Yale will also employ the technical director and chief technician, and crew the theatre with students undertaking a Foundation Degree, giving them a thorough grounding in lighting, sound and general crewing, while a partnership is also being sought with a large-scale producing house to accept second year students on six-week placements. The essence of the Wrexham Project is to deliver practical hands-on technical training in a professionally-run receiving-house where students are prepared for the profession. HND or Foundation Degree may be the description employed, but 'apprenticeship' will be the reality.
The theatre itself is a medium-sized house with a capacity of 450 over three levels, designed with training in mind as an essential part of its function. Architect Julian Marsh of Marsh & Grotchowsky of Nottingham won an architectural competition to decide the design, and Chris Baldwin of ACT has been onboard as theatre consultant. In March 2001, the Arts Council awarded £4million to build the theatre; this has been followed by further grants from both the Arts Council and the National Assembly of Wales.
Student accommodation has been provided in the form of two computer/seminar rooms and locker and shower facilities. There are metalwork and carpentry workshops on the campus and generous provision of IT throughout teaching and research areas. The theatre will be networked and an emphasis will be placed on software control and design systems. There is an extensive Cat 5 network and ISDN lines will be installed to facilitate live broadcasting.
It is intended that the courses will be run with consultation with industry and that the students should be workplace-ready by the time they graduate. Students wishing to progress to an Honours Degree can do so via several Higher Education partners; project staff have been working closely with Arts Training Wales to devise a structure for technical training and professional development throughout the sector in Wales and it is expected that the new theatre will provide a national centre of excellence.
Building is now underway and the first student courses are scheduled to begin in Autumn 2005.
