The Watermill Theatre launches new talent development programme

The Watermill Theatre are thrilled to announce the launch of their new talent development programme, Elemental, which will offer four early career artists the chance to develop expertise in their chosen discipline, build industry knowledge and fuel personal development and practise at The Watermill.

Elemental is part of the Watermill Theatre’s ongoing commitment to creating long-term, meaningful investment to artists and creatives.The unique programme spans the spectrum of creative roles. Applications are particularly welcome from those who are underrepresented in the industry.

The programme will be made up of the following elements:

  • Six sessions with a practising industry mentor in their relevant field, providing one-to-one support, advice, and networking opportunities.
  • Each Elemental Artist will have the opportunity to work on a main house show at The Watermill during their 2024-25 season. This role would be as an assistant working directly with a creative as part of the show’s team.
  • Tickets to watch all Watermill shows throughout the year to build connections and widen cultural experience.
  • Support and resource to develop their practise further through ongoing CPD.

The Watermill Theatre are accepting applications from: Designers, Directors, Movement Directors, Lighting Directors, Sound Directors and Musical Directors.

Applicants should have begun to make their own work or have gained experience in the industry as an assistant. They are expected to be at a stage where sharing practice with peers as well as receiving mentorship would be of great benefit.

Elemental Artists will be paid a fee. Funding may be available to support travel and access costs, to help remove barriers for artists.

Artistic Director Paul Hart said, “Talent Development has always been a fundamental to what we do here at The Watermill.  For so many artists, this has been a theatre that has created opportunities and ways of accessing the industry, providing routes into the sector. And this opportunity will allow us to throw open the doors even wider; to meet a greater range of burgeoning creatives who might benefit from developing their practise with us. 

The theatre is a very special environment to continue your creative path with an incredibly supportive in-house staff and many creatives, backstage teams and actors coming and living onsite for every show we make in this beautiful setting. We really can’t wait to meet people from a variety of disciplines to start building a number of new collaborative partners.”

The closing date for applications is Monday 8 July 2024. Applicants are asked to write a short two-page cover letter or record a short video/audio recording (max. 5-minutes), explaining why they want to apply for the programme and how it will benefit them at this stage of their career. Applications should be emailed to Emily Beck (Theatre Administrator) via admin@watermill.org.uk with their CV and a completed Equal Opportunities monitoring form(this information will not be made available to anyone in any form other than anonymous data). Full application pack can be found here.

The Watermill Theatre is a Disability Confident Committed employer and will guarantee an interview to any applicant who self-identifies as deaf or disabled, and meets the application criteria. If an applicant wants to make use of this guarantee, they are asked to clearly state so on their cover letter.

The Watermill Theatre is an independent charity and this initiative has been made possible thanks to core funding from Backstage Trust. To find out more, visit here…

Written by Theatrefullstop