Recruitment Pack
Working at the Citizens Theatre
Join us to relaunch the Citizens Theatre. A once in a generation opportunity to bring our transformed, historic venue to life.
Thank you for your interest in working with the Citizens Theatre – affectionately known as the Citz.
This is an incredibly exciting time to become part of the Citz team – a once in a generation opportunity to help reopen one of Glasgow, and Scotland’s, most important cultural venues after a transformational redevelopment.
Many of the Citz team have been with the theatre for a number of years, while others have joined during the six years we’ve been out of the building. For all of us though, 2025 will be a new adventure, as we move back into the theatre and prepare to welcome back our audiences, communities and artists.
We’re looking for people who are excited by this unique opportunity; people with passion and grit, who want to get stuck in and aren’t afraid of change. You’ll aspire to deliver work of the highest quality, and care about the experience of the people you work with.
We approach the recruitment process with open minds. You might have worked in theatre before – or you might not. We need professional skills and experiences that may have been developed in different sectors, like operations, admin and finance, as well as more theatre-specific skills of artists and technicians. We actively encourage people from a range of backgrounds and experiences to join us. Don’t assume there is only one route into this role, or that you have to tick every box.
On this page you will find information about the Citizens Theatre and what you gain from working with us. Specific information about roles and responsibilities can be found within individual job descriptions.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Dominic Hill, Artistic Director & Kate Denby, Executive Director
About us
The Citizens Theatre is one of Scotland’s flagship producing theatres, rooted in our local Gorbals community with an international outlook.
We make bold productions of new plays and reinvent classics that speak to contemporary Scotland. Sets, costumes and props are all created in-house, and bring together a community of artists and freelancers who, along with our staff team, deliver inspiring experiences in Glasgow and beyond.
Our participation and community engagement programme is at the heart of the company’s work. For over two decades, a pioneering range of projects has connected people with the theatre and each other. It provides the opportunity to develop life skills, increase wellbeing and make positive change. Reflecting our roots, the programme connects with groups and individuals within the Gorbals and wider Glasgow Southside community.
In summer 2025, our building will reopen to audiences after a multi-million pound redevelopment. This project is the first in the building’s 146-year history, and will preserve our original Victorian auditorium. Additions include a Studio Theatre, participation workshops, rehearsal rooms and a fly tower.
Our Story
The Citz has a rich history. Our building first opened as a theatre in 1878. The Citizens Theatre company, founded in 1943 by James Bridie, found its permanent home at the venue in 1945.
In its early years the company promoted Scottish plays, many by Bridie himself. By the 1960s the Citizens Theatre was one of Britain’s leading repertory theatres. From 1969 to 2004 under the trio of artistic directors Giles Havergal, Robert David MacDonald and Philip Prowse, the company presented an international repertoire, winning worldwide acclaim.
Current Artistic Director Dominic Hill was appointed in 2011. During his tenure, the Citizens Theatre has secured an unrivalled reputation for presenting bold new interpretations of classic texts that are relevant to contemporary audiences. Award-winning productions include Chris Hannan’s adaptation of Crime and Punishment, Pinter’s Betrayal and Zinnie Harris’ reimagining of the Oresteia which also played at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Across the last 50 years, leading actors from Scotland and the UK have credited the Citz with playing a pivotal role in their careers, including David Hayman, Rupert Everett, Pierce Brosnan, Roberta Taylor, Helen Baxendale, Ann Mitchell, Mark Rylance and Gary Oldman. From Glenda Jackson to Miriam Margolyes and Blythe Duff, we’ve had some stellar casts appear on our stage. The Citz continues to nurture new talent, with its Graduate Actor Scheme launching the careers of many of Scotland’s emerging talent.
Participation and creative learning has been an integral part of the Citz offer throughout our history. TAG Theatre, operating from the Citizens Theatre for 30 years, toured entertaining and diverse work across communities and schools, shaping a culture and legacy for Scottish theatre that has lived on for many years. We have continued to build a reputation for making large-scale and in-depth work with communities, from outdoor performances on the streets surrounding the theatre, to new works on our Main Stage. Catrin Evans joined the Citz in 2021 to lead our participation programme as we reimagine the company into the new building.
Redevelopment
The reimagining of the Citizens Theatre has been the biggest capital investment in producing theatre in Scotland in a generation. The £40m capital project will result in the restoration and expansion of one of Scotland’s oldest and most iconic working theatres – the first integrated redevelopment of the building since it opened in 1878.
