already involved?
what’s the commitment?
It depends! Whether you have a little time occasionally, or a lot of time for two months but none for the rest of the year, we can fit you in. For example:
| Teas and Coffees rota | 1 hour per month |
| Front of House or Bar | 1 evening per month |
| Acting and Backstage | 3-4 evenings per week over 2-3 months per show |
With 11 Main House productions and half a dozen ‘In the Bar’ shows every year, BLT has opportunities for just about everyone to get involved in one way or another with our vibrant, friendly and successful team.
what skills do i need?
Really we need enthusiasm and team-work. We have small acting parts if you prefer, and then lead roles for those with more experience. In the various backstage teams, we welcome some knowledge but are delighted to train and mentor those who want to learn. Our theatre management teams will show you the ropes – whether its helping us with marketing, fund-raising, welcoming the audience to a show or helping at the bar and with tea and coffee.
We welcome students or those planning on working in the theatre industry; the skills learned, and commitment demonstrated can be valuable in the jobs market.
does it cost?
Not a lot. We need all our backstage and Front of House helpers to be members of BLT. It’s only £16 per person per year, £25 for joint membership, and this gets you discounted tickets too. The more paid up members the better – it demonstrates to funding bodies that we have involved members. Join here.
How do I get involved?
As well as looking after much of the tech at BLT (he keeps well away from lighting!), Simon can help you decide how to get involved. He can show you round our theatre, introduce you to key people and, if you already know what you want to do, pass you on to the best team for you.
If you want to read more before contacting Simon, then read about our various teams below.
BLT First Thursdays
Come along to The Railway pub on the first Thursday of the month from 7:30pm. Meet other techs, stage managers, set builders and costume and props crew, and maybe actors too.
Find out about what we do, how to get involved, and meet people you may not have seen for a while. Come for a beer, a glass of wine or even an orange juice.
See you there!
| Under 18s, Work Experience and Duke of Edinburgh |
| If you are under 18, you are welcome to apply for our Youth Theatre. This is run by our own volunteers who have enhanced DBS and each year has a few spaces for young people wanting to focus on the technical aspects of theatre. We do not operate in regular ‘office hours’ so unfortunately we cannot offer work experience 9-5, Monday to Friday. More generally, work experience for under 18s and DofE would need the young person to be accompanied by an adult with enhanced DBS or be chaperoned by a parent. |
running the theatre – (Front of House, marketing, fund raising, bar and more…)
We need help with renewing member’s memberships, restocking the bar and ticketing. We need help to complete the project to implement our new membership and ticketing system.
We also need help marketing our shows. Could you help us with online marketing including FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Ads and more? If you have experience, great, but if not, we will happily train you, and help you develop your skills.
acting and directing
We are always keen to audition new actors for our shows. See our auditions page for more information. We also welcome both experienced and aspiring directors who would like to work with our busy theatre. We plan our programme a year ahead so if you have an idea for a play, or would like to work with a director on a planned show, get in touch. We will pass your enquiry on to the Artistic Director.
backstage – stage management, technical, costume, props, set building and more…
Whichever role you’re interested in, working backstage on a show requires a certain level of commitment, but it’s also a lot of fun and a great feeling of camaraderie is built up between cast and crew. We use industry standard equipment including an ETC EOS lighting system, Show Cue System software, and Soundcraft analogue and digital mixers.