In recent years I have kept hearing two things about training in technical theatre and production: that there are fewer applicants for courses than there have been in the past and that there is a skills shortage developing in the industry. The natural conclusions of these two seemingly negative facts, however, are positive: that it's a really good time to apply to train in these areas, and that there is a very high chance of good work on graduating.
Rob Young, Head of Technical Training at LAMDA, has been in position for 14 years and observed these changes in the market: ‘I think what's happened in recent years is that there have been more and more providers running courses training backstage areas. When I took over the course it was very much the case that you went to drama school to learn to do stage management, lighting or sound; and while we're still the specialist institutions, there are lots of courses now that have been set up by universities. So I think the training market has been diluted a little bit – and I think it's the parents who are often guiding young people to get their BA Honours or their foundation degree from a university rather than a drama school.’
Another thing that has changed in the same period, however, is that drama schools and conservatoires have aligned themselves with universities, or arranged to have degree-awarding powers themselves, so that in fact an academic qualification is gained at the end of these courses just as at university.
Ironically, as Young explains, while this keeps parents and perhaps some students happy, it is of negligible value in the world of work: ‘Currently I don't believe the industry has any interest in what the qualification is – only in whether the individual has been trained and to what practical level of training. We've all got a phenomenal relationship with the industry – I've got a staff team of 11 and we're all from the industry, so employers know the quality of the students that are coming out – and it's got to be about the practical skills. It's got to be about being able to apply that knowledge and understanding to the workplace.’
Practical application
It's in this area, arguably, that drama school or conservatoire has the edge over university courses – because the practical application of those skills is so regular and so wide ranging within the training process. ‘At LAMDA we do 22 public productions across the year: the course is fully vocational, so there are no written assignments in the two year course, it's all about putting on shows, and I think drama schools can deliver that, whereas I think sometimes universities struggle.’
Though Young admits to a drop in applications in recent years, he's hard at work to raise them again: ‘A number of schools were offering the application process through UCAS, and we weren't. Ours was an independent application and I think sometimes that confused people, so this year with the technical course at LAMDA we're going through CUCAS - the Conservatoires side of UCAS, which I hope will send our name out a bit further when people are doing a search for a production and technical arts training.’
When I ask Young what the numbers actually look like it's pretty stark: ‘I'm probably looking at about 100 applications this year, maybe 110 or 120. For the acting school I think we're looking at auditioning about four and a half thousand young people for 90 places. I've been getting a very strong year group each year, though, so while it might be slightly nerve-wracking, I'm not missing out on the quality.’
Odds in favour
So the chances of achieving a place at drama school on a technical course are vastly higher than on a performing course, and what's more, as Young says, the career prospects afterwards are far better too: ‘you're virtually guaranteed work! The same producer can employ you again and again, as long as you fulfil your role satisfactorily. And we don't need to look right for the part, we just need to be able to stage manage, or light, or do sound. I've toured to all continents with productions, and I've played every country in Europe. To get paid to do what initially was a hobby, and to see the world at the same time, it couldn't be better.’
© Tom Thorpe
Head of Technical Training Rob Young
I'm probably looking at 100 applications this year. For the acting school we're auditioning about four and a half thousand
That being the case, I ask Young why he thinks applications for technical courses are still relatively so low. ‘I think, starting at a very early age, the excitement is being on stage in front of mum and dad. It's about wearing a costume and looking funny or looking cool, and the great camaraderie that comes with that, and it's only when people start to feel a little more uncomfortable with that that they start to think about how else they're going to be involved in a school production.
‘I would imagine sometimes the way that working backstage is sold in schools is “well you don't want to act, you'll have to be the stage manager,” or “you'll have to press play on the CD player”, and actually they're wonderfully creative roles in themselves, so it's probably the creative side of all of those roles that may not be explained.’
Inspiring enthusiasm
So what can teachers do to enthuse young people about those roles instead? ‘I think certainly with the technical disciplines we need to make it fun. The career opportunities, having trained, if you're interested in lighting, can take you to rock and roll, and all sorts of events that will use your lighting skills.
© Richard Hubert Smith
Lighting is not a career for those with vertigo
‘I think if young people are given the opportunity to think about what lighting does, how it can set a scene, the mood it can portray, and that if you've got a few flashing lights and some smoke, it can be really cool, and if you've got people who are interested in electronics and things like that, there's a lot of opportunity for playing with pieces of kit. Everything we do now is computerised, so there's an awful lot of software that's free to download where you can create lighting on a computer, and I think if those sort of avenues were made clear to the young people, that might well help.’
Reaching out
Last year, LAMDA hosted some Year 5 students for their Primary Shakespeare performances; and they took the opportunity to run a technical workshop. ‘It was fantastic,’ Young says, ‘I think they had no idea what to expect. I talked in very broad terms about working backstage and the different areas, then we talked about sound, what you can do with it and how it can make you feel, and we had various examples which made them, for example, a bit nervous, or surprised – and we did various lighting states, and talked about colour: we had them jumping in and out of lights changing colour and dancing around in smoke; and then we made their teachers disappear.
‘We dropped a gauze in and had the teachers behind the gauze, lit, and then I asked one of the students to cue the lights on the headset at the prompt desk. They called the lighting cue and we changed the lights, and of course their teachers magically disappeared, which they absolutely loved.
‘I think they all went away with a very clear idea that actually there is great fun to be had backstage, and several of them were heard to say ‘I want to be a stage manager when I grow up now’. I think they'll remember it, which means if they're nervous about performing hopefully they'll be in a position where they could ask to be the stage manager or ask to be part of the lighting team, because they know what it involves.
‘If they can get excited about lights changing colour or moving; or pressing a button and something happening, then they'll always remember it and actually maybe they'll just be guided towards the technical side from the outset.’