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Find Backstage Work

by Barbara Eifler
3 November 2005

Barbara Eifler worked as a stage manager in rep, on tour and in opera in the UK and abroad for ten years before retiring to have children. She now works for The Stage Management Association and is a regular Technical Talk columnist for The Stage.

Part one: The Complete Theatre Virgin

You've got to be at least sixteen to work in any capacity in theatre these days - this has to do with health and safety as well as insurance considerations.

If you're sixteen and you've never worked in theatre and are considering it - don't leave school just yet; if possible, get some A levels - they will stand you in good stead later and will also allow you to go into higher education if you want to.

Stay on at school, but go and work in the theatre at the same time. The first step is to get involved with as much as possible in this direction at school. Secondly, join the local amateur dramatic or operatic society and do as much as you can there backstage: you will learn quite a lot from the person who's been doing it for the last twenty years plus you will learn a lot from just doing it - there's nothing like your own mistakes for a rapid learning curve.

Thirdly, go and see your local theatre. If it is a receiving house, i.e. there are new shows brought in every week or so from outside, that means that their Technical Manager and Chief Electrician will be looking for casual crew to help with fit-ups and get-outs of sets and lights very regularly. Also, depending on the size of the incoming show, that show might require crew during the week. Yes, of course there will be a regular list of people who get called for this sort of work, but there are always more needed - people are ill, go on holiday, a bigger show than usual comes in and needs more crew, etc. etc..

If you do get some work this way, that might be your ticket into the theatre and you'll never look back. More likely though it will be the way for you to find out exactly what area of backstage work you're interested in - and then you've got to decide whether you'd like to get further training after your A-levels or find a permanent job.

You might also have a producing theatre near you and they also need casual crew. They - and indeed the receiving theatre - might also need some followspot operators for the panto (or another big show). Their stage management team might also be persuaded to take you on as a work placement for a few weeks, as might their costume or sound department. Paid work might follow (but be patient).

If you have no formal qualifications, your best bet is your local venue(s) and making the personal acquaintance of the staff who you're trying to persuade to employ you.

Interlude: Once you have some experience and, if possible, A-levels under your belt, you have two options: apply for 'proper' jobs (more of that in a minute) or apply for a course.

Part Two: You Gotta Learn a Thing or Two

There are hundreds of courses out there which claim to teach you about technical theatre and some of them might even succeed. But which one of them is going to get you a job at the end of it?

The National Council for Drama Training (www.ncdt.co.uk) was formed thirty years ago and is composed of drama school representatives, employers and unions. It aims to give confidence to the employers that students are being trained to the standard that they require and to the students that the course they are doing will teach them what employers are looking for. If at all possible, you should try to go on a course accredited by the NCDT.

They tend to be full-time courses, either one or two or three years long, some with diplomas on graduation, some with degrees. Student loans are available for degree courses. Funding for vocational courses is discretionary, but there are scholarships available, either for particular schools, or through the DADA (Drama and Dance Awards) Scheme for places at various accredited colleges. The funding situation changes all the time as government introduce new schemes and abolish old ones - find some solid information before taking any decisions.

Apart from funding considerations you should bear in mind whether (or not) a degree might come in useful at some point in the future when a career change or postgraduate training might be considered.

You can train in stage management, lighting, sound, scenic/prop construction and costume; most colleges will introduce you to all of these elements in varying combinations and with different emphases, usually with a bit of design thrown in. Design (set or costumes) proper is usually a separate subject and you should look at www.theatredesign.org.uk for guidance.

Part Three: No College - What Now?

It's not an option for everyone to go to college - financially or in terms of time commitment. What else can you do?

If you've managed to find a way into your local venue and have some paid work through that, that will be very valuable for your further career.

• Your local theatre might eventually have some long-term work for you if they know you as a casual crew member.
• But they might not. In that case, cast your net a little wider to the next but one venues and theatres, to companies touring in your area, to anybody in the field you're interested in who crosses your path. If at all possible meet people in the flesh who might give you a job - even by hanging out in the same pub. Maybe they won't have a job for you, but someone sooner or later will ask them if they know anybody for this or that project. Personal contact and being local (i.e. readily available) will always pay off in the long run.
• In terms of personal contact - what used to be called networking - it is very useful, too, to join any appropriate industry associations. According to your interests, check out the ALD (Association of Lighting Designers, www.ald.org.uk), the ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians, www.abtt.org.uk) or the SMA (Stage Management Association, www.stagemanagementassociation.co.uk). They all take non-professional and student members and the cost of subscription is not only tax deductible, but will pay for itself in a very short time. All these associations have meetings, talks, get-togethers and trade shows - attend as many as you can. If someone has seen your face and registered your name, they are much more likely to give you a job, or at the very least an interview, in the future. So go out.
• But stay in on some nights for the electronic networking: forums and chatrooms for technical theatre of which there are an increasing amount. See for instance www.blue-room.org.uk or the ABTT website www.abtt.org.uk
• Read any magazines and publications that relate to the field you want to work in - that way you will know what's going on, what jobs are advertised, who's doing what and stay on top of technological developments in your field. Top of the list, naturally, The Stage. The associations also have their own magazines. Also look at www.etnow.com
• Writing to people cold, i.e. when they are not specifically looking for someone, is also a good idea, provided you have time, patience and a lot of stamps to invest - it might take you a lot of letters before you hit that lucky moment when someone opens your envelope the day they're looking for someone. Two useful publications for this are Contacts, available annually from The Spotlight (www.spotlight.com) and The British Theatre Directory, also available annually from Richmond House Publishing (www.rhpco.co.uk). The latter is a tad expensive, so check if your local library stocks it or could get it for you. Both books give you contact details for venues, producing theatres, producers, technical companies and a lot more.

