Old Vic at 250 – behind the scenes

Ever wondered what makes the Bristol Old Vic tick? Here are some of the unsung heroes working behind the scenes.

Trina McDougal, finance assistant

Thanks to Trina, the people of the Old Vic receive their paychecks. A member of the Old Vic team for two years, Trina deals with invoices, payments and wages for the theatre’s actors and employees.

“It’s just lovely being surrounded by creative people, and you get to see all the shows for free,” she says.

Though her job is in finance, she has a background in theatre and music. “I came from a very musical family, and I did piano and ballet as a child,” she explains. The experience gave her an appreciation for her coworkers.

“It’s interesting watching the producers, seeing them come up with ideas and bring it all together.

“You never know what’s going to happen.”

Rachel Millett, programming and producing administrator

If there’s a visiting company performing at the Old Vic, chances are Rachel is behind it.

“We go through the programme process, book visitors in, make sure we have dance, comedy, music and drama, keeping the program broad and varied.”

The 26-year-old, who began her work at the Old Vic last year, also assists the assistant and executive producers with financial settlements and other items.

“It’s really about communication, making sure we have all the information we need and all the dots are linked.”

She loves experimental theatre, and saw Pink Mist right before taking her job at the Old Vic, a show she describes as “very Bristolian”.

“The most interesting thing is seeing new work and experiencing a variety of work.”

Of course, she also gets to meet all sorts of celebrities.

“I got to meet Jeremy Iron’s dog,” she laughs. “That was pretty cool.”

Mike Elliot, maintenance supervisor

“I’m the maintenance supervisor… but it’s only me,” says Mike, who has kept the Old Vic up and running for the past 32 years. 

He’s responsible for the entirety of the building, from the 17th century architecture to the modern refurbishment.

“I don’t just do one thing,” he says. “I could be cleaning toilets or sorting out the heritage side of the building or helping with the production side.” While on the job, he’s learned everything from plumbing to carpentry.

Mike was originally only planning to stay at the Old Vic for a few years, and hoped to move to Australia to live near family. But fate had other plans.

“I met a girl and got married and had a few kids,” he says. “You know how it is.”

Liz Hebden, front of house manager

Liz manages the ushers, bar staff and duty managers – in other words, the first people the public meet after they walk in the doors. It’s her job, she says, to make sure everyone attending the theatre is safe and happy.

“Every evening, or every matinee show, is really different because you just never know who you’re going to help or what problems you’re going to solve. I think it’s the Bristol people who make it most interesting because they’re unpredictable… but in the best way possible.

“Working front of house, we’re the face of the theatre, but we also get to see a lot of stuff backstage.

“There’s a nice green room backstage that we all share, so the ushers might have coffee sitting next to Jeremy Irons. It’s important to us to have a place in the building where everybody can interact.”

Liz, who has worked as a front of house manager at various venues, has been at the Bristol Old Vic for just over a year.

“This is the biggest venue I’ve ever worked in, and it’s definitely the most fun. There are so many nooks and crannies and we can do such a big array of different events. There’s never a dull moment.”

Anyone attending the Old Vic’s 250th birthday celebrations will have the chance to meet nearly all of Liz’s team. 

“If you work on my team, you’re probably working this weekend!”

Hannah Maun, ticketing and audience insight manager

Hannah has run the box office on a day-to-day basis for the last four years, but her favourite task is analysing statistics to help the Old Vic figure out which shows to run and how to reach a show’s ideal audience.

“It sounds quite boring,” she laughs. “But I find it interesting. I do all the sales reports and find which sales need attention from the marketing team.

“I do analysis reports – if we want to do a show, the literary department wants an analysis from previous shows that are similar. We can figure how long the show will run, whether it will work, who will come. I do sales forecasting – how many performances we can do, how much to sell tickets for, how much we can make.”

Right now, she’s working on an audience insight project, attempting to find out what the people most desire to see, a project which will be “my life for the next four months”.

That’s not to say Hannah’s life is all numbers. The 31-year-old holds a performing arts degree and previously worked in a physical arts troupe and taught drama. 

“It helps inform this side of the job because it’s a reminder of what the creatives are going through. I know when things are actually difficult and when people are… exaggerating.”

Gwenni Hawkins, assistant to the directors

“It’s farcical how busy their schedules are,” says Gwenni Hawkins of Tom Morris, the Old Vic’s artistic director, and Emma Stenning, the theatre’s chief executive.

Gwenni is in charge of managing the two head honchos’ workloads and schedules as well as making sure everyone else in the building is on the same page.

“For Emma, there are lots of fundraising applications to do to raise funds for the renovation,” she explains. “You know those massive chunky A4 files? There are three of them for one application.”

Assisting Tom includes helping him prepare for his monthly National Theatre meetings (Tom is an associate at the theatre) and organising the production meetings for the plays. 

“I’m enabling them to do the difficult bits with the minimum of administrative stress,” she laughs.

Becky Davies, production operations administrator 

Becky is only 25, but she’s already a veteran at the Old Vic. 

“My mum started working here when I was about seven, and when she couldn’t find someone to watch me I would come here,” she says. “I’ve grown up here – it’s like a second home.”

At age 16, she began working at the theatre in earnest. She took a job as an usher and, when she was offered an administrative role she “jumped at the chance”.

Becky is now in command of the Old Vic’s time sheets, invoices and access cards, and she’s helping her coworkers deal with the renovation. 

“I let people know where it will be loud and where there will be dust or holes in the walls.”

To celebrate the Old Vic’s 250th birthday weekend (May 28-30), the oldest theatre in the English-speaking world will put on series of Bristol-wide projects when the Theatre, foyers, Studio and the street beyond will be handed over to the people of Bristol for a weekend of entertainment created by Bristolians of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

Read more: Old Vic at 250: a look at some of the alumni