How to Write a Theatre Resume

How'd you do? If you answered these questions correctly, you are probably on the right track to formatting a great resume. This article will give you a few tips to make it even better. If you struggled with the quiz, you're in the right place. This article will explain how to format your theatre resume from start to finish. So let's begin. We'll start with:

The heading is a very important piece of your resume. It will be the first thing anyone sees and it contains the most important information of all: your name and contact information. There are three elements that go into the heading of a good theatre resume.

1. Your name- This should be the biggest thing on your resume. Try at least 36 pt. font. You want them to know right away who you are, and to remember you. Remember, if they don't know your name, they can't hire you.
2. Your position- Write what you do. For example actress, technician, actress/ technician, costume designer, etc... This should go directly below your name in a smaller font. Be careful though. Accuracy is key. If you've only designed lights for one show, put lighting technician, not lighting designer. Likewise, if you are not comfortable doing tech work, do not put actor/ technician. Your employer will expect you to be able to do what is in your title.
3. Your contact information- Your address, email, and phone number. That's all you need. This should be in another column of the table with your name and position (see above). Once again, if they can't call you, they can't hire you, so make sure to keep this information updated at all times.

*Special Note: For resumes that contain only acting (no technical work) you may want to include eye color, hair color, height and weight. These will be listed under the basic heading.

The bulk of your resume will be your production experience. This should be listed in three part tables in reverse chronological order (the latest production first). There are several ways to divide this section up, depending on your level of experience. Here are the questions to ask yourself.

Do you have any professional experience?

If you have some professional experience, but not a lot, you can break your experience down into Professional Experience and Production Experience (it sounds better than saying "other experience"). If all of your experience is professional, you can simply put Production Experience, unless you have diverse experience. [See "Is your experience diverse?"]

Do you have any university experience?

If you are attending college, or have recently graduated, you may want to include your university experience. If you only have college experience, simply put University Experience. If you have professional experience of any kind, make a separate table called Professional Experience and then a table called University Experience.

Is your experience diverse?

If you have been working professionally for a period of time, you may have done television and film work in addition to theatre. If so, list these areas separately. Film Experience, Television Experience, Commercial Experience, Production Experience.

Education needs only one line. The name of your school, your major/ degree, and your year of graduation.

Ex. Beerinboise University, B.S. in Procrastination, Expected Graduation 2034

There are a few things to remember when listing your skills: relevance, honesty, and grammar.

1. Relevance- It's great that you can juggle elephants, really it is. But if you're trying to get a role in a Chekov play, you don't need to list this skill. Likewise for technicians, if you are applying for a costuming position, your lighting skills are unnecessary.
2. Honesty- You can't really juggle elephants, let's be honest. So don't list it. Never lie on your resume, it won't just cost you one job, it could cost you a career.
3. Grammar- Don't write "ability to juggle elephants" and then "speaks Spanish". This is distracting. Pick one tense and stick with it. You can simply list the skills (piano, singing, yoga) or write it one of the ways above (Plays some piano, Sings, Does yoga)

* Special Note: I prefer listing the skills. It's easier.

Last, but not least, you'll need three references. Just like on a job application, these must be legitimate references, not friends or family. Try to make them people who have worked directly with you in theatre, such as a director, theatre teacher, or a designer/ technical director you've worked closely with. Always, and I can't stress this enough, ALWAYS get permission before using someone as a reference. They have no obligation to recommend you, or even acknowledge your existence if you don't. The last thing you want is for a potential employer to get as far as calling your references only to hear "Jane Smith? She listed me as a reference? Never heard of her."