Casting

All of our casting is done via agencies or in-house.

Casting Policy

The Royal Lyceum Theatre is committed to a casting process for our productions which is fair, transparent and that has equalities, diversity, and inclusion at its core.

We will always seek to prioritise performers who are based in Scotland (and Edinburgh specifically) as part of our commitment to supporting the Scottish theatre sector, but recognise that Scottish actors are often based elsewhere. Working with local talent also helps minimise our carbon footprint.

In all casting, we seek to work with the best available talent for each and every role. We work with freelance casting directors for the majority of our productions. Casting directors will be credited as part of each production’s creative team, and we aim to work with a variety of casting directors across each season.

As with all aspects of our work, we wish to create a safe and supportive working environment for everyone we collaborate with, free from harm. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic, including but not limited to:

• Race, nationality, ethnic background, or immigration status
• Sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender reassignment
• Age, religion, language
• Deafness, disability, neurodiversity, chronic conditions, mental health
• Socio-economic status, educational attainment, class
• Pregnancy, maternity/paternity, marriage, or civil partnership

We recognise that performers come to the industry via many routes. We do not discriminate based on professional training or agency representation status. We also aim to meet and engage with actors who are new to the profession, and those who have not worked with the Lyceum previously, on a regular basis.

We will always take a conscious approach to casting culturally specific roles, seeking to find performers from specific communities and backgrounds. We seek to represent all of society on stage and will work to ensure diversity in all its forms in our casts, both for our own productions and those we co-produce.

Some of our productions feature young people and / or community choruses. We often recruit these roles from our Lyceum Youth Theatre and 60+ companies, or from local educational institutions.

All casts have final approval by the Artistic Director.