Southbank Centre technical academy (3 week course, January 2025)

Duration: 6th - 24th January 2025, 9am - 6pm (there may be some late finishes as well as opportunities for optional job shadowing on evenings and weekends up until 2 February)

Grant: £1683.20 is available to all successful applicants to help you take part in the programme

Ever considered a career working in Technical Production? Want to find out what it’s all about? 

The Southbank Centre delivers Technical Academy in partnership with The Albany, Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT), ATG, Factory International, Livewire Productions, National Theatre, Omnii Collective, Roundhouse, Royal Albert Hall, RNSS and The Production House. 

The Technical Academy is your chance to experience working behind the scenes in theatre and live events. It is hands-on Production training for people with little or no experience, taught by the technicians who do it for real. 

Find out about the range of work that happens backstage in creative venues – from building stages, rigging lights and setting up drum kits, to designing sound, lighting and audio visual effects. 

If you’re 18+ and live in London, our three-week training programme could be your next step towards a brand new career. Everyone is welcome. 

Southbank Centre offers a grant - which we process in instalments - to help Technical Academy participants take part. We will also give you lunch on training days and cover your travel costs (London travel zones 1 – 6) to the Southbank Centre and to our partner venues that you visit on the programme.

What you'll be doing

• Get up close to technical production in some of London's most iconic venues
• Meet our technicians and see how they work - from building stages to rigging lights and unloading trucks
• Learn about health and safety and how to work together as a team
• Find out how to find work and start your career in the industry

As a live events technician, some (but not all) of the tasks can be quite physical. Here are some of the things you may take part in on the course:

• Manual handling: lifting, pushing and moving heavy equipment, building staging and structures
• Rigging and focusing lighting, sound and AV equipment
• Operating lighting and sound desks
• Setting up backline equipment such as microphones, pianos, drum kits, amplifiers and music stands
• Hanging projection screens

Who is it for?

We are recruiting 25 participants for the Technical Academy, who:

• are aged 18 or over
• live in Greater London or its surrounding counties (within London fare zones 1 – 6)
• have little or no experience in backstage technical disciplines: sound, lighting, staging/ stage management, and AV 

If this is you, please apply. We're not looking for any formal academic qualifications. And we encourage applications from members of the Global Ethnic Majority, as well as from women, non-binary and trans people.

What people are saying about their Technical Academy experience:

“I now have a way into the arts and am able to do something I’m really passionate about”

Winson, 25

“The real reason I am able to discuss training opportunities and work is because Technical Academy offered me the tools necessary to catch people’s interest.”

Yasmin, 35

“Expanding my knowledge in Technical Production and different roles in live events and theatre. It’s opened up a whole new world for me, which I’m excited to explore!” 

Dee, 25

We are especially keen to open the door to those from under-represented communities and welcome people with no academic qualifications beyond GCSE level.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.