Work Experience with November Club
Pictured L to R: Daisy and Alex.
“I’m Alex, I currently attend King Edwards VI studying Art, Drama and Literature at A level, and I am really interested in Theatre and the creative process behind it. I'm really interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry specifically theatre production.”
To be able to work somewhere local for the week and be able to understand more about what goes on behind the scenes seemed like an exciting opportunity for me to take part in and increase my knowledge and experience in that area.
Over the course of the week, we first started by getting to know the company, sitting in on their team meeting and getting to know all the different upcoming projects and events, through this we were able to learn how much really goes on behind the scenes and all the different skills and people involved in the process of theatre.
Over the rest of the week, we worked individually on different research projects developing skills in how to reach different audiences and making theatre accessible to all. My project was about reaching d/Deaf and hard of hearing audiences which was interesting to investigate and do research for. We also got the chance to speak to members of staff individually to learn more about their creative journeys and career paths and then what it is they do within the company and the skills they have.
My favourite part of this work experience week was talking to all different members of staff about their role within the company. I really liked learning about the journey they took within the creative industry and found it really comforting to hear how each person's route was different and not so straight forward. It was good to understand how each route in the theatre world is different and how it's important to know what you enjoy and what your good at and lead with that until you find the role which suits you best. It was also interesting to know just how much actually goes on behind the scenes and how many different roles really are in place to make a production possible. For me it was really interesting discovering all the different projects that November Club works on all over Northumberland. Knowing all the different productions upcoming over the next year definitely surprised me as to how much must happen whilst overlapping each other in order to make each production happen and run smoothly.
“ I would say that being here has increased my confidence that it is possible to create a career for myself within the creative industry.”
Being here over the week also demonstrated just how many jobs there really are needed to contribute into making a performance happen within the theatre industry and the importance of working as a team to make this happen. And so, I would say that being here has increased my confidence that it is possible to create a career for myself within the creative industry. I've learnt the importance in pursing something that I really love to do and that it really is possible to create a career in that, whichever route I take to get there. It's also shown me that that are a wide range of different jobs and positions that are needed to contribute towards productions that going forward I will most likely investigate and explore.
If you are considering a career in the creative industry, I absolutely would recommend coming to do your work experience at November Club. Everyone here is so lovely and welcoming that it will really encourage and inform you on life within theatre and the creative industry and how to make a career in this field possible. Everyone is really encouraging and supportive here and will be more than happy to discuss not only their position and their route to where they are but also help support your own decisions and thoughts of a future in the creative industry. I've really enjoyed my week here and would definitely recommend it to anyone who feels working in theatre could be for them.