Half Moon shaping the future of the theatre

Half Moon has a long tradition of providing hands-on experiences of the theatre industry to local young people. The aim of this aspect of our work is to shine a light on the varied and exciting careers available working in theatre.

Our annual Careers in Theatre programme offers around 250+ young people the chance to make a play in a day and some return to do their work experience. We want to ensure that young people know there’s much more to working in the industry than just pursuing a career in acting. We are seeking to inspire the next generation of professional theatremakers who come from diverse backgrounds and who will shape the future of our sector.

However, up until recently we had struggled to offer paid training and professional work opportunities once young people turned 18. (We have paid usher roles for our oldest Youth Theatre members when they are in Sixth Form). This all changed from the summer of 2021 when we received funding from the Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund.

In September 2021, eleven young people joined us for our new Careers in Theatre Trainee Programme, learning about Access work (supporting disabled participants to take part in activities), Front of House and Technical areas. They also learned about safeguarding and how to set themselves up as freelancers.

These young people had been involved in Half Moon in different ways in the past: previously attending our Youth Theatre, volunteering with us or having seen our shows for teenage audiences whilst studying GCSE Drama. Six of those who completed the training went on to paid trainee roles and they are still working at Half Moon now, thanks to additional funding from the Noel Coward Foundation.

It’s so great to have some of our alumni now part of our working team and we look forward to seeing them continue their roles here and at other venues throughout London as they build their careers.

I finish with words from one the trainees: “The training is completely different to everything I have ever done before… I loved every minute of it… I now have the knowledge to support young people…[and] feel like the trainee role will help me move on to other things too.”

Beccy Allen is the Head of Creative Learning at Half Moon.

Discover more about the programme