How do you get secondary school pupils interested in the theatre? You show them the ropes. You get enterprising and promote participation, you raise their ambitions and aspirations, and you provide chalk-face creative learning experiences.
This is precisely what the acclaimed Dundee Rep has done through a training and skills development programme called Enterprise @ the Rep, a flagship work experience and creative pathways event for S4-6 students from across the city.
The exciting initiative gives young people unique insights into the world of theatre and what is involved in working in a range of creative careers. It also provides them with golden opportunities to polish their employability skills in a super-supportive environment.
This year, Dundee Rep welcomed eighty young people from Dundee and the surrounding areas into its space for two energising days to work and learn alongside over 30 theatre staff and visiting artists across eleven departments.
Home of Scotland's only permanent ensemble company, as well as Scottish Dance Theatre, Dundee Rep is a hive of creative energy, a space for engagement with a wide range of art forms, and packed with talent building-wide.
Being able to tap into the amazing human resources of a professional theatre through Enterprise @ the Rep is a real privilege and enables young people to appreciate the diversity and plurality of voices that go into making a theatre a creative, exciting and fun place to work.
Mission and vision
Enterprise @ the Rep sits at the heart of what Dundee Rep is all about – creating and discovering together. It plays a lead role in arts education and engagement across the city and beyond, with a mission to ‘engage, support and dare to take risks’ and to create ‘unmissable experiences for the curious, from nae hair to grey hair.’
Following a formal job application, shortlisting, workshop and interview process, this intensive project is a thrilling opening which provides young people with the chance to gain real life experience of being an employee in a theatre, under the mentorship of Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre staff.
Taking inspiration from their festive production of The Snow Queen, the theatre-based project saw students developing skills in their area of choice including dance, acting, directing, wardrobe, creative learning, scenic design, stage management, marketing, sound and lighting, and this year also saw the addition of a team of composers who collaborated with award-winning musical theatre company Noisemaker.
The climax of the project is a performance and presentation for a specially invited audience of education specialists, industry professionals, family and friends. This is where students share their working roles with each other, and for some that means showing a film they've made of their time at the two-day event.
Michael Stewart is Deputy Head at Harris Academy in Dundee and he has seen first-hand how participating in Enterprise @ the Rep has ‘literally changed the lives’ of some pupils. He believes it is a wonderful inclusive opportunity and by taking part they have developed their skillset in a variety of ways: ‘Our young people return to school enthused, determined to succeed and displaying real positive mental health and well-being.’
Impact
What Enterprise @ the Rep does so well is give young people a chance to taste job roles, dip their toes into potential careers, get to know others and discuss ideas within a vibrant, world class, award winning performing arts organisation.
Their programme provides relevant, challenging, enjoyable and appropriate learning experiences supported by a quality process and creative structure second to none. This enables students to see theatre and dance as a viable career choice and so positively influences their future choices.
Heather Cassidy is Education & Pathways Associate at Dundee Rep and she says they regularly see students going on to work in the industry: ‘One of our participants from 2010 has just appeared in our Rep Ensemble production of All My Sons, as part of our Graduate Acting scheme,’ she explains, continuing, ‘Another participant from 2014-15 is currently an undergraduate Directing student in Amsterdam and recently directed his first professional production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, DUPed, winning a Fringe First.
‘A more recent participant from 2016-17, who is currently studying Technical Theatre at Fife College, secured her first paid job in the industry doing wardrobe maintenance on our production of The Snow Queen in December. Her first day at work coincided with the first day of Enterprise 2018.’
As a committed provider of community outreach activities, in summer 2019, Dundee Rep is launching Tenfold: a year-long programme of career-focussed events for young people, programmed by young people.
Work placement should help young people to make informed career choices, and this is something Enterprise @ the Rep can be proud to say they do with panache.