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Hey! My name's Scott. I’ve been a member of Backstage for about 18 months now, and for my final year at university I am hoping to get further involved as your next Safety and Welfare Officer.


Beyond everything else, the most important thing through any of our productions is making sure that everyone is safe. Of course, the nature of Backstage is that we often work with a range of potentially dangerous or hazardous equipment, and so I will make sure that these risks are removed or mitigated as much as possible. This will include: reviewing and possibly updating any documents such as the Risk Assessment and Code of Conduct; Ensuring all crew, cast and production teams receive comprehensive safety information and PPE when required; and liaising with the Union’s Technical Department to facilitate the development of set/rig plans that fulfil designers’ artistic visions in a way that is feasible for the space.


As part of my time in the society, I have become more than aware of how stressful putting on a show can be. However, this year, it seems that both advising and co-designing have really been useful in alleviating some of this. As part of my role as Safety and Welfare Officer, then, I would like to further promote these systems, and to consider other ways in which less experienced designers can be supported. Furthermore, I would make sure to work closely with the Publicity and Communications Officer to make sure good working relationships are maintained with other societies, and that our crews always feel valued and appreciated in their work.


Overall, being your Safety and Welfare Officer would be a great honour for me, and I hope this manifesto has shown how I could make a positive difference to Backstage. Thanks for reading!

Hi, my name is Jess! As an active backstage member for the last 2 years, I am very aware of the running's of the society and would love to be on committee. I have done power plans and risk assessments in my roles as Sound Designer, Director of a Theatre Group show, as well as Stage Managing, Assistant Production Managing, House Managing and Assistant Lighting Designing shows. Some may say I have commitment issues, but at least it makes me a good candidate for S&W as I have a good overview of all departments! I also have a part time job as a theatre technician in my hometown (where I do things like stage manging 26 shows of a professional panto- I know, 26 shows of the same back-to-back…), which means I can communicate effectively with every department and ensure that the society is following industry practices on safety (including using PASMA towers).

I have good links to other performance societies as I have directed for Devonshire, Music Theatre and Theatre Group which is an asset to being on committee as we interact with other societies a lot! I would like to use this link to give more backstage members the opportunity to design for OT and TG (as I previously facilitated for two members for the TG play I directed) to build up confidence before doing larger design roles to help with welfare and lessen the jump from general crew to designers, (and I think it’s probably good for some of us to take a break from the Riley for welfare too!). As a director, I am used to being the welfare point of contact for a large group of people and have experience dealing with issues between cast members and complainants. I have also recently made a Facebook group to make sourcing props, costumes and set more sustainable and less stressful and would like to bring a few ideas like this from the Theatre Green Book to backstage where I can!