Case studies: Theatre stage manager: Herbie

Herbie always had an interest in working in the arts. He fell into the profession by accident and is now a theatre stage manager.

I work in The Electric Voice Theatre, a small, contemporary music theatre company based in North London which promotes live contemporary classical music theatre using sound and visual technology with integrated outreach projects.

Some of the projects we get involved with include commercial recording projects; vocal and composition workshops in London; solo voice performances; children’s voice and music initiatives around the country; and producing a small festival in London. Recently, we have been working on a performance project based on Beckett’s influence on music with the Centre for Research in Opera and Music Theatre as well as the development of a new work for solo voice and live electronics by composer Andrew Lovett in Cambridge.

I got into this profession because I had always been interested in working in the arts. Then by accident, I found I had a flair for it. I was also drawn to the possibilities it offered to work for myself. I knew I wanted to work in music and found stage management appealing as it also involved performance management and promotion, project management, planning and budgeting, database management and maintenance, marketing, technical and engineering work as well as stage management. To get to the position I am in now, I gained experience in music, film, concerts and other arts-related endeavours. The thing I really like about the role is that it offers a lot of variety. I also enjoy working with modern technology due to the nature of our theatre.

The advice I would give to a graduate entering the industry is to stay positive and be persistent as you try to secure work. Graduates should think about getting lots of different experiences in a variety of theatres in order to increase their skills base. The key thing about working in this industry is networking, so it is important that they are apt at this skill and look for opportunities to network extensively. It is also important to be fair with everyone and remember that it is a small world so be careful what you say!