Baylis Assistant Director

The Old Vic; London; On-site; Full time

Job summary

The Old Vic is offering a unique opportunity for aspiring directors through the Baylis Assistant Director scheme. Candidates will assist on the production of A Christmas Carol, gaining invaluable experience while networking across various departments. The position also comes with the chance to apply for the Florence Kleiner Bursary, providing additional financial support.

Benefits

Florence Kleiner Bursary for living expenses

Mentorship throughout placement

Opportunities for production workshops

Qualifications

• Must have directed at least one professional production.
• Experience with large scale productions is beneficial.
• Demonstrate commitment to becoming a professional theatre director.

Responsibilities

• Assist Matthew Warchus during rehearsal and performance.
• Support preparatory work for the production.
• Network with other departments and engage in development events.

Skills

Professional experience in directing

Large scale productions experience

Commitment to professional direction

Education

Directing experience

Job description

Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: The Associate Director and General Manager

Contract: Fixed Term Contract

Location: The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

Salary: £828.60 - £905.59 per week

Introduction

The Baylis Assistant Director scheme was initially launched during season two of Matthew Warchus’ tenure in order to open up The Old Vic’s paid assistant director positions to a wider range of director talent. It is a short term attachment to The Old Vic, providing unique opportunities for aspiring directors to work with and learn from experienced professionals in the industry.

The scheme stands out in that it also builds on the role, offering the opportunity for selected candidates to connect further with The Old Vic and become embedded in all areas of our work.

Our next Baylis Assistant Director opportunity will be to assist Matthew Warchus and his associate, Jamie Manton on The Old Vic’s forthcoming production of A Christmas Carol.

Thanks to specific funding from the Florence Kleiner Foundation The Old Vic is able to offer a Florence Kleiner Bursary to an eligible Baylis Assistant Director candidate. The Bursary will be an enhancement to the Baylis Assistant Director position and facilitate additional activity and support offered solely to the Bursary recipient. Please note the eligibility criteria for this position below prior to applying.

A Christmas Carol

Matthew Warchus’ big-hearted, smash hit production of Charles Dickens’ immortal classic returns to The Old Vic, joyously adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, His Dark Materials).

A Christmas Carol fills the auditorium to the brim with mince pies, music and merriment. A unique staging immerses the audience in London’s longest running adaptation of this beloved festive favourite.

The Role

The Baylis Assistant Director on A Christmas Carol will be working on the rehearsal period as well as the run of a Christmas Carol spanning 12 November 2025 – 10 January 2026. During this time the Baylis Assistant Director will:

• Act as an Assistant Director to Matthew Warchus alongside the Associate team.
• Support with preparation work on behalf of the Director and Associate team.
• Spend time with other departments in the building, becoming part of The Old Vic family, networking with staff and learning from creatives.
• Act as an ambassador and attend Development events where appropriate, learning about how the funding model works for an unsubsidised not-for-profit theatre.
• The Baylis Assistant Director might also be called upon to assist with casting the production, and collaborate with our education and community outreach work.
  
  

Fees

Fees will be in line with the Society of London Theatre and UK Equity rates at the time for Assistant Directors.

The payment details here are for The Old Vic’s performance run of A Christmas Carol only.

The Florence Kleiner Bursary

As part of our commitment to attracting talent outside of London, to increase wider representation at Director level in theatre and to remove the financial obstacles that often prevent candidates from applying, The Old Vic are delighted to offer a Florence Kleiner Bursary to the successful candidate in addition to the Baylis Assistant Director residency fee. This bursary seeks to provide an emerging director, currently based outside of London, with a year-long attachment to The Old Vic.

The Old Vic is working actively to ensure emerging directors from the regions are fairly represented. Our aim is to reach out to those that might not otherwise assume they would be eligible for the role.

The Florence Kleiner Bursary is £14,000 across 12 months and will be offered for living expenses to include relocation costs, rent, food and travel in addition to and any other paid work at The Old Vic or otherwise throughout the year.

The successful candidate will receive the following:

• Mentoring throughout the placement
• Setting needs out at the outset
• Checking in throughout the year and
• Preparing for next step after residency comes to an end
• Press Night invites so that they remain connected to the theatre’s productions throughout the year
• Invitations via the Connect network to build connections with like-minded theatre makers
• Opportunities to take part in production workshops
• Facilitator roles on Old Vic Education programmes
• Opportunities to assist on Old Vic supporting programmes subject to the needs of the theatre
  
  

Person specification

Based on the intention of the Florence Kleiner bursary, those applying for this role must reside in regions outside of London. By definition, The Old Vic considers ‘outside of London’ to be 60 miles or more from Charing Cross in line with the SOLT-Equity agreement.

Ideal candidates for this role also will:

• Have directed at least one professional production (not rehearsed readings or runs of less than 3 weeks), and/or assisted on a number of professional productions
• Have experience working on large scale productions
• Demonstrate a genuine commitment to becoming a professional theatre director
• Be able to articulate their experience thus far in defining their approach, style and taste and how this fits with The Old Vic’s daring programming
  
  

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a DBS check as the role may interact with vulnerable adults and/or children.

How To Apply

We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:

• 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
• 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.
• 3. Completing our application form.
• 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.
  
  

As a Disability Confident employer, The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview. However in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.

All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK.

The Process

The recruitment process for this role will be two stages:

• 1st stage virtual/in person conversation
• 2nd stage virtual/in person conversation
• You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge.
  
  

The closing date for this role is 29 June 2025. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 11 July 2025.

Equal Opportunities

We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.

We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.

In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.

We partner with a range of inclusive organisations, to find out more please read our FAQs.

FAQs

Read our recruitment and selection and equal opportunities FAQs here.