Actors

Casting  
Roundabout’s casting, as for the Main House, is done by a casting director in consultation with the director of the play and the Director of Roundabout and Education. Casting is usually carried out via a formal audition.  

Training and qualifications ~
Roundabout will usually see at audition only fully-trained actors, dancers, and musicians. There are occasional exceptions to this, particularly where the artist practises an artform which has no recognised training or qualification in the UK.  

Contracts and pay
Roundabout offers an Equity/TMA (T.I.E.) contract, which currently pays £300 per week plus subsistence of £86 per week where applicable, and overtime as per contract.  

Working practices
Roundabout does most of its work in schools, usually giving two performances a day. There are occasional evening and weekend performances, and public performances in small theatre venues. As well as performing, Roundabout company members are involved in get-ins and get-outs at each school, carrying and packing set, props, and costumes. (However, this doesn’t exclude the casting of artists with physical disabilities, who are unable to lift or carry; special provisions can and will be made wherever possible, provided that the company is made aware of the disability before contracts are signed.)  

Summary of Equal Opportunities Policy
Nottingham Theatre Trust Limited (Nottingham Playhouse)  is committed to a policy of equality of opportunity in its employment practices.  

The Company aims to represent and reflect artistically, administratively, and in all areas of its activity, the cultural diversity (which includes disability culture) of the communities it works with.  

The Company aims to ensure that no patron, potential employee or employee receives more or less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, martial status, sex, sexual orientation, disability or religious belief.    

Directors  

Some of Roundabout’s projects are directed by Andrew Breakwell, the Playhouse’s Director of Roundabout and Education. Others might, from time to time, be directed by other staff directors.  

A significant proportion, however, are directed by freelance artists who come to Roundabout for a fixed period to direct a specific show. Often, these artists are specialists in young people’s theatre, or have a particular interest in developing skills in the area.  

Appointing freelance directors
Freelance directors are appointed by the Director of Roundabout and Education, often in consultation with the writer of the script. Roundabout, like all other companies, gets to know the work of directors by seeing the work they produce for other companies. There’s no fixed route to getting a directing commission; some directors make the initial approach, by inviting the company to see one of their shows and then asking to meet up. In other cases the director is approached by the company, who consider their work is appropriate to a forthcoming project.   New directors often find it hard to establish themselves in these networks, but it’s not impossible. Roundabout has worked with a number trainee directors; often on small-scale projects to begin with, but a high proportion have gone on to direct a full-scale project later.   Training Most directors