Work In Theatre is an opportunity to explore, hear more about and take part in workshops about the hidden areas of theatre that people often do not know exist.
This hands-on work experience course for young people aged 14 – 17yrs offers workshops, talks and practical activities in:
Dates: Mon 27 – Fri 31 July
Time: 10.30am – 4pm each day
There are a limited number of subsidised places to improve equal access to the industry for those who are disadvantaged by their socio-economic background, additional needs, Black, Asian & ethnic backgrounds and those in care or previously in care. Please email jackiealexander@atgentertainment.com to apply.
Young Directors is a 10-week introduction to directing live performance course for young people aged 13-17, hosted by Northern Stage.
The sessions consist of a series of interactive workshops, masterclasses with industry professionals, and opportunities to see shows at Northern Stage.
Young Directors will learn all about the essentials of directing live performance – from learning how to work with actors to exploring scripts and discovering the kind of theatre you’d like to create. No previous experience needed – just bring along your desire to discover more about different ways to make theatre!
Deadline to apply: Sunday 16 August
The cost of the course varies depending on your circumstances. Northern Stage have created a payment scale (see below) to help you identify which fee is appropriate for you. Fees cover the cost of the 10 sessions as well as tickets to selected performances at Northern Stage as part of the programme.
Fees are required to be paid in advance of starting the course and more information about how to do this will follow if you are successfully selected to take part.
Standard fee: £150 (If you have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Discounted fee: £90 (If you do not have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Bursary places: FREE*
*Bursary places are limited and bursary applications from young people from a low-socioeconomic background, from the global majority or with a disability will be prioritised, in line with Northern Stage’s strategic priorities. As part of a bursary place, we can also support with the cost of travelling to and from sessions.
Young Designers is a 10-week course for young people aged 13-17, hosted by Northern Stage.
Explore how designers bring theatre to life in their weekly introductory masterclasses! Guided by industry professionals, you’ll get hands-on experience in costume design, hair and make-up design, and work with elements of technical theatre.
This course will focus on design for live performance, and you’ll learn skills applicable to theatre, film, TV, live music, and other visual art forms. Sessions are led by the experienced Northern Stage team, and you’ll work alongside guest artists and creatives working professionally in the region.
Understand the principles of designing and sourcing costumes for performance. Develop costume ideas, create mood boards, observe demonstrations, experiment with different design techniques, build your own costumes, try your hand at special effects makeup. You’ll work towards a mini exhibition at the end of the course to showcase your skills. No previous experience needed – just bring along your enthusiasm for creating!
Deadline to apply: Sunday 16 August
The cost of the course varies depending on your circumstances. Northern Stage have created a payment scale (see below) to help you identify which fee is appropriate for you. Fees cover the cost of the 10 sessions as well as tickets to selected performances at Northern Stage as part of the programme.
Fees are required to be paid in advance of starting the course and more information about how to do this will follow if you are successfully selected to take part.
Standard fee: £150 (If you have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Discounted fee: £90 (If you do not have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Bursary places: FREE*
*Bursary places are limited and bursary applications from young people from a low-socioeconomic background, from the global majority or with a disability will be prioritised, in line with Northern Stage’s strategic priorities. As part of a bursary place, we can also support with the cost of travelling to and from sessions.
Are you interested in a career behind the scenes in the creative industries? Are you creative and organised, someone who strives for the best and wants to make theatre as exciting, relevant and inclusive as possible to audiences, participants and artists?
Watford Palace Theatre are offering an 18-month Level 3 Creative Venue Technician Apprenticeship starting this September.
The successful applicant will join and learn from a team that delivers first-class technical support to all Watford Palace Theatre productions & performances. You will be involved in all aspects of the Technical team’s work, including working shows, fit-ups and get-outs and contributing to the maintenance of the theatre’s building and systems.
Salary: £29,859 for the duration of the 18 month contract, plus UK Theatre/BECTU payments (“TMA Get-Outs/Missed Meal Breaks) as applicable in accordance with BECTU regulations, and 3% pension contribution.
Hours: It is a full-time commitment, 40 hours per week including college study time, averaged over the calendar month. The post-holder will be required to work some evenings and weekends (an informal TOIL system operates).
Deadline: 11:59pm, 22 July
We have a limited number of £7 tickets available for The Final Exam: Gao Kao at the Bridewell Theatre, London.
Tickets are available from 23 - 24 August at various times.
What if the most important exam of your life became a battle you had to physically fight?
On the day of the Gaokao — China’s high-stakes university entrance examination — a student enters the exam hall expecting to prove her future. Instead, she finds herself fighting against her own examiners, each representing a different subject and a different definition of success.
Through physical theatre, stage combat, multimedia projection and storytelling, The Final Exam: Gao Kao explores the pressure to achieve, the expectations placed on young people, and the struggle to discover your own voice in a world full of “correct answers”.
Inspired by the experiences of students navigating intense educational systems, this powerful new production asks: When everything you have been taught tells you what to become, how do you decide who you really are?
A bold and emotional theatrical journey about ambition, identity and the courage to question.
Age Guidance: 12+
Running Time: 75 mins, 60 mins
Content/Production Warnings: This show contains depictions of suicide, stage combat with simulated physical violence, intense academic pressure.
