Rachel Hartland, stage manager, Northcott Theatre, Exeter says:

Hi Jessica,

It’s difficult to answer but I do know an excellent stage manager who first of all studied humanities. I am slightly curious though and assume ...

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Rachel Hartland, stage manager, Northcott Theatre, Exeter says:

Hi Jessica,

It’s difficult to answer but I do know an excellent stage manager who first of all studied humanities. I am slightly curious though and assume that as you aren’t yet old enough to go into stage management that the humanities degree is filling a gap.

In my experience of good stage management the definite advantages to getting work is doing a recognised stage management course at drama school, there are however several post grad courses that maybe you could go onto study after your humanities degree. The most important thing that will make you stand out at an interview (for drama school or work) is experience, so the more involved backstage you can get during your degree the better.

I think the box office assistant job would be better than a job not in theatre but dependant on the size of the theatre, it isn’t a natural or obvious career path, certainly in middle to large scale theatres there tends to be limited day to day contact between box office and backstage staff.

Good luck with your degree

Best wishes

Rachel

Jill Robertshaw works at Nottingham Playhouse and is a stage manager turned administrator. She also lectures part time in stage management at Lincoln University and says:

Dear Jessica

To answer your questions:

The humanities degr...

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Jill Robertshaw works at Nottingham Playhouse and is a stage manager turned administrator. She also lectures part time in stage management at Lincoln University and says:

Dear Jessica

To answer your questions:

The humanities degree is not pointless, but you don’t need it to get into stage management.

The best ways are either going to drama school or working your way up.

A job in box office can be a way in as you can get to know people in the theatre, BUT, a job backstage would be better–something like followspotting, dressing, crewing etc.

This is the best way to gain experience and could lead to a role in SM in the future. The more you have on your CV the better!

As you are doing an OU degree, it means you should be able to gain practical experience as well as study.

As well as professional theatres, try local amateur groups as they normally welcome people backstage. The more experience you have, the better.

If you did decide to go down the drama school route, then, they don’t accept students until they are 18.

Take a look at www.drama.ac.uk which tells you about the best ones to go to (I went to LAMADA myself, and I can highly recommend it) Hope this helps.

Good luck

Jill

Barbara Eifler from Stage Management Association says:

Dear Jessica,

Whilst no education is ever pointless, if you’re interested in moving into stage management, I would suggest that you investigate getting some vocational traini...

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Barbara Eifler from Stage Management Association says:

Dear Jessica,

Whilst no education is ever pointless, if you’re interested in moving into stage management, I would suggest that you investigate getting some vocational training.

The best is provided by the drama schools accredited by the National Council for Drama Training

There are a variety of courses–diplomas, degree courses, postgraduate courses, ranging from one year to three years in length.

All of the courses are very practical and hands-on; are usually taught by former and current practitioners with lots of experience and therefore well-placed to introduce you to the industry and the work you’ll be doing realistically.

The NCDT has the support of the industry and employers and therefore graduates are likely to be thought of as adequately trained and find it easier to get onto the first few rungs of the job ladder.

The connection between these courses and the industry are also strong in terms of the work placements you would be helped to find and support in finding work after graduating.
Most courses, I believe, won’t take you until you’re 18 and have A-levels or equivalent–but do go and find the full list of colleges on the NCDT website or on that of the Conference of Drama Schools

However, many people cannot afford the time or money to go to drama school. If you go for a degree, the funding would be available to you as for any other university course, but not so for Diplomas, though you could be eligible under DADA (Dance and Drama Awards) which you have to apply to separately.

If drama school is not an option for you, then working your way up is also a possibility, but you must be prepared for this route to take you a little longer and possibly be a bit more roundabout.

Do go and work at your local theatre in whatever capacity at the earliest opportunity–even if applying to drama school, this will stand you in good stead. Whilst Box Office work isn’t backstage work, anything that will get you into the theatre as a paid employee has to be good news and you should use any opportunity that gives you to go and talk to those backstage, shadow them, observe and hopefully get work in that area soon.

Give yourself some flexibility–if you take on so many hours at the box office that you haven’t got time to do any other work offered (even though you’d prefer to do that), then that would be frustrating in the long run. Be free enough to be able to accept the odd casual job, maybe as followspot operator, or crew or dresser.

It will work eventually if you’re committed, persistent and prove yourself to be a good teamworker, a quick learner and a reliable person to have around.

The Stage Management Association has a FREE Career Guide which you can download from our website
(Publications).

We’re also running a one-day course this summer on Tuesday 15th July which is a taster course for anyone interested in Stage Management–to apply for further details on ‘Elements of Stage Management’ and to book, please contact admin@stagemanagementassociation.co.uk.

I hope this helps!