Alumni Spotlight: Ryan Eales

Ryan Eales

Ryan Eales graduated from our BA (Hons) in Theatre Production Arts in 2019, and is now working as Deputy Head of Electrics at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London. We recently sat down with Ryan to talk Mountview, technical production and breaking into the industry.

What made you apply for the Theatre Production Arts course and why Mountview?

I was lucky enough to know two former students that had been to Mountview before and had done quite well off the back of the training. They then did a visit to our college, to talk about the school and the course and everything that can be expected. From there, I went on to apply. One of the main draws for the Theatre Production Arts course was that you get to do a bit of everything in your first year. Before I knew it, everything fell together and I was off to London, which was exciting.

What are your highlights from your time at Mountview?

The big highlights were doing the shows. We get hands on experience quite early on. I did my first show in the third term of first year, starting with Grand Hotel with the third year Musical Theatre students at the time. Being back in that atmosphere, doing a show and having that buzz was really great fun. Then as you go through the years, you do shows more and more, but with more responsibility. Moving up was really interesting, and every single show had different challenges. Tackling those head-on and then enjoying them for what they were was a real highlight of the time.

“Moving up was really interesting, and every single show had different challenges. Tackling those head-on and then enjoying them for what they were was a real highlight of the time.”

The comradery that you then have with everyone as you went through the shows, you get to learn more and more faces of the many people that attend that drama school, so it was good getting to know everyone.

How have you found the transition from training to going into the industry?

It was great to get the experience of what everyone does in each department and how everyone fits together in the jigsaw puzzle of putting on a show. Knowing that every little cog of that show is very important and if one of them isn’t working as well as it should be, then the whole thing seems to fall down. So, it gives you a great sense of teamwork, and the vocational training that you do sets you up massively for what you will do outside of drama school.

How did you feel when you got the job at Dear Evan Hansen?

During my final show at Mountview, which was Sweeney Todd, I had a phone call from someone who was looking for an electrician for three months of Shakespeare in Blenheim Palace. That was the first thing after graduation. I went straight to looking for the next thing – at that point, Dear Evan Hanisen were looking for people. I initially applied to be follow spot operator. I had the interview and the next day, I get a call from the Head of Electrics at the Noel Howard Theatre, and he asks me, “do you want to come in and be a temporary charge hand whilst we get the show up and ready, and then go do follow spotting after December?”. Everything then just fell into place. It was sort of a ‘pinch me!’ moment; you feel like you’re dreaming when it happens that quickly, then before I knew it, I was in a West End fit-up and getting ready for the show.

“It was sort of a ‘pinch me!’ moment; you feel like you’re dreaming when it happens that quickly.”

The first thing that hits you with a show like that is the scale. Everything was state-of-the-art and it was fantastic, having that wow moment of seeing it all being put together and being amongst all these professionals that had been doing this level of shows for so many years between them, and I’m just there as a little fish in the pond, absorbing everything that I could!

How is your experience as Deputy Head of Electrics at the Harold Pinter Theatre?

Ryan is currently working as Deputy Head of Electrics at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Post-pandemic, I applied for all sorts and got a job at the Wyndham’s Theatre as an Electrics Technician for the re-opening of the theatre. Then, as time went on, you start to work your way up and the next step is Deputy Head of Electrics, so I started looking around again and seeing what was available. The Harold Pinter Theatre job came up, and I gave it ago. I started at the Harold Pinter Theatre at the start of August for their run of The Seagull, which I saw out. Now as Deputy Head of Electrics, I’m a key member of getting in all these shows. We normally have short runs for plays, six to twelve weeks, and that’s a continuous cycle and something that I really enjoy. You get to experience so many different new faces and do more shows, which is part of the fun that I had at Mountview. With the way that the technical industry is in theatre, they are always modernising and revolutionising. There’s always a new bit of kit that you have to learn for a show, and always a new system.

What advice would you give to people who are applying to drama school?

Don’t be afraid to throw yourself into uneasy situations. It’s in those moments where you feel that all hope is lost, that you learn the most. Allow yourself to be vulnerable, and to make mistakes. Drama school is the perfect opportunity to make mistakes, as you have the support network around you to help pick up the pieces if things don’t go right. Throughout the course at Mountview, there were so many moments where me and the rest of my course were thinking to ourselves, “how are we going to do this?”. You look at a drawing of a plan and you think how outrageous this is.

“Drama school is the perfect opportunity to make mistakes, as you have the support network around you to help pick up the pieces if things don’t go right.”

Mountview’s course is so good because you do vocational training, and you get hands-on experience with all this stuff. Not only do you get the latest stuff to play with, you also get a really good basis and understanding of the fundamentals. You’ll find out what a practical lantern used to look like, this is what a sound desk used to be, and this is how we used to do certain sets, you then get an understanding of how those building blocks build, to succeed at the top level of theatre.

What is next for you?

The next thing is all the new shows that are coming in quickly. I am relishing in that experience, and I know it’ll be great fun. What’s at the forefront of my mind is our current programme of shows coming up. While nothing is official yet, what is coming is very exciting. So, watch that space! But in terms of personal progression, it’s to get more experience, more qualifications under my belt and keep moving forwards.

“Whilst theatre is definitely my bread and butter, there is still a world out there that I am itching to experience at some point.”

The way the industry is evolving, you can get very practical lighting elements, which is something that I concentrated my third year dissertation on. That’s always been in the back of my mind, where that could potentially lead to and what the next thing is. Whilst theatre is definitely my bread and butter, there is still a world out there that I am itching to experience at some point.