In summer 2025, our unique theatre will come alive once again, equipped to support greater artistic ambition and deliver a richer experience for larger and more diverse audiences,
The transformation includes:
- New facilities for rehearsal and production will form a creative engine room for the Citizens Theatre and our many collaborators.
- A new studio will expand our role as a national crucible for diverse emerging artists, companies and forms
- Purpose-built community and participation spaces will empower participants from marginalised communities, enabling us to create safe spaces for the young, as well as those most keenly impacted by structural inequality
- Greatly improved physical access, and visible connection with our heritage and the processes of theatre, will involve and inspire the audience and theatre makers of the future
- Environmental sustainability measures that ensure the building has been designed with the climate emergency in mind
- Increased capacity and improved facilities will enable us to welcome larger and more diverse audiences
- Income generation will be greatly enhanced through expanded hospitality spaces, new rehearsal rooms and studios, and vastly improved customer experience
Our vision and values
Our vision is to open up creativity and theatre for all.
The Citizens Theatre is renowned for its theatrical skill, flair and artistic licence that is grounded in humility, honesty and Glaswegian realism.
Our character is defined by our values:
Heart
We believe in theatre with a passion; we treat people fairly; we invite and we involve; we work as a team.
Roots
We’re proud of Glasgow; we keep our feet on the ground and dream big; we care for the world around us.
Grit
We’re inventive and progressive; we insist on equality; we make things happen.
We focus on four key pillars:
Creativity
Our creative mindset drives everything that we do and opens new possibilities for our staff and our community. This is where the magic happens.
Community
We will always hold space for our communities and welcome an evolving conversation with them. We will adapt our approach to meet people where they are.
Learning
Craft, open-minded thinking, attention to detail and quality are cornerstones of our work. We always look to open up access to learning while being mindful that learning is reciprocal.
Sustainability
We recognise that financial and ecological sustainability will help us bring creativity and performance for many years to come.
Our work
Artistic Programme
The work on stage at the Citz is bold, imaginative and for all. It is inspired by the unique characteristics of our beautiful Victorian theatre which can hold both epic and intimate plays. Alongside new versions of classic plays, we are also a leading commissioner of new writing and the programme of the theatre will introduce more new writing to our audiences than ever before. Our new studio theatre will be a game-changing venue in Scotland, offering opportunities to emerging artists and companies and nurturing the theatre-makers of the future. It will also present touring and children’s shows from across the UK.
In an average year, the Citizens Theatre welcomes 70,000 audience members and around 2000 participants. Annual footfall in the new building is expected to exceed 100,000 people annually when we reopen.
Participation Programme
Participate, our creative engagement programme, is integral to our role as a civic and cultural hub. Our five strands of work – Youth, Education, Adults, Families and Community Residences – are centred around (re)igniting and deepening relationships with our local neighbours, nurturing new relationships with theatre-loving folks, and welcoming individuals and communities to discover the joy and benefits of arts engagement.
Matching compassion and inclusion with high quality engagement, and placing a renewed emphasis on making work with, by and for communities we are engaged with, Participate sets out to harness everyone’s right to take part in cultural activity. With two new fully accessible Participation Studios, as well as programmes of work that span out across the city, we are a place of possibility, a space for creative bravery, and a home for inspiring artistic exploration and building community.
Our people
The Citizens Theatre is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. We are overseen by a diverse Board of Trustees, chaired by Alex Reedijk. The Board delegates day-to-day management of the theatre to its joint CEOs, Artistic Director Dominic Hill and Executive Director Kate Denby.
Our culture
The Citz has always been a creative and collaborative place to work, with colleagues finding opportunities to connect and support each other. For the past six years we’ve been working in temporary spaces or remotely, which has disrupted our ways of working.
So, we are taking the unique opportunity presented by the move back to the building to actively discuss, agree and action the culture and working practices we want to embody when we return to the building – for staff, freelancers, visitors and communities.
Through regular company meetings hosted by the Artistic and Executive Directors, and staff working groups, we are having active conversations about all aspects of working life at the Citz. We’re asking ourselves what we want to bring back, what we want to change and what we want to create new.
All staff, whether they have been here for years or have just started, are encouraged to contribute to help shape the Citz of the future.
