Opportunity knocks for London South East Colleges’ students at the National Theatre

Two London South East Colleges students have got their Production Arts Level 3 Diploma course off to a magnificent start after being offered places on this year’s National Theatre Young Technicians’ programme.

This is a free course offering an exciting opportunity for young people to develop their skills and learn about a variety of backstage and offstage roles with some of the country’s top theatre industry professionals. It runs each Wednesday evening from 5pm until 8pm and will enable the students to pick-up a wide range of on-the-job skills in lighting, sound, video, automation and set design/construction. As the programme proceeds, each student will be assigned to a specialist area to shadow the theatre’s technical staff and work on actual productions.

Both Noah and Zainab joined the course this September with a strong desire to work behind the scenes in theatre, tv or film.

Noah Selby, 17, from Charlton studied a Business Level 1 course at our Greenwich Campus last year but decided to transfer to the Production Arts Diploma after watching a fabulous production of Grease performed by performing arts students in our Greenwich Little Theatre.

Noah says: “This was a defining moment for me. I watched the performance and was so impressed with the acting, the dancing and particularly the set design and costumes. I was completely captivated by it all and knew straight away that this was the business I wanted to begin my career in.

“This year I’ve started as I mean to go on and after applying for the National Theatre Technicians Programme on day one, I simply can’t believe I’ve been selected to take part. I think I must have impressed them with my enthusiasm at the interview and that has led to me being accepted. I can’t wait for my first session next month.

“I’ll get some really good experience working on professional performances in one of the world’s great theatres. It will also look very good on my cv for when I’m looking for my first job.”

Zainab Binzumini, 17, from Lewisham transferred from another college after studying media makeup for one year. She had heard about the course and the great facilities on offer at London South East Colleges and decided to apply here to broaden her range of skills and knowledge in the industry.

Zainab says: “Although I still want to work as a stage and media makeup artist, I thought this course would introduce me to lots of other roles within the production arts profession and help me see a bigger picture of how the different disciplines all work together to produce something remarkable. Costumes, makeup, hairstyles, background, props and lighting are all important to a performance and help to set the scene, as well as supporting the actors on stage.

“I’ve always had a creative flare and I think this will have come through in my application. I realise that I have a golden opportunity to impress and will work very hard to make a massive success of it.

Tutor, Ian Shillito, is very impressed by how both Noah and Zainab have hit the ground running since showing up for their first lesson this month. He says: “This is indeed something very special and an amazing opportunity for the students. I know this will give their careers and their chances of being successful on-course a massive boost.” 

If you are interested in building a career in the theatre or film and TV industries, London South East Colleges has a great range of courses to get you started.