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Welcome to the Bring the Drama Festival

Complementing the six-part BBC Two and iPlayer series that opens up the world of screen drama, the Bring the Drama Festival is your chance to look behind the scenes of film, TV and theatre. If you’re interested in a career in stage or screen, or want to find out more about working in our world-beating cultural industries, then you’re in the right place.

Our brand-new series of short films will spotlight people in creative roles on productions including Matilda the Musical, Hamilton, Waterloo Road, Shrek the Musical and the Harry Potter films.

And if those inspire you, or you just want to see how all the magic happens, the BBC has joined forces with more than 150 of the UK’s leading creative organisations to deliver unique Festival events throughout February and March 2024.

Partners are showcasing everything from stage-managing to wig-making, lighting to line producing, art direction to make-up design. You can connect - through the ERIC careers app - with the hundreds of events that are happening in locations across the UK.

On offer are hundreds of events from more than 150 partners, with a range of activities including talks, tours, workshops, masterclasses, Q&As and ‘meet the teams’.

Your gateway to all of this is the Bring the Drama Festival on ERIC, the Creative Arts Platform available as an app for your phone - simply enter a postcode to find events where you live, as well as many online opportunities. Here are just a few examples of events already in the Festival schedule:

  • Backstage tours at The Lyric Belfast throughout its production of Little Women;
  • Behind the scenes tours of Hamilton and Les Misérables with the Cameron Mackintosh Limited production teams;
  • Bristol’s The Bottle Yard Studios running a marketplace event to showcase the vast range of careers across film, TV and theatre;
  • A Play, a Pie and a Pint in Glasgow opening its doors to showcase opportunities for craftspeople and stage managers;
  • Work experience opportunities with Northern Ireland Screen;
  • Bespoke tours of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s workshops in Stratford;
  • BBC Cardiff Central hosting set tours including Crimewatch and Sin Bin;
  • Other partners hosting events include Sadler's Wells, the Royal Opera House, Into Film, the Curve Theatre in Leicester, Liverpool Everyman, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Confetti Media in Nottingham and Whitechapel, and BECTU in Glasgow.

Find an Event

Scan the QR code above, or use the links below, to start browsing Festival events on the ERIC app.

Please note that you must be 16 or older to sign up for the app. If you’re under 16, we kindly ask that you get a parent, guardian or teacher to download the app and apply to opportunities on your behalf.

Find an Event

  • The Festival

    Complementing the six-part series that opens up the world of screen drama, the Bring the Drama Festival highlights behind-the-scenes careers in film, stage and television.

  • Videos: Creative Careers

    Watch what it’s like to work behind the scenes - from the people doing jobs on inspiring shows like Matilda the Musical, Hamilton, Waterloo Road, Shrek the Musical and the Harry Potter films.

  • Find an Event

    How to connect on the ERIC app to unique careers events run by Festival partners - events live from the start of February.

Organisations involved in creating the Festival with the BBC include: Arts Council England; National Theatre; National Youth Theatre; Screen Alliance North; Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre; Get Into Theatre; Into Film; Cameron Mackintosh Limited; Bristol Old Vic; ScreenSkills; the BFI; BAFTA; Screen Scotland; Northern Ireland Screen and Ffilm Cymru.