Junior Theatre Technician Internship with the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Penelope recently completed a twelve-week technical internship at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where they worked on Othello, Peppa Pig and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Interning at the Theatre Royal Haymarket was an absolutely incredible opportunity for me. As someone lucky enough to grow up going to the West End as a birthday treat, theatre has always been a massive part of my life, but it was only recently that I realised (despite spending countless hours in black clothing on university productions) that I might want to work backstage as my career.

Over the 3 months I’ve been at the Haymarket, I feel like I’ve massively built up my knowledge and confidence to the point that I feel much more comfortable in professional backstage environments. One thing that stood out to me was how welcoming everyone in the team was from the moment I stepped through the stage door. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to work on 3 different shows, Othello, Peppa Pig and Harold Fry, which gave me the chance to work with different production teams and across a range of styles of show. I especially loved that I got to work on the get-in and tech weeks for Harold Fry, which was a great opportunity to see how shows are developed in the space and see it all come together.

I would like to thank the Electrics team, Steve, Andy and Charlotte, and the Carpentry team, Phil, Rob, Taz, Ollie, Graham and Larissa for being so welcoming and a joy to work with. They’ve all been incredibly patient in answering all my questions and letting me shadow their work. Even more valuable has been all the pop culture education, and the ongoing knots classes: it took me a while, but I got the hang of it eventually!

Having the chance to work on professional shows and see them get into a rhythm day in and out has been my favourite part of the internship; it’s not something I was familiar with before coming from student theatre, where shows are often in and out within the week. From operating the LX board, flying and followspotting, I learnt many valuable lessons about how shows run, and how to keep things consistent for the audience while everything might be changing on the fly backstage.

Having completed my time at the Haymarket, I feel very sad to be leaving – but also incredibly excited for this next chapter. Thanks to all the support and on-the-job training I’ve received, I feel much more confident in my skills and feel ready to continue learning and developing in my career going forward.

Interview with Penelope Toong, March 2026