Introducing The Youth Theatre Together Map!

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Through in-house productions, industry based placements and hands-on training, you’ll learn all relevant skills relating to the work of the production technician in theatre, events, and other areas of the entertainment industry.

Course overview

With technology at its core, this course offers practical, hands-on training in a variety of high-end lighting, sound, and video systems – skills that are in high demand for the theatre, events, film and television industries in Wales and across the rest of the UK.

You’ll have classes given by leading professionals operating at the top of their field, alongside several production placements, both based at the College and with our industry partners here in Wales.

With your placements, developing your expertise for a technical career in the creative industries is only one part of it. These experiences will also help you to build communication and team working skills that are essential to thriving in collaborative environments.

After graduation, you could take on roles such as a production electrician, lighting technician or programmer, sound and system engineer, video operator or programmer, among many more.

Why study this course?

  • All but two of the modules are designed to replicate the experience of work-based learning. You’ll work with state-of-the-art entertainment industry technology such as, but not limited to, automated lighting and consoles, digital sound systems, video projection and production electrics.
  • You’ll train with a team of staff who are highly skilled industry professionals. They offer you not only first-rate teaching in current best practices, but mentorship and networking opportunities as well.
  • For your placements within the second year at the College, you’ll have a lead production role, under the supervision and guidance of a senior technician, working with the various technical teams (video, lighting, sound) during the fit up of Richard Burton Theatre Company productions.
  • Throughout your training, you’ll work alongside staff from the design and stage-management departments and interact with students from across the College’s performing arts courses. These collaborations will help you to develop an understanding of and empathy of the other fields of practice within the creative arts.
  • Your external placement will take place with one of our leading industry partners, such as the Welsh National Opera, Stage Sound Services, Figure of Eight Events or Sherman Theatre. This opportunity not only gives you practical, real-world experience, but it also allows you to meet and create a network of contacts within the industry.
  • For up to three years after you complete your course, you have the option to ‘top up’ your qualification. You can do this by completing an additional year of study to gain a level 6 qualification as part of our BA (Hons) Stage Management and Technical Theatre.
  • You’ll have talks from, and get to meet, industry professionals from a range of different disciplines, who are regularly invited to speak here at the College – giving you a chance to widen your professional network in readiness for your life after graduation.
  • You’ll take part in visits to local theatre companies, giving you a feel for what the industry is really like. On occasion, when major productions visit Cardiff, we’ll try to arrange visits to the production and organise a tour or talk for your cohort.

Through work experience and hands-on training, you’ll learn how to plan, draught, construct and install sets to a professional standard whilst working on our numerous public productions.

Course overview

Work placements and hands-on training in our workshops are at the centre of this specialist course that focuses on building sets for theatrical productions.

From day one in our state-of-the-art workshops at Llanishen Studios, you’ll learn fundamental construction techniques in carpentry, metalwork and welding. But you’ll also delve into using digital tools that are essential in set construction, such as SketchUp and Auto Cad, and computer numerical control (CNC) equipment.

Following your workshop training, you’ll then become more familiar with the theatre environment, learning basic skills in access equipment, rigging and flying systems. You’ll also gain greater insight into the roles and duties of relevant team members and become involved in the load-in and fit-up of productions here at the College.

The bulk of this course, which is the only one of its kind in the UK, consists of work placements – some of which will be held at the College. The others will take place externally with our professional partners, which are some of the largest and most prestigious companies from the TV, film and theatrical industries in Wales and the UK.

In our welcoming creative environment, you’ll build all the professional, practical and technical skills you need to secure a construction technician role after graduation – a position that’s highly in demand.

Why study this course?