A pause. If you don't go to college, there are still various possibilities for acquiring qualifications through working.

• There are some apprenticeships (rare, though on the increase again).
• There are some theatres that will send staff on day release courses to the local college or other part-time courses (rare, though again becoming more popular).
• Many employers appreciate the training provided by the ABTT - short courses on specific subjects which can be collected into bronze, silver and gold awards with certification from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; you can also undertake this training yourself if you join the ABTT as an individual (this is becoming very popular).
• Skillscene (www.skillscene.com) is a new organisation seeking to develop work-based qualifications - a chance to have your experience accumulated by working accredited and recognised officially (new).

An Aside: different jobs backstage do require slightly different approaches:

• For Stage Management I would recommend college, though there are some theatres taking local apprentices; people rarely work their way up.
• For Lighting you could go to college (particularly if wishing to move into design) or you could work your way up from follow-spotter.
• For Sound, college or working your way up; you can also come into sound from a sound engineering background with a degree or equivalent course from a university or higher education college. Rather than through a theatre, you might try and find work through the large sound companies who provide systems and often operators for shows. Their names can be found in Contacts or the British Theatre Directory.
• For Scenery Building, college is also a strong possibility; or finding a workshop (either attached to a large company, e.g. Royal Shakespeare Company, or a commercial one) prepared to take you on as an apprentice. Training outside college is pretty much on the job - it is unlikely in the smaller companies that the people building the set are either cabinet-makers or qualified welders; most learn the skills for set building directly from those before them. There is also a route into this through working as stage crew in theatre. For scenery companies see Contacts or British Theatre Directory.
• For General Technicians - Stage or Lighting. A lot nowadays have gone through college which will cover all the technical disciplines in more or less detail - this will come in handy when on your first job you are responsible for putting the set up, lighting the show, writing a health & safety policy, stage managing for the incoming amateur show and designing the set for the school production. But again you can work your way up from casual crew.
• For Design see www.theatredesign.org.uk

Part Four: How else do I get the job I want?

• Buy The Stage every week and apply for jobs
• For stage management - join the Stage Management Association (www.stagemanagementassociation.co.uk) whether you've been to college or not. It circulates details of members available for work to over 900 potential employers every month. Only SMA members also have the facility of putting their CVs on the Spotlight website - free.
• The SMA and the ABTT carry job adverts for members on their websites.
• Equity (representing stage managers and set and lighting designers though not generally technicians) has a jobline only members can access (www.equity.org.uk)

There are a lot of websites around nowadays claiming they'll get you technical work. Some of them do, a lot don't. A few warnings:

• If they make the employers pay to view your details, it's unlikely that they will.
• But beware if they ask you for money - what is their success rate and what will they do for your cash?
• Some of them are very specifically for one part of the industry, for instance corporate events, and until you've got a serious amount of experience in theatre and have got your foot in the corporate door at least once, these kind of websites aren't going to work for you.
• Beware of how your details are safeguarded - I found one displaying photos and personal telephone numbers of someone registered with them on a publicly accessible part of their website - do you want any surfing nutter to have your home address?

The End: If you have a passion, you will find that job - but you might need some patience. And there are many many different jobs backstage in theatre and the live entertainment industry, so be patient here, too, until you find what you're best at and enjoy most.

Enjoying the work is important because it is unlikely you'll be doing it for the money - theatre and related industries offer below par wages for the skills you need in comparison to other industries. But it is also unlikely that any other industry can offer you as much variety, as much creative input right from starting level (the casual follow-spotter being as much part of the show created live that night as the star) and as much sheer fun. Oh, yeah, and the social life's not bad, either.

4) Links

Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT)

Association of Lighting Designers (ALD)

British Theatre Directory

Equity

National Council for Drama Training

Skillscene

Spotlight

Subscribe to The Stage

Stage Management Association (SMA)