Job Description

We are excited to announce a new training and development opportunity within our costume department, for a person from a refugee or asylum-seeking background. We are looking for an individual who is passionate about costume, fashion and theatre, to join us as we prepare for our annual Christmas production, “Cinderella: A Fairytale”. This traineeship is offered in partnership with Good Chance Theatre’s Stage Door programme.

Stage Door is Good Chance Theatre’s flagship programme for early-career creatives from refugee backgrounds to gain experience in the industry, nurturing the next generation of theatre professionals from across the world.

This traineeship will sit as part of a new, growing development of the Stage Door programme, Stage Door 10, which will see ten traineeships rolled out across the country this year. As part of SD10, in the autumn the Costume Trainee will have the opportunity to become part of a cohort of trainees, meeting together in the second half of the year and benefiting from networking, skills development and masterclass opportunities from Good Chance and their partners. The trainee will also receive a series of mentoring sessions from a team member at the Royal Lyceum towards the end of their placement, to support them as they consider their next steps in the theatre industry.

Good Chance’s Stage Door programme supports people from refugee and migrant backgrounds who have faced additional, disproportionate barriers to accessing roles in theatre. It’s a legal positive action initiative under the Equality Act, designed to improve access for underrepresented groups. It’s part of our commitment to equity and inclusion, and has been developed with Good Chance to help create a more diverse and representative industry.

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh is the leading producing theatre in Scotland and one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific theatre companies.

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company is an equal opportunities employer. The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company Ltd is a Charity registered in Scotland. No. SC010509.

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TO APPLY

Please submit a CV and cover letter (maximum of 1 page) outlining your suitability for the role.

Applications should be received by 12pm on Friday 20th June 2025. Interviews will be held in Edinburgh in w/c 30th June.

Applicants are welcome to submit their applications in a format that is more accessible to them, including an audio or video recording to jobs@lyceum.org.uk

If you have specific access needs to facilitate your application, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email jobs@lyceum.org.uk

Job Description

The Costume Trainee will work closely with the Set and Costume Designer, Head of Costume, Costume Supervisor and Costume Makers to help realise the costume designs for the production - starting from the presentation of the final designs, working through until opening night of the Production. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work alongside the costume team on all aspects of costume making, sewing, cutting, dying and finishing. They will also have the opportunity to work alongside the wardrobe running team, seeing how the costume designs are implemented into the production and how dressers work with the cast to ensure they are ready to go onstage. They will see how costume designs are realised from conception through to opening night, and will benefit from the expertise of our excellent costume department while receiving on-the-job experience, advice and informal mentoring.

This fixed term trainee role is being recruited by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh to be managed in-house and will be embedded into the process, with support from Good Chance. The role will be spread across a number of weeks on a part time basis, to allow the candidate to see the entire process while doing other work or in training. Hours will then move to full time as the production goes into technical rehearsals and moves into the theatre. The role is designed to be fully flexible to allow the candidate to focus on areas of their own interest or expertise, and around other work, education or family commitments.

This role is specifically aimed at candidates from a refugee or asylum-seeking background with lived experience of displacement. We’re interested in hearing from candidates with a passion for theatre, costume or fashion; no professional experience is required.

As the role is part time and spread across a number of weeks, we are looking for candidates based in Edinburgh, the Lothians and the surrounding areas who are in reasonable travelling distance of central Edinburgh. The trainee will be based mainly at our costume workshops at Roseburn (near Murrayfield Stadium), our rehearsal rooms and theatre on Grindlay Street.

COSTUME TRAINEE SCHEDULE

● 4th August – 16th November 2025 – between 1-2 days per week scheduled alongside work happening in the costume department and the candidate’s own commitments.

● w/c 17th and 24th November 2025 – full time to observe technical rehearsals, previews and opening night.

Final designs for the costumes will be presented in w/c 4th August 2025. Ideally the successful candidate will start this week and work between 1-2 days per week from then until technical rehearsals begin in w/c 17th November 2025. At this point hours would increase to full time, to allow the successful candidate to be part of the technical rehearsal, preview and opening period and gain experience of running wardrobe. This schedule would allow the successful candidate to be part of the entire making process and implementation, but is designed to be fully flexible to suit the right candidate.

RESPONSIBILITIES

This is a training role that will be tailored to the successful candidate and their experience and interest, with mentoring throughout. Responsibilities may include:

● Supporting the costume team with any duties as required through the course of the making process, rehearsals, technical rehearsals and previews.

● Sewing, cutting and dying with assistance from the costume team

● Assisting with fittings

● Organising costumes

● Assisting with ordering and sourcing

● Liaising with production team members including Stage Management team

● Liaising with producers about important production developments

Experience and skills required:

● A passion for costume or fashion; demonstrated by either some professional experience, or non-professional experience in sewing, making, designing, styling etc

● A passion for theatre

● Commitment to the values of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Good Chance Theatre.

● Interest in developing their costume skills further

● Confident spoken English with the ability to communicate with a wide variety of people including team members in person and suppliers over the phone

TERMS

● This role is open to creatives from a refugee or asylum-seeking background with lived experience of displacement

● Fixed term role, PAYE contract

● Start date: around w/c 4th August 2025

● End date: around Friday 28th November 2025

● Time commitment:

- 1-2 days per week from 4th August – 16th November

- full time from 17th – 28th November

- to be scheduled with the successful candidate

● Real Living Wage - £12.60 per hour / £88.20 per day on a PAYE basis, plus holiday pay and a 4% pension contribution

● Candidates should be based in Edinburgh or within reasonable commuting distance. No financial assistance with travel or accommodation costs is available.

● Candidates must have the right to work in the United Kingdom and will be asked to supply evidence of this.

● A small budget is available for professional development opportunities during the engagement, including training, tickets for theatre shows, attendance at conferences etc.

● Trainees will receive both 1:1 and group support sessions, delivered by the Good Chance Theatre team as part of their traineeship experience