Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: Producer

Contract: Fixed Term (18 months)

Location: Mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB (min 3 office days)

Hours: Full-Time - 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday

The Old Vic offers the ability to work these flexibly under the guidelines in our Hybrid Working policy. Additional hours may be necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the post

Salary: £29,200 per annum

Benefits:

• Hybrid working for eligible teams and a company culture that promotes good work/life balance
• Enhanced annual leave, starting at 25 days per year, increasing by one day per year up to 30 days (plus bank holidays). Opportunity to switch statutory bank holidays to mark a religious event or festival
• Complimentary tickets for you and a guest to Old Vic preview productions
• Discretionary invite to Press Night performances and parties
• Free therapy from our therapy partner SelfSpace
• Mental health support via our in house Mental Health Champions
• Enhanced employer pension contributions with The People’s Pension
• Festive day – one discretionary additional paid day off around the festive period for a collective pause
• Time to volunteer – one day per year to support a charity or project of your choosing
• Commitment to learning, education and development
• Enhanced sick pay
• Access to interest free travel schemes including Cycle 2 work and Season Ticket loans after your probation period
• Family friendly policies and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental pay
• All staff social events
• Staff discount in Penny and The Old Vic bars as well as discounts in local bars and restaurants
• Opportunities to get involved with staff clubs and working groups such as the Inclusion Working Group
• Buddy schemes including New Starter and Parental buddies to support your induction and return to work after parental leave

Role Summary

The Casting Assistant at The Old Vic sits in the Production team working closely with the Artistic Director, Producer, General Manager and Associate General Managers. The purpose of the role is to provide support to The Old Vic's programming team, freelance Directors and Casting Directors to ensure lists are made and maintained, casting sessions organised and artists are secured for productions. The role will offer suggestions for roles, do detailed and sensitive research for most main house projects and will support, or potentially lead, on casting the Understudies for some productions. They will also provide general administrative support to do with scheduling of casting, liaising with artists and be The Old Vic's main contact for artist agencies. The role will also work with the wider Old Vic team on multiple projects at once ranging from main stage productions, Education and Community projects, Backstage Building projects and workshops/readings, and will cast some workshops without additional support

The Casting Assistant will be mentored by The Old Vic's Senior Casting Consultant, Jessica Ronane CDG and also work closely with US Casting Associate Jim Carnahan CSA.

Areas of responsibility

The Casting Assistant will be responsible for:

• Availability checking actors
• Working with multiple casting directors at once, often in the UK and or/ USA
• In consultation with Directors, Associate and Assistant Directors, establish the understudy and cover matrix for productions ahead of a casting process.
• Arranging, setting up and supporting or coordinating casting sessions
• Sometimes leading casting and understudy sessions
• Conducting general administrative tasks related to casting, including contacting a large volume of actors and agents, availability checks and maintaining lists
• Coordinating and/or recording casting as required. Uploading footage using Casting Networks and other platforms, and managing the distribution of audition footage in a timely fashion.
• Collating responses from the creative team
• Giving feedback to actors and their agents and abiding by the CDG code of conduct, not limited to the yes/no guidelines
• When appropriate, make in principle offers to agents
• Ensuring a timely and efficient line of communication between artists agencies and The Old Vic.
• Ensuring that any activities comply with all The Old Vic's workplace and employee policies, including but not limited to Health & Safety, Dignity at Work and Safeguarding policies
• To support or lead on casting internal workshops for potential/ upcoming main stage shows
• Supporting The Old Vic's Development team and Artistic Director's Executive Assistant with occasional actors' requests
• Working with our Head of Inclusion on capturing equal opportunities data for casting in accordance with The Old Vic's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies to ensure we continue to develop how we meet a broad range of artists
• To lead or support any special projects or initiatives to meet actors and expand the reach and breadth of knowledge with regards to its ED&I initiatives
• To ensure a presence at industry events including attending most drama school showcases, external readings and presentations.
• Adhering to the CDG's code of conduct and where appropriate, attending CDG talks and events
• Setting up and maintaining information systems, that comply with The Old Vic's data policy and wider GDPR legislation.
• Attending theatre shows and press nights on a regular basis and reporting back to the Programming team as required

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.

Person Specification

Essential

• Experience of handling confidential and/or controversial information with tact and sensitivity
• Ability to prioritise a conflicting workload efficiently and to maintain standards of accuracy and attention to detail when working to deadlines or changing priorities
• Proven experience working in an administrative capacity in an environment with competing demands
• Exemplary organisational skills as well as written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrable interest in the theatre industry
• IT literacy, with good experience of the Microsoft Office suite and Excel in particular
• A knowledge of etiquette and protocol in dealing with high-profile individuals
• Understanding of the importance of The Old Vic's ED&I values and how they interact with casting
• Strong team ethic along with the ability to work independently
• Literate in video editing and uploading techniques
• Comfortable reading and breaking down scripts and drawing up cover charts, character breakdowns and project summaries
• Experience of working in a producing theatre or a similar environment
• Strong networker and able to bring innovative ideas into the team
• Knowledge of and interest in actors and the challenges and opportunities of casting theatre in 2025.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a DBS check as the role may interact with vulnerable adults and/or children.

How to Apply

We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:

• 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
• 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.
• 3. Completing our application form.
• 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.

As a Disability Confident employer, The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview. However in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.

All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK. 

The Process

The recruitment process for this role will be two stages:

• 1st stage virtual conversation
• 2nd stage in person conversation
• You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge.

The closing date for this role is 14 April 2025. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 21 April 2025.

Equal Opportunities

We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.

We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.

In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.

We partner with a range of inclusive organisations, to find out more please read our FAQs. 

FAQs

Read our recruitment and selection and equal opportunities FAQs here.