Creative Choices

As part of Discover! Creative Careers Week, a special event saw 130 state secondary school students from across London descend on the National Theatre to learn more about the skills, imagination and creativity that go into backstage theatre careers.

Kicking off the day with a Q&A in the Dorfman theatre, students were able to ask the professional theatre creatives anything they liked. With many questions focussing on money, the team of set designers, costume makers and sound technicians were able to reassure students that a career in the theatre was a financially reliable one and not just an unrealistic dream.

The workshops on offer were a fantastic mix of the practical and demonstrational, taking in virtual reality, stage management and make-up, among other disciplines. Sound design, which was a particular highlight of the day, saw students experiment with and learn how to operate a sound board. Leading the workshop was head of sound and video Dom Bilkey, who was a natural at engaging the students, demystifying the seemingly complicated ideas of inputs and outputs, amplifiers and speakers via the SMASH acronym.