Meet Rob Young, Head of Technical Training
We sat down with Head of Technical Training, Rob Young, to discuss training in Production & Technical Arts at LAMDA.
Hi Rob! Can you tell us about your role here at LAMDA?
I’m Head of Technical Training which means I’m responsible for the Production and Technical Arts: Stage and Screen Course, a three year BA (Hons) undergraduate degree. It’s a vocational and hands on course and we’re training people to work in the creative arts industries.
What is your own route into the industry?
I wanted to be a lighting designer when I was at school. I wasn’t particularly academic so I was looking at routes into the theatre industry and discovered you could train in technical theatre at drama schools. I trained at LAMDA for two years on a course very similar to the one we run today, although I ended up switching from specialising in lighting to stage management. I worked in the industry for 18 years before returning to LAMDA, starting as an Assistant Stage Manager before progressing through the ranks to Production Stage Manager. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work on lots of new writing. To be the first Stage Manager who worked on a play was always very exciting! I was also fortunate to do lots of international touring, taking shows to Australia, North America, Brazil, India, Russia, New Zealand and every European country.
What can students expect from the course?
In the first few weeks we focus on the basics of each of the four core disciplines: stage management, lighting, sound and construction. We go back to absolute basics and train everybody in a bit of theory which very quickly moves into practical training. It’s classroom workshop based training, although not classrooms as you know it from school; the classroom might for example be the stage of one of our theatres. As students head into their second term after Christmas they will start working on our productions, taking on assistant or crew roles. When students start in second year they will have the opportunity to select the jobs they want to do on one of our in-house productions as well as completing professional work placements.
What do you look for in a potential student?
I look for passion, enthusiasm and drive. The most important thing is that they want to improve their skills, learn and are desperate to work in the entertainment industry. Although the training is routed in theatre, we’re actually training transferrable skills that can go across every art form that there is within the creative industries. We also look for a little bit of experience. Some of our students have come straight from school and so their experience might come from school plays or amateur companies; others already have professional experience and now want some additional training. Some students discovered drama at University and come to us a postgraduate student having studied a completely different subject but now want to train as a stage manager or theatre technician.
How do you prepare students to enter the workplace?
Throughout the training we introduce the students to practitioners in the industry. The students are encouraged to network whenever possible. In the second year we have classes in CVs, interview technique, job applications, as well as tax and visits from professional organisations like BECTU Equity and the Stage Management Association.
The placements that students undertake also introduce the students to potential employers and can often lead to employment from graduation.
What sort of careers to students go on to?
Recent jobs that have been secured by graduation, or very soon after, include – ASM on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Sound #4 on Harry Potter, Fulltime Lx Technician at Young Vic. Deputy ASM – King Lear, with Sir Ian McKellan. Lx Technician Belgrade Theatre Coventry; ASM Bath Theatre Royal Productions.
