The front of house team is responsible for managing all public areas of the theatre and ensuring patrons have a safe and enjoyable experience. Key responsibilities include overseeing food and drink services, box office duties, and ushering patrons to their seats. Front of house staff aim to present a welcoming and professional face to create trust in the theatre company. Experience in customer service is valuable for these roles, which some entry-level workers take on to advance their careers in theatre management.

1. Kara Girvan
Front of House - The faces of the theatre.
The front of house of a theatre refers to all areas accessed by the public, including
the auditorium. Front of house staff look after the public to make sure their visit is
safe and enjoyable.
The front of house department looks after the day to day management of the theatre.
Usually there is at least one manager who employs the front of house team.
The front of house team’s job is to make the theatre a welcoming place for all
visitors, staff and volunteers and to give them an enjoyable visit by being warm,
welcoming and friendly.
Some of the responsibilities of the front of house team is:
 The safety and security of the public during the performance and whilst they
are on the premises, you can do this by making sure you don’t over fill the
space to avoid crowding and accidents.
 Ordering and organising the merchandise that is sold on the days of the
shows but they can work with the marketing team for this responsibility.
 Checking and maintaining a high quality of food and drink that they are
selling, you can do this by little things like making sure you have suitable
foods and drinks for a wide range audience like having vegetarian options.
Sometimes the theatres come with a catering team but for a smaller
production e.g. Arley Hall the front of house team will deal with things like
refreshments in intervals.
 Managing the box office, making sure they know how many tickets they have
sold, how many people are in the auditorium at all times.
 The front of house manager also employs front of house assistants to check
the audience's tickets, help them to find their seats, and make sure the theatre
is safe during the performance these are usually called ushers.
The overall presentation of being front of house is a big deal with how they dress and
how they present things and themselves; this affects the professionalism of the
company you are working for. This can be achieved by things like having a matching
uniform and taking pride in the displays that you make like the refreshments this then
giving the audience faith and trust in the company and the venue that you are
associated with.
To get into front of house theatre work a lot of people begin by applying for jobs as
ushers or box office sales assistants and work their way up like any other jobs in
theatre. A lot of front of house employers look for people who have experience in
retail or customer services.
They need to have good people skills as they interact with the audience and become
almost the face of the theatre as they are the people you see when you arrive, in the

2. Kara Girvan
interval and when you leave. Business skills are also handy for front of house work
with the box office; IT and basic maths knowledge are helpful.
Responsibilities can differ depending on what venue you are working with e.g. At
Arley Hall you can have some front of house staff on car park guiding the audience
of where to park and how to get in as Arley Hall is only big house, where as the
Christmas show at Priestley College doesn't really need car parking staff because it's
not as big and confusing as to where you go.
There is a wide range of management and business training, you will need to gain
work experience in the job to further your career in being part of a front of house
team. Contacting theatres, arts centres, and even cinemas to gain box office
experience would be a good idea. You will need to build on people skills and
knowledge on how different shows run!
I researched the hierarchal structure of the production role and where I fit in the
production. This hierarchy structure shows the relationship between the different
roles and makes sure the show runs efficiently. Within the structure I am the front of
house team this is below the front of house manager and assistant, the structure
helps me understand who I need to listen to and who to take instructions from.
This is one of the job descriptions on the website that
gives you a little bit more information of the job like the
company and if it’s a temporary or permanent job.
The following screenshots
are examples of jobs in the
industry from the website
“Total Jobs” they list the
job title, the location of the
job and the salary.