Achieve your Creative Dreams in Theatre. Paid Work Experience & Mentorship

Gain work experience as a Youth Drama Assistant or Theatre Creative in Brighton & Hove

ThirdSpace Theatre offers paid mentorship placements to young people aged 16-25. ThirdSpace club members have received support to find a path into the creative industries. Opportunities are available all year round.

We have supported members to successfully apply to universities and to start their own theatre companies! We also train our young people to become ThirdSpace club leaders and run their own groups right here in Brighton & Hove. We are committed to empowering young people from the moment they join our community!

Zoe Alexander – ThirdSpace Drama Tutor & Teaching Assistant

“The mentorship and work opportunities I have received at ThirdSpace have been the vital support I needed to start my career in the creative industries. Whilst in my late teens and participating in the youth theatre, I was able to take part in unpaid work-experience with ThirdSpace as a Teaching-assistant in younger clubs and as the Assistant-director on the company’s major arts-council funded 2019 production, Romeo and Juliet. These were amazing opportunities to learn from ThirdSpace staff; develop skills (especially transferable skills relating to leadership, facilitation, and organisation); and experience a role with creative responsibility.

Now in my early twenties, I have been able to return to ThirdSpace after studying at university and have been offered some paid work in recognition of the skills and experience I have developed. Initially this was work as a paid teaching assistant in clubs and holiday schools while I strengthened my teaching skillset, but I have since graduated to teaching clubs on my own.

In 2023, I was paid a fee to work as the Assistant-director of Bakkhai, ThirdSpace’s large-scale devised outdoor production for Brighton Festival. This was one of the most incredible opportunities in my life: I was being paid for my creative contribution to an exciting, original piece of theatre, I was learning from and collaborating with a range of experienced industry professionals, and supporting the young people involved so that it would be an exciting and creative opportunity for them as well.

ThirdSpace has supported me to continue developing the skills needed to do this work with regular training opportunities, for example the in-house staff training days or trauma-informed practice workshop delivered by the organization Art Refuge UK, and one to one mentorship which has allowed me to reflect on my progress and the next steps I might want to take in my career.

ThirdSpace has given me my first professional experiences within the creative industries. It has been a ‘foot in the door’ that has enabled me to apply for jobs with other organisations and given me the confidence to start my own projects.

I think what makes ThirdSpace different from other youth arts organisations I have experienced is the trust it places in the creativity of young people, this underpins their whole ethos and is reflected in the kind of work experience they offer.

Being trusted with a role of genuine responsibility and having my creative ideas valued in this way boosted my confidence and allowed me to imagine myself with a career in theatre. Having said that, something I really appreciate about the way work experience is organised at ThirdSpace is its flexibility. Those taking part are able to tailor it to the level of responsibility or time commitment they are ready to take on, and focus it towards different skills they want to develop, for example, helping out in the office with marketing rather than working as a Teaching Assistant. This makes work experience accessible to the wide range of young people who attend their clubs.

At ThirdSpace, I have found the door is always open and the leadership team consistently has gone above and beyond in supporting me in this early stage of my career.”

Imber Eames – ThirdSpace Board Member & Freelance Creative

“Working as an assistant producer  was a fantastic experience for me – I was able to learn a huge amount about the way that productions are run, from the financing and contracting to the nitty gritty of a show day. 

Being paid whilst receiving hugely developmental training for me as a young professional was priceless to me. The Mental Health First Aid Training was particularly informative and has allowed me to feel more confident in providing support for my peers. 

I loved getting to work with incredible creatives who’d been in the industry for years and had so much knowledge to share – I feel so much more confident and excited about a future in the arts thanks to the work with ThirdSpace, and the training I’ve gotten while working with them.”

Robert McCloskey – ThirdSpace Drama Tutor & Teaching Assistant

“With Thirdspace Theatre a wide range of opportunities to build and start working towards a career in the arts and in teaching. Coming from a working class background and from a low income family, I have faced barriers getting involved in youth theatres and arts projects which were held behind financial barriers, it is only through Thirdspace Theatre where I have been able to start making steps towards a career in the arts and can actually start to see it as a possible route to follow. I have been able to work as a facilitator with children and young people, and gain a confidence and understanding of how to work safely and effectively with young people through first aid training and teacher training. Through this I have found a passion for teaching that I did not realise I had, through giving the opportunity to assist and work alongside established teachers and applied theatre practitioners who have mentored me as we worked – being paid for this has also enabled me to dedicate more of my time to fulfilling my ambitions of teaching that ThirdSpace has guided me towards. 

Thirdspace has also offered me regular mentoring which has been invaluable, helping me to find direction and being supported to start my own theatre company and tour work in Brighton and to London (which I would not have been able to do without the confidence and mentoring provided). These mentoring sessions included talks on how the industry works, securing venues, creating show packs, and financial management and budgets. This has prepared me to work professionally and feel confident as I continue to step into the industry.”

Sophia Trewick – ThirdSpace Acting Company Member & Writing Tutor

“As a young artist I was struggling to navigate the world of the theatre industry and feeling increasingly disheartened at the lack of opportunity for paid work which also involved continued learning and training. Working as a Lead Writer for ThirdSpace empowered me to put my skills to use while supporting me to develop them. I was able to work with a dramaturg and editor for the first time, and witness the process of fine tuning a script.

The mentorship I received has been instrumental in building self-confidence in my ability to take on similar roles in future. Before participating with ThirdSpace I had been feeling artistically isolated and unsure how to access the existing local theatre network. The opportunity allowed me to become part of a community of other young creatives in similar positions, some of whom have become collaborators in other projects. 

Being given this role gave me a sense of purpose and responsibility when I really needed it, and inspired me to set up a Theatre Writing group for young people which now takes place every Monday, and for which I am also receiving mentorship from ThirdSpace.”