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.
Boys in Motion is a newly established, collaborative outreach project between the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) at The Place, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and Sadler’s Wells.
We invite all male-identifying and non-binary young people to experience high-quality, fun and explorative dance workshops. Led by industry-leading male-identifying artists, these tailored workshops are designed to help young people explore their passion for dance, regardless of their background or ability. We aim to provide a nurturing yet challenging environment where young people can learn and thrive in dance with support from well-established dance organisations.
Hosted at The Place, the weekend of dance will be taught by New Adventures dance artists and supported by The Place musicians. Participants will have a special chance to work with dedicated artists over two days engaging in warm-up games and creative exercises. This will culminate in crafting a unique dance piece to share with families and friends on the final day.
In the lead-up to the sharing, participants will gain an overview of the iconic Swan Lake story, learn choreography from the New Adventures' Swan Lake show, and implement what they have learned into their final piece.
The final day will also consist of a Q&A with current and past Swan Lake dancers followed by an extraordinary opportunity to watch Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.
Dates: 14 and 15 December 2024, 10am - 4pm
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?
Submissions are now open for The Bill Cashmore Award: One Act Play Prize!
The Bill Cashmore Award is presented by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and is a Young Lyric new playwriting award for young writers aged 18-30. Young Lyric is funded to support and provide opportunities for children and young people aged up to 30 years through programmes, workshops and activities.
The Bill Cashmore Award prize offers a paid opportunity for two new one-act plays to be professionally produced at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. The prize is for writers aged 18 – 30 to submit new scripts for selection by an industry-leading panel of the Lyric’s Artistic Associates. The two winning plays will run as a double bill and will be performed by the Lyric’s SPRINGBOARD trainee actors in Autumn 2025.
PARAMETERS OF THE AWARD
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 23 December 2024 at 12pm
See FAQs for more details on our criteria.
Where do you start when you are looking for a career in the theatre industry? It’s challenging getting a job in any industry and the competitive nature of the theatre industry is often seen as a barrier. If you follow our top 10 tips, you will definitely be in a better position to not only get a job in the theatre industry but also be a success in your chosen field.
Having goals is something that will help you in the long run as it will give you something to work towards. But don’t forget, the journey to any career is never a straight, easy path - especially in theatre. There will be things that take you in all different directions and this is normal. As long as you don’t lose sight of what you want to gain and what you want your end goal to be, you will find the right career in theatre for you.
Not everyone wants to study and that’s fine because that’s not the only way to begin your theatre career or be successful within the theatre industry. There are so many ways to do this so you must do your research to find out what these ways are. We’ve made it easy for you because we’ve put all this information in one place. It’s good to have a rough idea of what job role you would like to pursue within the theatre industry. If you’re not sure what job in theatre you are best suited to, don’t worry. Our handy blogs describing different jobs within theatre will help give you an insight to the many different roles available and what you need to do to get there.
Take a look at our job descriptions here.
It will benefit you so much to have as much experience within your chosen area of theatre as possible, especially if you don’t want to study. If you don’t have a formal qualification (for example, a degree), having experience is what is going to make you stand out to potential employers when applying for jobs. Experience comes in many different forms but the three main forms are work experience, apprenticeships and internships. You can find information about all three of these experience opportunities here.
This is always a good suggestion because let’s face it, who doesn’t want to go to the theatre? Not only that but seeing a variety of different theatre shows will help you if you’re interested in a particular area of theatre e.g. if you’re interested in lighting you can take notes of lighting designs which peak your interest or are particularly inventive. Some theatre tickets can be a little expensive but don’t worry we’ve got that covered too. You can find a number of different ticket schemes where you can get discounted theatre tickets right here.
This is the 21st century and almost everything is on social media. Try and be as active as you can without becoming anti-social. It’s a great tool to keep up-to-date with industry news, shows and upcoming theatremakers. It may sound obvious but never post any offensive or discriminating posts on any of your social media channels. Some employers like to view their employees social media pages and you don’t want something inappropriate to pop up that you wrote 10 years ago!
This can be daunting but once you get into the flow of it, it can be really fun and so invaluable to you in the future. You should network every chance you get and this doesn’t always have to be at a networking event; it may be a fellow Performer you met at an audition or your best friends cousin who is the Head of Lighting behind Wicked the musical. There are also loads of networking events available for young theatremakers which you can find here.
It may be difficult at times to remain positive when starting out in a new career in theatre but it is really important to approach everything with positivity, especially when you’re going for interviews/auditions. If you’re an Actor auditioning can be constant throughout your career and you must always go into your auditions thinking that anything is possible. This is the same with any interviews for offstage roles too. If you go in with a negative attitude it will only go downhill from there.
When you’re new in the industry (even when you are more established) you’re likely to make mistakes. Of course you are, you’re only human and this is totally natural. Accept you have made a mistake but always make sure you have learnt from the experience and then move on to the next thing. There is no need to lose sleep over a little mistake because this may affect your ability to complete other tasks and could lead you to make more mistakes. Accept it, learn from it and move on to the next thing.
When you’re at the very beginning of your career in theatre, it’s wise to be realistic about what you want to achieve as well as what you are able to achieve. If you begin with an unrealistic goal it is unlikely you will get there at the beginning of your career and this can knock your confidence. Remember, every little step counts and these things take time.
Fringe Theatres and Festivals are a popular way to get a new piece of theatre noticed and produced. It can also be a great way to kick start your theatre career. Fringe venues are all over the country and features every type of theatre you can imagine. Most shows are brand new that no one has ever seen before. One of the more well-known fringe festivals is Edinburgh Fringe. The TV show Fleabag started as a one woman show at the Festival. It was later adapted into an internationally famous award-winning TV show that we all know. Fringe theatre is a great opportunity to learn, get tips and ideas on theatre, performance, comedy and more, the sky's the limit. Remember to always make sure you are paid fairly when working on the fringe.
https://www.ypia.co.uk/posts/10-tips-for-getting-into-theatre
https://targetcareers.co.uk/career-sectors/arts-and-creative/1015387-careers-in-theatre
