Following another outstanding year in 2023, the Royal Opera House and venues across the West End welcomed back TheatreCraft 2024! Having had the opportunity of interning with Masterclass as an Events Assistant on the run up to the day, I was excited to see it in action!
Featuring practical workshops, talks, tours, demonstrations, and more, this free annual event, packed full of industry professionals, opens doors to accessing the industry, and is a must for anyone aged 16-30 looking to pursue or learn more about offstage theatre careers.
My day begun at the @sohoplacetheatre. For those interested in playwriting, ‘Write That Play!’ provided a valuable toolkit to get started. Olivier-award winning performer and writer Waleed Akhtar (The P Word, The Real Ones) took the room on a journey from the initial idea to the final project. He masterfully broke this down step by step using his own experience, practical exercises, and prompts, allowing attendees to begin the writing process and develop their characters to create two short extracts, a monologue and a duologue. To close, Waleed shared the key advice of finding the light in the dark and the dark in the light, and to build connections with actors to get the script onto its feet!
Heading over to the Ambassador’s Lounge at the Lyceum Theatre, workshop ‘What Kind of Theatre Director Do I Want to Be?’ advised budding directors on how to create meaningful relationships, and build trust, inside the rehearsal room. Guy Rapacioli (Assistant Director of Merchant of Venice) practically explored this through the exercise living statues. By participants representing a member of the creative team, and positioning themselves in the room accordingly, they were able to reflect on the impact this had on how the space felt. Emphasis was made on the role of the director being available for communication and creating a safe and intimate environment for the actor. The session wrapped up with reflections on Guy’s training on the MFA Theatre Directing course at East 15 Acting School.
At the Adelphi Theatre, workshop ‘Producing For Your Community – From Local Theatre to the West End’, led by Jasmyn Fisher-Ryner (For Black Boys, Royal Court Theatre, JFR Productions) and Rachel Horowitz (EartH, Hackney Empire, National Youth Theatre), provided the essential tools for those keen to produce. From project proposal plans to budgeting, the practicalities of producing for subsidised and commercial theatre were explored. The success of the West End hit play ‘For Black Boys’, produced by Jasmyn, reinforces the importance of community being at the centre of theatre making. Schemes, including access to low-cost tickets, contributed to the show welcoming the audiences they aimed to reach. Jasmyn and Rachel shared that when your project aligns with what you stand for, and is paired with hard work, you can achieve change!
I spent the rest of my day at the Exhibitor Marketplace in the Royal Opera House. A wide range of industry professionals, from education establishments (University of the Arts London, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, LAMDA) to top theatre companies (Nick Hern Books, Nimax Theatres, Crossroads Live), offered people the chance to network and gain advice on their next steps. Upstairs in the Mezzanine, the ‘Creative Careers CV Clinic’ gave aspiring creatives the chance to gain valuable 1:1 feedback, helping to tailor their CV to the aspect of the industry they are striving to work in.
A huge congratulations to the team behind TheatreCraft for organising the day! I had a lovely time celebrating the hard work that was put into the event. The room was buzzing throughout, and it was lovely to see so many likeminded people connecting with each other and the industry.
If you were unable to make it this year, keep an eye out for news on TheatreCraft Online, and make sure to catch TheatreCraft 2025!
Written by Ellie Jennings
Photo by Elly Wong