  • Your skills will be in demand – there’s currently a shortage of suitably qualified entry-level technicians in the stage and screen industries.
  • You’ll be guided by expert practitioners who are currently working in today’s industry. They offer you not only first-rate teaching, but mentorship and networking opportunities as well.
  • Your cohort is small – so you’ll receive a very high level of individual support and attention during your course.
  • We’ve partnered with some of the largest companies in the UK, who offer our students professional work placements, these include Welsh National Opera, Cardiff Theatrical Services, Bay Productions, Wild Creations, and Bad Wolf.
  • You’ll take on increasingly high levels of responsibility for creating and installing stage sets for our in-house productions, including opera and musical theatre. You’ll take on the role of construction leader in at least one of your placements. As part of this work, you’ll follow the design process, work with the designer to produce the required construction drawings, lead the construction and the final fit-up of the set.
  • You’ll be based at our large and superbly equipped workshops at Llanishen Studios, which are the largest and best equipped of any competitive conservatoire.
  • At the end of the two-year course, you'll have the option to ‘top-up’ your qualification and receive a BA (Hons) in Design for Performance by completing an additional year of study specialising in scenic construction.
  • Alongside your placements, you’ll have evening classes at the College to help you develop commercial and financial awareness, as well as project management communications and leadership skills.
  • Collaboration runs through everything we do here. You’ll train alongside other design and stage-management students, as well as those studying our performing arts courses. This kind of work helps you to develop an understanding and empathy of other creative arts disciplines – but it also helps you to build partnerships that can last long after you graduate.

In this work placement centred course, you’ll learn how to create stage sets, backdrops and props for public performances, television and film.

Course overview

Our industry-led course will give you all the skills you need to create stage sets, backdrops and props for public performances and work on major television and film projects.

Guided by a team of staff who are experienced professionals, you’ll learn all the main workshop practices of the stage and screen industries.

These practices include fundamental painting and texturing techniques, prop making, metalwork and how to use tools and other relevant equipment – such as core computer skill training (specialising in fusion360 and Auto Cad), which will allow you to operate laser cutters, 3D printers and computer numerical control (CNC) equipment.

You’ll then put your newfound knowledge into practice, where you’ll have several work placements – both in College productions and with our industry partners, who create sets and props for some of the country’s biggest productions.

The only course of its kind outside London, it provides a welcoming, safe environment where you can experiment and really push your creative boundaries. You’ll emerge as a specialist in your discipline, ready to flourish in this ever-changing, demanding industry.

Why study this course?

  • You’ll gain an understanding of the techniques, crafts, structures and working methods used in today’s industry. This includes both metal fabrication and carpentry.
  • You’ll train with a team of staff who are highly skilled industry professionals. They offer you not only first-rate teaching, but mentorship and networking opportunities as well.
  • Most of this two-year course focuses on using your skills in a variety of different settings – both in College productions and in placements with our industry partners.
  • These industry partners are companies who work with some of the largest and most prestigious theatres in the UK and abroad. Our partners and supporters include Theatr Clwyd, The Bakehouse Factory, Welsh National Opera, Cardiff Theatrical Services, Bay Productions, Wild Creations, and Bad Wolf.
  • You’ll work alongside other students from our design and stage management departments and interact with those from across our performing arts courses.
  • In at least one of your work placements, you’ll take on the role of scenic arts leader for a production performed here at the College. This role will see you following the design process, working with the designer to produce the necessary costings and paint samples, as well as overseeing and guiding BA and MA Design students on their production placements.
  • Our strong ties with industry also means that your training reflects the latest best practice in TV, film and stage. These partnerships also allow you to easily build a network of contacts, which is crucial to laying the groundwork for a successful career in the arts sector.
  • Our workshop facilities are the largest and best equipped of any competitive conservatoire – and you’ll be working on the same equipment as those specialists in the industry.
  • We keep the cohort numbers small so you’ll get lots of individual support throughout your course.
  • You’ll also develop your leadership and management abilities, giving you the confidence to thrive in a professional environment after you graduate.
  • After you complete your course, you'll have the option ‘top up’ your qualification. You can do this by completing an additional year of study to gain a level 6 qualification as part of our BA (Hons) Design for Performance degree.

