A Front Of House Manager's Role

Front of House Manager, written by Fran Williams

When you go to the theatre, do you ever spare a thought for the people who take your ticket, sell you a programme or show you where to sit? Probably not, but you’d certainly notice if they weren’t there!

Fran Williams, has been Front of House Manager for two years but she was working as a member of the team long before that. Fran told us that the best thing about working as a Front of House team member is “giving people who come the full theatre experience. They come in and they’re treated as they would be in a professional theatre. We try to run the front of house in that way.” Yes, remember, everyone at the Venture Theatre is a volunteer.

Performances usually run for seven nights over a two week period and it is necessary to have four people on front of house duty every night. This isn’t usually a problem but when a play has a big cast, quite a few members of the usual team may be in the play so there is always room for more volunteers. An individual team member won’t be on duty every night; people usually do one night in each of the two weeks and if you’re lucky you may get to see the show.

There is always a seat in the auditorium designated for a member of the team and if it is known that an individual isn’t able to get to see the play on another night they will usually be given that seat. 

There will always be a trained first aider either in the front of house team or on the bar each night and the theatre currently has nine qualified first aiders on the books. It’s not necessary to have first aid knowledge to join the team but another qualified first aider would always be welcome.

Fran told us that working on front of house was one of the most enjoyable jobs in the theatre because you get to meet members of the public. You see them on the way out too so usually get to hear all the complimentary comments about the plays! It’s a very rewarding job so if you think you might like to join the theatre but you don’t fancy treading the boards, this might be just the thing for you.

Come down and meet us on any Monday night (not Bank Holidays) from 8.30pm.
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