Discover how the Palace Theatre & Opera House are empowering communities through arts and inclusivity

Grace Cameron works as the Creative Learning Producer at Palace Theatre & Opera and her role is all about inclusivity, getting people access to the arts and opening doors for them.

It is the perfect mix of culture, education, training and access.

We caught up with her to find out more about her role, and her career highlights, including an amazing night at Hamilton for many first-time young theatregoers.

If this is something you could be interested in, here’s how you can get involved with some of the great work that the Palace Theatre & Opera House is doing with young people, their families and communities in Manchester.

Getting young people into the theatre for the first time can lead to a lifetime habit or even sew the seeds for a future career. How does your role support this?

My official job title is ‘Creative Learning Producer’ at the Palace & Opera House.

I am responsible for developing and delivering all the participatory activities – think, talks, tours and workshops, and project activities where children, young people, families and communities can take part!

I have the absolute joy of connecting with people who are new to theatre and supporting them to participate, build confidence and hopefully make them feel comfortable in our spaces.  

I also work with brilliant local artists, young people, their schools, and amazing teachers as well as our world-class visiting theatre productions, all with the goal of inspiring people to get involved in the industry – either as a lifelong theatre-goer or as a professional theatre maker, performer or creative.

What is the proudest moment of your career when it comes to inclusivity?

I’m incredibly passionate about making sure everyone, no matter their background, can access our venues. While there’s still work to be done, I’m proud of the progress we have made in opening up opportunities for Creative Learning participants from our communities.

One of my favourite projects was connecting local schools and communities to Hamilton during its first UK and Ireland tour at the Palace Theatre. Thanks to a partnership with The Mackintosh Foundation, we brought 1,200 young people from Greater Manchester to a special schools performance. For many, it was their first time at the theatre.

After the show, the cast and crew ran an onstage workshop, showing the students how the production works and sharing career insights. Seeing the excitement in the room, and being on stage with them, is something I’ll never forget. Huge thanks to the production team for making it all happen!

What made you want to work for a theatre group?

I grew up near Newcastle Upon Tyne, loving to sing and act but never realising I could turn that passion into a career. At that time I didn’t know much about theatre jobs and I don’t come from a long line of Creative Professionals so despite being passionate about the theatre, getting started in the industry felt a bit daunting at best.

After graduating with a degree in English and Drama, my first theatre job was at the Sunderland Empire Box Office. I took every chance to learn about the company and connected with the venue’s Creative Learning practitioners who were passionate about making theatre accessible. 

That’s when it clicked for me—I began working on projects, building my skills as a facilitator and project manager, and connecting with major productions.

Fast forward to today: I’m proud to head a new Creative Learning department at the Palace & Opera House in Manchester. At ATG (the owner of our Manchester venues), I’m part of a global network of Creative Learning professionals, working to create participatory opportunities for communities.

My career has allowed me to bring theatre, music, and dance to people across the country and collaborate with major national organizations like the National Theatre, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Ballet, and the RSC, which never gets old!

Can you tell us a bit about the Work in Theatre course that took place, as it sounds really inspiring?

Absolutely! As my own experience as a young person suggests: when we think of theatre jobs, lots of the time our minds go straight to professional performers right?

Actors, singers, and dancers are very important to our industry. But beyond that, working in the industry can sometimes feel quite mysterious.

Enter: the Work In Theatre Course, a week-long event that aims to lift the curtain on theatre careers and showcase the opportunities that working in live entertainment has to offer.

For this first course, we welcomed 22 young people who individually applied and scheduled workshops activities and talks from the brilliant humans working in lots of different roles to learn more about what goes into working at a theatre.

The group met with our teams from lots of our in-house departments including theatre management, stage management, lighting and sound, marketing and communications, as well as participating in performance-based workshops led by our artists on audition technique, making new musicals, and getting into drama school.

We wanted to create a space that was educational, but also a space where the group could come and build relationships with each other and develop personally too. The feedback from the young people was so wonderful: “I had the best time. I could be me”, which meant a lot to myself and the delivery team.

The programme was part of a wider project delivered across Creative Learning teams UK-wide, (in partnership with Get Into Theatre and supported by Arts Council England). 50% of the places on this course were funded or part-funded.

We’ve now done two work in theatre courses in Manchester, and some additional insights days on Costume & Wardrobe and Musical Writing.

We’re currently planning to repeat more courses in the future so if you are interested in getting involved please get in touch!

How can our readers get involved with any of these opportunities? Where can they get further details or updates?

Please reach out! You can email us at [email protected] to find out more information about upcoming Work in Theatre courses, workshops, or masterclasses or just ask me a theatre-related question.

Your role sounds like the perfect mix of education and culture. Can you take us through a typical day?

Lots of people say this about their jobs but genuinely, no day is the same for me!

Some days are very fast-paced and I am teaching or leading sessions in schools, at theatres or within our communities.

Another day I might be working with one of our visiting shows, a local organisation or our brilliant Palace Theatre & Opera House Trust.

A lot of days are spent completing all the admin work it takes to run a department and produce a programme of activity as I am a one-person team.

This can include fundraising, strategising, and collaborating with the venue team.

All of my work is really rewarding, I am really fortunate to be really fulfilled by what I do – which is great because I have a lot of plans!