductions to people in the industry. You'll also be able to take part in BYO's summer production and be put forward for shadowing opportunities with our industry partners over the summer.

The programme is open to all and is fully bespoke, with everything fitted around your existing knowledge and experience. However you'll need some good quality experience and need to be able to demonstrable commitment to pursuing a career in conducting.

Serena Fenwick and Summer Programme deadlines: 12pm, 14 October 2024

Taking part in any BYO programme is free, and there is no application fee beyond your membership to BYO hub.

BYO offers reduced or free BYO hub premium membership to care leavers, people granted asylum in the UK, people seeking asylum in the UK, full or part time careers, people with no immediate family or no connection to them, single parents, people with physical or mental disabilities and people with long term illnesses.

Working out of Gosforth Civic Theatre's Cafe Bar, the placement offers a varied role, developing skills including:

In addition, our placements will provide valuable, softer life skills:

Our mission

To raise everyone's expectations about what people with learning disabilities can achieve.

We believe that every young person embarking on a work placement has the potential to succeed. Our staff are dedicated to the overall welfare of every trainee to ensure that they develop work and life skills across the duration of the placement.

How does it work?

To help us evaluate if the cafe is the right opportunity for you, we will:

Cost

This programme is fee based. Fee based programmes can be funded through either a young person's education and health care plan, or direct payments/personal budget. You can find out more about this from your college transitions officer or your local social work team.

To sign up, or to find out more, please contact Rebecca via the email address listed below.

Do you want to be in our next Young Company? Applications are now open!

Young Company is for young people who are looking for a welcoming space to be creative and connect with others, as well as those with a curiosity about theatre who want to develop skills within the North West’s largest and only full-time text based producing theatre.

We’re looking for Makers, Writers and Performers to work with us weekly September 2024 – July 2025. As a Young Company member you will have access to Royal Exchange Theatre’s sector-leading creatives and learn the fundamentals of theatre-making. Performers will have performance opportunities and Writers & Makers will have the opportunity to have their work platformed and performed, and receive feedback.

Performers 1 (ages 14-17) & Performers 2 (ages 18-25*) – for people who like performing, acting, working in groups and trying out new styles of theatre.

Makers (ages 16-25*) – for those interested in the behind-the-scenes areas of making theatre – directing, lighting & sound, design, stage management & producing.

Writers (ages 16-25*) – for anyone who likes storytelling and is interested in writing for stage. You might be a poet or a songwriter but want to learn more about playwriting.

*For those over 21 will prioritise applications from people who are underrepresented in theatre including but not limited to disabled young people, D/deaf young people, neurodivergent young people, Global Majority young people, working class young people.

Italia Conti’s MA Creative Arts Education programme is designed to nurture and develop innovative and individual teachers and practitioners, who embody and apply specialist skills and techniques supported by grounded knowledge of industry practices, contexts, and the emerging requirements that empower graduates for a sustainable career in various educational contexts including further education, higher education and conservatoire-style drama schools.

The programme is validated by the University of Chichester. Full government funding is available through Postgraduate funding for Home students.

Italia Conti’s new MA/MFA, Teaching and Coaching Actors’ Movement, is either a one-year full time or two-year part time course leading to a qualification that will equip each student to teach movement to actors across all areas of actor training and to work as a movement coach in the industry.

The course distinguishes between the roles of teaching and coaching: teaching focusses on developing the student actor as they learn to negotiate their body in space, through character exploration in rehearsal then guiding them into performance; coaching focusses on understanding the needs of the industry and learning to work within the different mediums of film, TV and theatre.

The course will turn actors into teachers capable of transforming performance art students into performers for whom movement is integral to their creative process. By the end of the course trainee teachers will be able to teach students how to open their body and broaden their craft into the unchartered territory of new work.

This MA/MFA offers opportunities to explore teaching and coaching in real situations, learning from already established practitioners in their struggles and inspirations, and through their daily interactions with students and actors.

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