Are you a current or aspiring disabled backstage or offstage worker? We want to hear from you!
Cue Backstage is BOP’s new three-year development project aiming to develop talent, create opportunities and employment.
As part of Cue Backstage, we are looking for current and aspiring disabled backstage or offstage workers to get involved. There will be lots of opportunities over the next three years, but right now we are looking to speak to disabled people who would be interested in being involved in a steering group for the whole project. This will likely involve attending four paid meetings a year, which will be online or hybrid. At these meetings, you would give feedback and input on the project and its plans. Being part of the steering group would not stop you from taking part in further aspects of the project you may be interested in.
The programme will take place over three Saturday’s in June 2025, curated by Emma Jones, one of Scotland’s leading Lighting Designers. The workshops will be facilitated by Lighting Designers who will share their own stories and experience. There will also be time to ask questions and engage in discussions with the presenters, to seek advice and learn from their journeys and experiences in the industry.
Participants developed an understanding of professional processes and potential career paths while building practical skills and increasing confidence.
The programme sessions take place on:
Wiltshire Creative is proud to partner with Separate Doors on a UK-wide initiative to increase the representation of people with learning disabilities in theatre, film and TV. The project is rooted in the belief that great narrative theatre for general audiences should include and reflect everyone.
This project champions the Silent Approach – a non-verbal rehearsal method that enables vocational actors and creatives who use language differently to work together on equal terms, in the same spaces and in front of the same audiences as everyone else.
Salisbury Playhouse is a key partner in the Making Tomorrow's Theatre project. As part of our commitment to featuring more learning-disabled talent in mainstream programming, we are working alongside Separate Doors in the development of their new play, Hope Valley Hotel, and on Wednesday 16 July will offer a first glimpse of this exciting production.
The event will include a Silent Approach learning package for theatre professionals, alongside a preview of the play’s music and movement. A full creative team will be joined by national ensemble actors, including acclaimed learning-disabled performers Joe Sproulle and Meghan Denton.
On registration, attendees will be asked to select from a range of workshops taking place in the afternoon. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis, so please arrive early to secure your preferred option.
Date: Wednesday 16 July
Join award-winning playwright and mentor Lynda Radley for a course of four free workshops about building a writing practice that is sustainable over time and simple to implement.
Are you trapped in a cycle of procrastination and self-recrimination? Do you watch playwriting deadlines sail past? Do you struggle to start, or finish, a draft? Do you feel scattered or overwhelmed?
Whether you’re neurodivergent, managing a disability, navigating caring responsibilities, or just burned out and stuck, you’re not alone.
Based on her personal experience and extensive research, Lynda will guide you towards solutions that are achievable. There will be sessions on procrastination, perfectionism, PRESSURE, brain chemistry and goal setting. This course is not about changing everything overnight. It is about taking practical – but not necessarily predictable – steps towards enjoyment and satisfaction. This course is open to anyone who wants to have a healthier relationship with their writing practice, whether distracted writers, weathered writers, or writers who are frozen after their first success.
By going through this process with other participants you will also have an opportunity to build community.
Start Monday mornings with support and a plan.
There is a budget for access costs for this course. Please use the application form to outline any access requirements.
Applications are now open for the 2025-26 cohort of the Bridge the Gap Producer Programme!
Apply to be one of 10 emerging producers from underrepresented backgrounds to take part in this year long development programme; gaining skills in commercial producing through monthly workshops, a mentor, coaching sessions, tickets to shows, access to grants and more!
Deadline: 12 noon on Friday 9 May
Apply online via our website.
Not sure if it's for you? Find out some more info in our Should I Apply? guide.
Stage One created Bridge the Gap to diversify the current field of commercial theatre producers and therefore strongly encourages individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and outside of London to apply. We want to support people from a Global Majority background, who identify as working class or from a lower socio-economic background, are LGBTQIA+, those that have a disability and/or are neurodivergent and/or those from a culturally or religiously Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or Sikh background.
Zoo Co is keen to introduce more deaf and/or disabled people to the practicalities of being a Trustee with an arts organisation
We recognise that volunteer Trusteeships aren't always accessible to deaf and disabled people, so we've set up this programme as an experiment in changing that.
We'd like to offer two people the chance to observe each of our next two Board meetings, supported by our new Board Support Worker.
£100 per Board meeting (approx 0.5 days of work across 2 weeks, per Board date)
Dates: 6th May 6-8PM and 12th Aug 6-8PM
Location: Central London - meetings are usually held at the National Theatre (Central London) in person, though people can join remotely as needed.
You can apply to observe both meetings, or just one (ie. between 2 and 4 people will be selected to take part in this work). Please indicate in your application which dates you’re able to do.
Every year, we run courses around the UK for young people ages 14 to 25 who want to become members of the National Youth Theatre.
Entry to these courses is via audition only, and auditions are held between October 2024 and March 2025. There are three different routes you can take to audition, depending on where you’re based and how much availability you have:
You can only audition via one route each year, so have a read through each one before applying to decide which option works best for you.
A Home for Potential. A Platform for New Voices. A Commitment to Local Talent.
The Belgrade Ensemble is a free, year-long creative programme for early-career performers aged 18–25 from Coventry and the surrounding region.
Launched in 2023, the Ensemble was created to provide a home for young people making their first steps into theatre. This is not a training course in the traditional sense – it’s a long-term investment in creative development, rooted in care, rigour, and the weekly commitment of showing up and making work together.
Now entering its third year, the 2025/26 Ensemble will work with professional artists to create and perform an original production, including a public performance at the Belgrade and the potential opportunity to perform at the For With By European Youth Theatre Festival in Hull (TBC).
Access to Work can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability.
The support you get will depend on your needs. Through Access to Work, you can apply for:
Live in West London and interested in backstage and technical roles for screen and stage?
The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) are looking for young people aged 16-21 who live in West London to take part in Future Technicians, a free two week technical theatre course! This course is designed to provide hands-on experience in both screen and stage technical production. Our cohort will gain insight into film and theatre production, working with industry professionals to create high-quality content and live performances.
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
