With a year that’s gone by like it has somewhere to be, I take a moment of introspection to warmly reflect on my time so far at the Gate.

Before I started my role as Assistant Producer at the Gate in the summer, figuring out how to piece together my bitty professional experience and transform that into a sustainable career was an ongoing mystery. Fast forward five months later, and the pieces have formed a solid foundation, and I can see my professional future unfolding before me.

My Gate journey started on a July afternoon in a Zoom interview with two kind strangers who held my professional future in their hands. Prior to this interview, I had faced rejection after rejection and was on the precipice of opting out of the artistic rat race altogether, so a lot was riding on this call. I can still remember feeling my anxiety induced bellyache turn into a puddle of excitement as my interview with my now cherised colleagues, Alice and Maddy, eventually progressed into a flowing conversation (or a yap as the kids say) wiht these two people that I’d felt like I’d known forever. The rest is history; I was offered the role and would start working on Scenes from the Climate Era two weeks later.

I had always worked on shows at a distance; while working in youth engagement or coordinating show-related projects I’d find ways to sneak into rehearsals or get glimpses of the production process just to be closer to the action. So, working on Scenes from the Climate Era from start to finish was an exciting, yet daunting, prospect for me. From day one, I was thrown in at the deep end of the production pool, a Total Wipeout-eque crash course for assistant producers if you will, earning a plethora of professional and personal lessons with Alice’s mentorship and support in the process.

Some of my post-production takeaways are as follows:

Creative teams all communicate differently,
but the producer sets the vibe.

A lot of planning and conversation goes into any and every show poster you’ve ever seen at the tube station.

At least 50-100 emails will be sent for every programmed event – there’s no way around it, but through it.

The toughest conversations are usually the most fruitful.

Asking for help is a skill that one must learn to be good at one’s job.

Grounding yourself in the conclusion that ‘it’s just theatre’ makes dealing with hiccups and mishaps a lot easier.

Tech week banter is second to none.

The economic decline of the arts is deliberate and it’s our job to advocate for creativity.

The growing pains of learning something new cannot be avoided.

Rich people need to open their purses like they used to.

Albeit these lessions can be considered common sense to some, I believe that they are lessions that can only be learnt when early career creatives are given the roles to do so. One of the reasons why this role was so important to me was the inclusion of support and mentorship – my time at the Gate has given me a safe place to fail, learn and grow, which is a necessity, especially for working class creatives like myself who struggle to get their foot in the institutional door.

It’s no secret that the British theatre industry has classism and elitism woven into its seams. In May 2024, Equity released an article citing research that shows middle class creatives make up 60% of the film and TV industry, whereas working class creatives from working class backgrounds make up only 8% – the lowest number in a decade. After 15 years of austerity, long existing pipelines are drying up, access to opportunities continue to shrink, and moey in the kitty for creative education has all but run out, resulting in a wave of arts organisation closures. It would be remiss not to mention that this era of managed decline in class diversity occurring concurrently with the devaluation of the arts creates a world where theatre and the arts become an asset of cultural capital rather than a right, which is why increased funding for entry level roles is a must. Without this role at the Gate, my creative story would’ve come to a premature end.

Industry grievances aside, I continue to hold onto hope that things will get better – working and supporting projects such as the Woven Voices R&D and filmed readings offer a reminder that access to opportunities still exist, and I feel honoured to be part of that through my work at the Gate.

I’d like to end this with a shoutout to the Gate Dream Team: Nic, Atri, Alice and Maddy; four creative powerhouses who put their everything into the Gate – my gratitude to you four is endless.

Keep living, keep writing, keep making.

Davida x