Stage Management and Technical Theatre Training

If you love the world of theatre are practical and talented but don't want to act you should consider training for Stage Management, the essential link between all branches of a theatre company.  Technical Theatre courses can cover anything from Sound and Electrics to Props, Scenic Construction and Wardrobe.  Stage Management and Technical Theatre courses at drama school are designed to provide you with the theory, practical knowledge and hands-on experience you will need to achieve a career in entertainment industry.

Many people are not aware of the wide variety of jobs that exist in theatre and its related media industries, not least the crucial role played by stage managers and technicians.

Unlike the acting students with whom they will train, the employment rate for graduates of NCDT accredited Stage Management and Technical Theatre courses is 95 to 100%. 

The Stage Manager

Stage Managers are the essential link between all of the different branches of a theatre company. Their role is to manage rehearsals, the actors, directors, designers, props and costume fittings, as well as managing the performances on stage and liasing with the box office and front of house staff. Great communication and diplomacy skills are essential, as are organisation, stamina and the ability to see the way through a crisis.

Some people who train and work as stage managers choose to stay in stage management all their working lives. Others have successfully moved into administration or producing. Many cross from theatre to television, to trade shows or to the music industry. The skills needed are similar whatever the area of work. The high level of practical experience and responsibility experienced by stage management graduates from drama schools is well known within the industry and on leaving you will find yourself fully equipped to seek employment in whichever area of the industry interests you most.

Electrics and Lighting

A career in stage electrics offers a wide variety of job opportunities in a wide variety of media: follow-spotting the big star in a West End musical; firing the pyrotechnics in a rock concert; operating the computerised lighting board for a piece of modern dance; rigging the lighting for a conference or ice-show; designing the lighting for A Midsummer Night’s Dream or a new TV sitcom or co-ordinating the equipment and technical crew for a multi-national trade launch.

The work is a challenging combination of technical knowledge and artistic creativity, offering great job satisfaction and the chance to make a very real contribution to theatre and television. Drama school courses provide a training in the basics of stage electrics and  lighting design such as rigging a lantern to familiarising yourself with the latest in moving light technology. Students will also learn about the process of lighting design and how to produce a cue synopsis and lighting plan for a show. Many schools now use computer-based equipment and the emphasis in both lighting  and electrics is clearly on digital formats.

Sound

Graduates in Sound can expect to find employment in theatre, radio and television.  Training in Sound will equip the graduate with the necessary skills to both create and replay sound effects using a variety of analogue and digital recording and playback equipment.  Students will also be taught the basics of rigging, electrical theory and practice, the theory and practice of theatre sound and the history of theatre sound.  Sound Design is a growth area in theatre and students will have opportunities to learn and practice the art and process of Sound Design, how to create a Sound Plot and cue synopsis for a show, working with modern state-of-the-art equipment. 

Scenic Artist

The life of a scenic artist or design assistant can involve anything from reproducing the Mona Lisa’s hands twenty feet high in every detail, making giant inflatables for a rock concert to making a backcloth so full of glitter and sequins that it steals the show.  Employment will mainly be freelance, although some theatres, TV companies and scenic workshops employ full-time scenic artists.   A course in scenic design teaches techniques such as marbling, ragging, wood-graining and texturing, as well as teaching organisation of materials, budget and time management.

Prop Maker

Prop Making requires skills and background knowledge in research, sculpting, casting, moulding and period reproduction, which when combined with creativity and initiative will enable students to tackle the reproduction of anything from a Grecian statue to the Crown Jewels. Prop-making courses provide a comprehensive training in the use of a multitude of materials and techniques, such as fibreglassing, casting, modelling, upholstery and furniture making.   Drama school courses equip the student not only for a career in theatre but also in film, television and video.

Scenic Construction

Scenic Construction graduates work happily with timber and metal; they make sets for stage, video and television productions and can find themselves running their own scenic construction workshops. Any training in this area involves working with stage machinery, from basic hemp flying and counterweight flying to construction techniques for a variety of media.

Master carpenters are often the most valued people in the theatre – the best know what is safe and what is not, they know what won’t work in terms of staging and they can translate the designer’s modelbox into the real thing.

Costume Production

As the wardrobe is a central department for all productions, whether it be in theatre, film or television, skilled wardrobe personnel are always in demand.  Costume production requires skills in design interpretation, research and cutting and making.  Managerial ability is often required.  Training in this area will involve tailoring, fabric dying, millinery, hairstyles and wigs.  A member of a wardrobe department would work closely with designers, actors and directors.

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