Holly Parry – What do you do as Assistant Director?

My favourite question… so what do you do as Assistant Director at Central Youth Theatre? Well… as many of you who work for small organisations know, particularly those who have worked for an arts organisation over the last 10 years… your role can never be defined by one thing. Many of us have had to learn a multitude of skills in order to manage an arts organisation with reduced budgets and increased governance pressures. Doesn’t sound very artistic does it!? Where does the dressing up and strutting our stuff on the stage come in?? Well, I do that on Sundays – our rehearsal day. I have three two hour rehearsals one after the other and I love it – it’s exhausting but never dull. Then in the week I am in the office doing admin. This includes, writing and reporting back on funding bids for future/past projects, organising fundraising activities, creating marketing material for the general public, members and our CYT Friends scheme, updating our website and social media content, updating policies, contracts and annual leave, managing current artistic projects including casting, costuming, and scheduling in rehearsals and performance spaces and thinking up project ideas 12 months in advance. Phew! Are you tired yet? So are me and Jane. As you can probably see, there’s never really a ‘quiet’ week. Some people are baffled by just how much work there is to do behind the scenes of running a youth theatre and no week, in fact no year at CYT is the same as the last. But that is the very reason that I love it. That’s where our creativity can flourish, through having the freedom to create our artistic programme based on the intake and skills set of our young people year on year. So the next time one of our young members asks me what it is that I do… my answer will be…. I’m not sure yet…. it’s entirely dependent on you!

Holly x