Mandala Theatre Company are seeking passionate early-career theatre makers from Global Majority backgrounds (Ages 24-34) who are ready to embark on a transformative creative and leadership journey.
Over six weeks in Dahab, Egypt (all expenses paid) from late October to early December 2026, participants will be immersed in experiential learning and discovery of ancestral and historical civilisations, engaging with this ancestral land through creativity, ceremony, ritual, and cultural exploration. Through communal living, land-based learning, and cultural excursions, they will undertake a transformative creative development journey rooted in cultural memory, identity, and place.
Working alongside a professional dramaturg, writer, director, choreographer, and filmmaker, these early-career theatre makers will devise and create original stories, develop characters and scenarios, and to produce short films alongside a full-length touring play focused on identity, belonging and reclaiming their narrative.
To apply, please submit the following by 20 July 2026:
* A self-tape of a monologue or speech that aligns with the themes of Heart Lab.
* A short expression of interest outlining your creative practice, aspirations, and what you hope to gain from the experience
* A theatre CV (if you have one).
Please email your applications to yasmin@mandalatheatre.co.uk.
Auditions
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an in-person audition on one of the following dates:
Birmingham
* 27 July 2026
* 28 July 2026
London
* 29 July 2026
* 30 July 2026
Further details regarding audition venues and times will be shared with shortlisted applicants.
Participants selected for the programme will work collaboratively to develop original creative work, including short films and a full-length theatre production. There is also the potential opportunity to be involved in a paid touring theatre production during Spring 2027.
Deaf Theatre Makers is delighted to offer 8 paid placement opportunities for deaf creatives across the UK. Working with our partner organisations, these placements are designed to provide hands on experience within professional theatre settings and help deaf people develop skills, confidence and industry connections.
Whether you are interested in producing, technical theatre, programming, creative development or exploring a career behind the scenes, this is an opportunity to learn directly from experienced theatre professionals.
Successful applicants will receive:
Placements do not need to take place over five consecutive days. Depending on the host organisation and your learning goals, activity may be spread across a project, production or period of time.
(shared placement across both organisations)
This placement offers an introduction to producing, programming and arts management across two very different cultural organisations. You will gain insight into how work is programmed, developed and delivered, while meeting staff from a range of departments.
areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible from August 2026 onwards.
This placement can be tailored to your interests and career goals. Working with staff across the organisation, you will have the opportunity to explore the areas of theatre that interest you most.
potential areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible.
This placement will be hands on and can be shaped around your interests and offers the opportunity to gain experience across a range of departments within a producing theatre, or to focus on one or two areas of interest if that is preferred.
potential areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible.
This placement is ideal for anyone interested in producing, technical theatre and the development of new work.
The placement will be linked to a festival taking place at Sheffield Theatres, offering the opportunity to observe and support activity during a busy period of theatre making.
areas of focus include:
timing: Applicants should be available for activity taking place between 28th September and 10th October 2026.
Monologue Bootcamp, runs in collaboration with Leeds Conservatoire, prepares future Drama School applicants for the audition process, equipping them with the skills to choose, interpret and deliver a monologue.
Monologue Bootcamp prepares potential Drama School applicants for the competitive audition process, through a series of workshops to help participants research, interpret and deliver a monologue.
It runs in collaboration with Leeds Conservatoire, and is free for participants.
Applicants should also meet one of the following criteria:
If you have previously participated in Monologue Bootcamp you are not eligible to apply for it again.
*evidence for these criteria will be required with your application.
Please fill out this form
Deadline to apply for this programme is Friday 31st June 2026.
We have a limited number of £10 tickets available for Cleansed at the Almeida Theatre.
Tickets are available from 21 - 24 July at 7.30pm.
Click the link below to access up to 2 tickets.
I love you now.
I’m with you now.
I’ll do my best, moment to moment, not to betray you. Now.
That’s it. No more. Don’t make me lie to you.
Two lovers and two siblings.
How far are they prepared to go to prove their devotion? And will their love survive when subjected to the most extreme violence?
Sarah Kane was one of the most original and controversial voices in British playwriting history. Rebecca Frecknall (A Streetcar Named Desire; Cabaret) directs Kane’s masterpiece which explores the brutality of desire and asks what happens to love when there’s nothing else worth living for?
Age Guidance: 16+
Running Time: TBC
Content/Production Warnings: This production includes torture, murder and violence, including sexual violence, depictions of sex and nudity, drug abuse and drugging, depictions of suicide, homophobic and misogynistic language and blood. This production also includes blackouts, flashing lights, latex and loud, sudden noises.
A UK-wide free training programme for ages 18–30
Dive into the world of theatre-making and shape the future of theatre with OV Theatre Makers, a free, six-month training programme.
With the support of director Joseph Hancock and leading professional theatre makers, you’ll explore contemporary theatre-making practices to provide you with a toolkit of skills to begin developing your own work and career. Developing a broad range of theatre making skills from writing and devising to directing and producing you will then have the chance to showcase your work in a Scratch Night at a professional theatre venue.
Travel to London will be required and we’re able to support with costs if needed.
The programme will include:
