Case studies: Theatre manager: Carolyn Forsyth

Carolyn graduated with a degree in leisure management and sport science from the University of Gloucestershire. She now works as a theatre manager for a young people’s theatre in London.

I think the fact that I did quite a bit of theatre work while studying helped to secure my current position. I did a placement year at the Young Vic Theatre as part of my course and I worked at the Everyman Theatre during my last year of university. I’ve also held jobs at a large cinema and at The Albany in London. Although my degree gave me a good basis in leisure, I think it was all of this experience that helped me to get my job.

On a typical working day in my current role I come in and answer emails, check the show reports (a report generated for each performance), carry out facilities management and respond to hire enquiries. Every Monday I hold a team meeting with my permanent staff and I send a weekly email to the casual staff.

I also attend monthly health and safety meetings as I am the health and safety representative for the public areas. I have to send quarterly reports to the Board, as well as attend meetings relating to licensing and security. This is because I am the personal license holder and designated premises supervisor for the building, so a lot of responsibility comes with the job.

As my job has developed it has become more administration based and I rarely duty manage anymore. This is because the organisation restructured its departments and my role became responsible for external hires. I mainly deal with events and facilities management now and I feel my career has reached a turning point and I can now decide my next step.

I really like the people I work with and the clients I look after, but there are some challenging aspects of the job. This includes balancing the differing requirements of all building stakeholders, such as the company, audience, hirers, catering and contractors, and ensuring that no area is neglected or adversely affected by the other parties’ activities. It is also difficult to plan my personal life around ever changing business needs. However, the buzz of new productions, meeting new people and the events that surround the performances make up for this.

To anyone who would like to get into this career I would say get experience of the industry by working in a theatre. Box office, ushering, and front of house work is all valuable experience as well as being really enjoyable. Also try volunteering. The key thing here is to be specific and target who you contact - research the company’s objectives and ethos. If you ensure you are offering skills that they require at the time, you are more likely to be accepted. If you write in and say you ‘want experience in the theatre’ you may be ignored. However, telling them you are looking to develop your house management skills and have sales skills might get the person reading your letter more interested.

Remember the theatre industry is busy and demanding, time is at a premium and people working in this industry usually have a heavy workload. You really need to bang loudly to be heard and don’t be afraid to keep applying to the same company.