Equality and inclusion
As one of the most significant cultural institutions in the most diverse and rapidly changing cities in Scotland, we see it as imperative that our organisation is enriched by and representative of the many communities we are part of. This includes the work that we put on our stages, the audiences we attract, the artists and participants we engage with, and the workforce we employ.
In 2024, we reimagined our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy to ensure we focused on building our collective understanding of the complex nature of how intersecting inequalities can play out in people’s lives. In turn, we have developed a multi-layered approach to the work, which integrates Our Building, Our People, Our Programme and Our Audiences.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion mission
For the Citizens Theatre to thrive by living a culture of equality, diversity, access and inclusion
We will strive to achieve this mission through four intersecting priorities:
- To hold a truly welcoming cultural and civic space in the city of Glasgow
- To cultivate a workforce and board that are truly representative of contemporary Scotland
- To produce and host a creative programme (Productions, Participate and Professional Development) that centres the widest possible range of lived experience, through the stories we nurture and present.
- To lay the groundwork for reaching and engaging a cross-section of audiences and participants that are representative of the diverse range of communities in Glasgow.
Over the forthcoming years, we see ourselves as creating the foundations for a Theatre for the Future. While Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion have always been central to the work we do, we view this new strategy as horizon building. It will enable the Citizens Theatre to thrive because we have focused on creating the conditions for living a culture of EDI. We seek to be changed by this work, and we look forward to discovering how that change will emerge and grow.
Sustainability
Finance
The redeveloped Citizens Theatre will create opportunities for us to build a diverse income model to ensure long-term financial sustainability. All staff are expected to support our income generation activities.
We are part of Creative Scotland’s Regularly Funded Organisation portfolio, and currently receive revenue funding of £1.1m per year. We also receive annual funding of £200,000 from Glasgow City Council’s Communities Fund.
Once the building is back in full operation we expect to welcome over 70,000 audiences a year, generating an annual income from ticket sales of over £1m. Our new café bar and range of spaces front of house will allow us to expand our events and hospitality activity, welcoming new people and businesses into our building.
Fundraising is an important part of our funding mix; we have attracted support from a range of leading funders including Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and William Syson Foundation, and have a growing community of individual supporters.
Enviroment
As an organisation with a strong sense of civic responsibility rooted within its community, sustainability and the climate crisis have become embedded within the Citizens Theatre’s identity and values.
Environmental sustainability has been a paramount consideration in the planning and delivery of the redevelopment of the theatre building. Our creative programmes feature environmental issues as a thematic seam, placing the discourse centre-stage. For many years, we have been progressively implementing the recommendations from the Theatre Green Book in our productions, and have supported their development in an advisory role, piloting new, sustainable practices.
We take seriously our role as a leader in our sector, and will continue to share examples of best practice and influence the behaviours of our audiences, staff, peers, the wider sector and our supply chain.
Glasgow and Gorbals
Discover Glasgow and the Gorbals: a proud community at the heart of a vibrant city
Glasgow is a city like no other. Scotland’s largest city is renowned for its warmth, character, and creativity. From its iconic architecture and dynamic arts scene to its reputation as a UNESCO City of Music, Glasgow offers a rich and diverse cultural landscape that continues to captivate visitors and residents alike. At the Citizens Theatre, you’ll be at the centre of a city and neighbourhood bursting with character, creativity, and opportunity. Whether you’re new to Glasgow or returning to a place you love, the energy of this vibrant city and the welcoming spirit of the Gorbals are sure to inspire.
A thriving cultural scene
Glasgow is internationally celebrated for its cultural offerings. The city is home to world-class museums, such as the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Riverside Museum, as well as the Glasgow School of Art’s striking Mackintosh building. The theatre scene is equally vibrant, with venues like the Citizens Theatre leading the way in producing bold and compelling work. A bustling live music scene, paired with a growing food and drink culture, ensures there’s always something new to explore in this lively, modern city.
The Gorbals: a neighbourhood with heart
Located on the south bank of the River Clyde, close to Glasgow’s bustling city centre, the Gorbals is a historic neighbourhood undergoing a remarkable renaissance. Known for its resilience and community spirit, the area boasts a fascinating history intertwined with Glasgow’s industrial growth and social evolution. In recent years, the Gorbals has transformed into a welcoming neighbourhood with contemporary housing developments, local amenities and regular community events.
The Citizens Theatre is at the heart of the Gorbals’ revitalisation, making the area an inspiring place to work and live. With its mix of rich history and modern vibrancy, the Gorbals offers a unique blend of urban life and community connection.