PUBLISHED 21 March 2024
On Friday 15th March, AKS students were given the amazing opportunity to attend a talk from Peter Barnett, who has over 10 years’ experience working as a stage manager in theatres across the world.
Peter Barnett is originally from the local area and has loved drama and the theatre from a young age. He attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London, when he was 18, and quickly decided being onstage wasn’t for him, but backstage was far more interesting and suited him perfectly.
Mr Barnett spoke to us about his work and how he has worked within various companies to create amazing pieces of theatre. Although he must boss people around (which he said he rather liked doing!), he mentioned that he also loved creating special moments with the cast, recalling the opening night of Hairspray in May 2021, as he hugged the woman playing Tracy seconds before the show began.
He seemed extremely passionate about his line of work and mentioned how he has worked backstage in multiple productions, and whilst he did not like to brag, we were impressed by his work on productions including Les Misérables UK Tour, Matilda International Tour, The Choir of Man US Tour, The Ocean at the End of the Lane UK Tour and many more well known productions.
Mr Barnett gave some sage advice for those considering going into the industry, including that you always have to start at the bottom, that you have to show patience as the right job may not always come immediately and that whilst waiting for your opportunities to arise you must look for alternative job opportunities as the industry is not always highly paying.
I thoroughly enjoyed the talk that he hosted and learnt more about the backstage aspects of a piece of theatre. As a performer myself, it was extremely insightful to hear about Barnett’s line of work and his importance in the making of a performance.
We would like to thank Peter Barnett for his time and insights, and we would gladly welcome him back at AKS at a future date.