West End Lifts The Curtain On Theatre Careers For #INSPIRINGFUTURETHEATRE DAY
Theatres, arts organisations and industry professionals across the UK are celebrating the wide range of offstage theatre careers available for young people, as part of #InspiringFutureTheatre, a joint initiative by Society of London Theatre (SOLT), UK Theatre and Education & Employers, encouraging young people to explore job opportunities within a sustainable and representative theatre workforce.
As part of this campaign, hundreds of young people today (Wednesday 3 July) got an exclusive insight behind the scenes in London's famous West End.
SOLT and UK Theatre - working with Westminster City Council's youth culture programme City Lions - brought nearly 500 13 to 16-year-olds from Westminster schools, who rarely get a chance to engage with the world-leading theatre on their doorstep, into the West End to discover a range of offstage careers.
Workshops were held at 9 theatres across all the major London theatre owners, from speed networking sessions to technical insights into staging a large-scale show. Theatre Royal Haymarket, the Cambridge Theatre, the Vaudeville Theatre, the Aldwych Theatre, the Piccadilly Theatre, the Prince of Wales Theatre, the Gillian Lynne Theatre, The Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Opera House all participated in the day.
The students then watched extracts from two hit British musicals; Tudor pop sensation Six at the Arts Theatre and uplifting true story Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre.
Several local and national politicians attended, including Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright, who was at the Gillian Lynne Theatre to observe workshops and meet participants.
Jeremy Wright said:
'The West End's theatre offerings are rightly regarded as being amongst the very best in the world. We can only maintain this success if the UK's incredible pool of theatre professionals is sustainable, with young and new talent nurtured and encouraged. #InspiringFutureTheatre Day is a fantastic initiative and I congratulate all those involved for their work in reaching out to young people and letting them know about the amazing theatre jobs on offer behind the curtain.'
Today's events marked the culmination of year one of Inspiring Future Theatre activity between schools and theatres across the UK, which has recruited over 1000 theatre industry Ambassadors, and reached over 51,000 young people across 800 schools.
#InspiringFutureTheatre
@UK_Theatre / @london_theatre / @InspiringTF uktheatre.org / solt.co.uk / inspiringthefuture.org
uktheatre.org/inspiring-future-theatre
|
Paul Merton & Suki Webster''s Improv Show Harrogate Theatre (10/02-10/02) |
|
Funhouse Comedy Club – Comedy Night in Stowmarket July 2026 The Regal (7/09-7/09) |
|
The George Harrison Project, BANBURY, The Mill Arts Centre, Sat 28th Nov 2026 The Mill Arts Centre (11/28-11/28) |
|
In Good Conscience King's Arms (7/11-7/14) |
|
Trainspotting the Musical Southend Cliffs Pavilion (2/01-2/06) |
|
|
Count Arthur Strong - And Its Goodnight From Me! Gordon Craig Theatre (6/04-6/04) |
|
HUMANITY'S LAST BREATH at O2 Academy Islington - London O2 Academy Islington (10/08-10/08) |
|
G4 Christmas 2026 - Ripon Cathedral Ripon Cathedral (12/05-12/05) |
|
Karim Kamar and Camden Stewart Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall (7/16-7/16) |
|
Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert - The Film With Live Orchestra Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (12/02-12/02) |