News Story
Calling all Welsh or Wales-based freelancers!
Have you ever wanted to know what really goes on behind the scenes in your theatre organisations? If so, good. We think everyone working in our industry should have access to this information – to these rooms, to the moments where decisions are made.
“I had to almost pinch myself because this level of access isn’t usually given unless you are a member of staff”
In 2024, we will be unflinchingly opening our doors – and our books – to you. Our freelance community. Open Book is a new partnership between Theatr Clwyd, Sherman Theatre, The Torch Theatre, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and Pontio Arts in Bangor.
“Being in every meeting I was able to see so much, and get an idea of where my interest lies within that – even areas I didn’t think I’d be interested in.”
We will offer ten theatre freelancers 15 days each of fully paid shadowing and working with our Executive Directors and Senior Leadership teams. For each participant, this will take place at Theatr Clwyd and one other partner organisation.
“I was particularly taken aback by quite how much goes into [Executive Director] Liam’s diary! There weren’t many moments to take a breath, with people to meet and places to go.”
When and how these 15 days are completed will be entirely up to you. We want to accommodate, not work against, the challenging and ever-changing freelance schedule.
Wage: £600 / week
Subsistence (if required): £210 / week
All non-regular commuting travel reimbursed
At the end of the project, an overall pot of £5,000 will be made available to fund pitches/projects of the participants’ own design.
To apply, please complete the below application form.
Alternatively, please submit a video of no more than 5 minutes in length covering the points in the application form. To do this, please provide a link (e.g. google drive) to your video in the application box.
Open Book has been a truly transformative experience for myself as a freelancer. In my experience the arts in South Wales, Cardiff especially, tends to be quite rooted and there's a real disconnect I feel as an artist between South Wales and North. Open Book has given me a fantastic opportunity to forge genuine professional links with a theatre outside of my usual sphere of influence, and in fact one of the most interesting and ambitious theatres in the UK. The team at Theatr Clwyd were incredibly welcoming and not one moment of this exercise felt like tokenism but a genuine experiment in upskilling freelancers and developing better relationships with in-house teams. Not only that but the level of access and support has been astonishing throughout. I'm excited to see how my relationship with Clwyd and the Open Book team overall develops once my time has finished. This has been a bold, brilliant way of nurturing artists that should be modelled in venues throughout the world. Especially in a time when things are feeling more closed off and desperate for freelancers than ever. There is hope and it looks a lot like what Open Book provides.Jeremy Linell