Guildford Opera Company is looking for a stage manager on the book to prompt lighting cues for our production of 'Lucia di Lamermor'. You would work with the stage director and lighting technician during production week to deliver lighting states for a live opera performance, and would be required to attend some rehearsals during November to familiarise yourself with the score and lighting cues.

The performance will take place in St Nicolas' Church, Bury Sreet, Guildford during w/b 30 November to 5 December. Technical and dress rehearsals will take place 1 December (evening) and 2 December (afternoon), and performances will be 3 - 5 December (curtain up 7 pm 3-4 December and 6pm 5 December).

Key Information:

For more information and to apply, click the Opportunity Info link below!

Join established stage and literary agent Alan Brodie, whose clients include the estates of writers including Bertolt Brecht, Noël Coward, Terence Rattigan, Patrick Hamilton and Thornton Wilder, to demystify the world of theatrical estates and rights.

Aimed at mid-career directors, this mid-career masterclass will explore how you might approach an estate, theatre or licensor, what makes an artistic proposal compelling, how decisions around rights are made and where the boundaries of artistic freedom lie. The session will discuss the relationship between protecting a writer's legacy and giving the next generation of artists the freedom to make classic work their own.

This session will culminate in a Q&A.

Essential Information:

For more information and to register your interest, click the Opportunity Info link below!

Mike Bartlett is a multi-award-winning writer for both stage and screen. In this two-hour masterclass, he will offer an insight into his writing process and share ways of approaching writing new plays for larger spaces and audiences, without compromising urgent conversations or the desire to tackle provoking themes.

This mid-career masterclass will culminate in a Q&A where Mike will answer questions.

This masterclass is best suited to mid-career playwrights who are confidently working at studio/mid-scale and looking to scale up.

Essential Information:

For more information and to register your interest, click the Opportunity Info link below!

Join Hannah Smith, Executive Producer at The Wardrobe Ensemble, to understand the practical steps to starting and running a theatre company.

This session will cover the practical steps of registering your company, statuary obligations (including yearly company accounts). It will also share Hannah's reflections on the opportunities (such as funding streams) and challenges that running a company may bring.

This mid-career masterclass aims to demystify the process of setting up and running a theatre company; supporting freelancers to make an informed decision about whether establishing a company is the right next step in their career. The session will culminate in a Q&A.

Essential Information:

For more information and to register your interest, click the Opportunity Info link below!

Discuss the opportunities and challenges of embedding sustainability into a design process.

Led by production manager and designer Jenn Taillefer, hear insights of how you can embed sustainability into the creative process when making design decisions and working with the demands of delivery.

This session will draw on sector-specific tools (such as Julie's Bicycle and Theatre Green Book) and offer both practical and personal reflections on the impact of the climate emergency when making work at mid to large scale.

This mid-career masterclass is aimed at mid-career designers and directors, including associates, who are moving from studio scale to working with larger organisations/partners.

Essential Information:

For more information and to register your interest, click the Opportunity Info link below!

Led by Dipo Baruwa-Etti, this three-hour masterclass will explore the process of playwriting from start to finish, with practical tips and insights which will help you to craft your identity as a writer. After exploring a playwright's toolkit, the second half of the session will allow you to put what you have learned into practice.

Attendees will be asked to bring an excerpt of their writing with them to work on with some input and guidance from Dipo. Aimed at early career theatre professionals who have some experience in playwriting. This could be from university, as a private practice in tandem with other creative work, or could be a career pivot. This is not suitable for writers who have written plays that have been staged or fully developed, or for those who have never tackled writing at all. You should have completed a first draft of a play, or a substantial proportion of a play.

This early-career masterclass will help you move beyond your first draft, covering theory and practice, equipping you with exercises and skills to unlock the next phase of your work.

Essential Information:

For more information and to register your interest, click the Opportunity Info link below!

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