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At Open Door, our Behind the Scenes Access Programme supports participants aged 17-30 who are passionate about a career in Technical Theatre and Productions Arts and who want to apply to study at one of our partner schools. Technical Theatre and Productions Arts careers can include the likes of scenic art, theatre technology, set construction, costume construction, prop-making, set/costume design and more!

Our current partner schools are Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, LAMDA, Royal Welsh College of Music, and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. We can give you the support you need to approach your interviews with confidence, knowing that you have benefited from the advice and mentoring from our selected industry professionals.

The Behind the Scenes Access programme provides participants with:

Explore drama and performance-making in professional theatre venues and a wide range of community and industry contexts.

With a strong focus on practice-based learning, you'll explore contemporary theatre and screen performance-making.

You'll build a portfolio of professional skills for working in the creative industries through collaboration with other creative students, specialist tutors, community partners, and industry professionals.

You'll develop specialist subject knowledge and an awareness of how you might fit into and lead contemporary trends. We’ll help you explore your talents and shape our Drama degree to fit your aspirations.

Learn creative skills and perform in our state-of-the-art Michael Morpurgo Theatre at our Broxbourne campus.

With professional dance studios, a recording and TV studio, plus tutors with industry experience, you’ll learn the skills of the trade in preparation for your career.

Our 140-seat performance theatre, will allow you to showcase your talents with the help of the latest lighting and sound technology.

Free to Home students under 19 on 31 August.

Get set for your career in the spotlight. Learn from our expert tutors and rehearse in our professional theatre to maximise your potential on the stage.

This is where it gets serious. We can help you develop a wide and marketable range of professional performance skills. We emphasise high-level performing, supported by in-depth analysis of relevant theory.

Join us in our state-of-theatre, studio rooms and recording studios.

Your course will be delivered at Derby Theatre, a fully equipped, professional theatre and major live performance venue, allowing you to gain valuable industry experience and contacts as you learn.

This contemporary theatre and performance programme will develop your theatre and performance skills such as acting, directing and devising for your career as a professional theatre artist. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to showcase your work and you may be involved in performances regionally, nationally and internationally.

This dynamic and exciting theatre arts programme is taught by practising professional artists with expertise in their own fields. Built around process, experimentation and risk taking you will encounter a range of practices to explore and develop theatre making and performance skills. An exciting part of your studies will be the professional work experience within Derby Theatre or partner organisations which will contribute to the development of your professional portfolio. You will take part in a number of public performances across your years of study and in a variety of venues, including main house and studio theatre spaces, off-site in the community, schools, and art centres.

In this multidisciplinary course you will develop technical, design, and production knowledge and skills for theatre and live performance in the growing and dynamic creative industries. Your real-world experience will be enhanced by learning and working alongside students from our BA (Hons) Theatre Arts course and external partners as you become part of the day-to-day operations of a busy professional venue: Derby Theatre.

You will benefit from being able to draw from the knowledge of a wide range of industry professionals to enhance your networks, relatability and exposure to the industry. There will be opportunities to take part in projects drawn from Derby Theatre’s Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) agenda on community, youth and education.   

You will experiment and familiarise yourself with the possibilities of existing and emerging disciplines in the field, such as light, sound, projection, video, digital media, immersive and interactive storytelling, extended realities, AI, stage technology, costume and set design, scenography, production, project and stage management. You will also be supported to explore expanded design practices beyond the theatre stage, such as performance installations, sound installations, interactive audio walks, design-led, site-specific, immersive, socially engaged and devised performances, exhibition and event design in galleries and found spaces.

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