How do you join the Royal Shakespeare Company?

Question

Hi,
I love Shakespeare and I'm looking to try and join the RSC after uni. I've been on the website but can't find any details as to how you approach them about joining the company.

Thanks for any help you can give me

Answer 1

I can't speak to the RSC's policies, but I work with a few other theaters of their size (if not their fame).

Generally, they come looking for you, rather than the other way around. To get them to come looking for you, you often start by joining an ensemble cast. Some theaters have an ensemble-apprenticeship program that you can join, though I didn't see one in the RSC's web site.

Another way is for them to see you at an audition. I can't speak for London or Stratford, but in the US most major cities have some company that does a "league audition". You go in with a hundred headshots and do a 90-second monologue in front of the casting directors of every major theater in the area (and a boatload of minor ones.) That gets you into their mind, and when they come looking for ensemble players, they come to you.

Beyond that, some companies just have plain old auditions. Get whatever trade rag they use in London (the equivalent of Variety in Hollywood and Backstage in New York, as well as lesser papers) and keep an eye out for auditions.

They may also come to your university and ask professors for recommendations. You should ask one of them to recommend you.

One final idea: many people try to get in through their management arm. They have job openings for things like the marketing department. If you get one of those jobs you can keep your ear to the ground about when they're looking for actors, and you get yourself known to the directors and casting directors. A lot of my friends have tried this. To be honest I've never known it to work, but at least it keeps them employed, and they sometimes turn it into opportunities with other theater troupes.