The School

Magdalen College School, founded in 1480 by William of Waynflete, is one of the country’s leading independent day schools.  Situated in an enviable location at the heart of Oxford beside the river Cherwell the school has an excellent reputation for academic, sporting and artistic success.  MCS educates boys from 7-18 and girls as well as boys in the Sixth Form.

The school has a long tradition of interest in drama, extending back at least to the 17th century.  In recent times, it has been particularly keen to explore and consolidate this tradition.  Recent former pupils include directors John Caird and Sam Mendes.

In expanding all aspects of its extra-curricular tradition over the past six years, the school has increasingly involved professional experts.  Following the success of two productions directed by Tom Attenborough (one of Chapman’s The Gentleman Usher and the other of a musical commissioned about the life of former pupil, Ivor Novello), and a production at Blenheim Palace of Sheridan’s The Critic directed by Adrian Noble and Joanne Pearce Noble, the school finalised with Oxford Playhouse the current ground-breaking agreement.  MCS’s inaugural performance at Oxford Playhouse, Aeneid: The Journey, took place in July 2012. This was followed by the world premieres of adaptations of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in 2013, of Tennyson’s Idylls of the King in 2014, of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland in 2015, and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows in 2016.

Drama thrives at the school, with around twelve productions being staged in any year. One production per year usually transfers to the Edinburgh Fringe. Other regular productions include a large-scale musical (most recently Oklahoma!, Anything Goes, and The Pirates of Penzance), an outdoor Shakespeare or equivalent (recently Love’s Labour’s Lost and As you like it) an annual Classical play (recently Tales from Ovid and Medea). The summer production in Oxford Playhouse is the most ambitious project in the year, with a large cast drawn from all age groups and a professional creative team. Recent projects have included the world premiere of Birdland, a new musical by renowned composer Bob Chilcott, and an acclaimed new adaptation of The Hobbit in 2023.

Please refer to the attached “Resident Director 2024 OP And MCS” Pack for more information about MCS, OP, the Role and the Candidate.

The Role

The Resident Director will work closely with the Head of Drama to maintain and develop the artistic and professional standards of Magdalen College School drama productions. This will include leading weekly sessions for the MCS Theatre Academy group (years 9-11), devising and delivering a broad range of skills development workshops for the students.

The Resident Director will be expected to direct at least three of the school’s productions over the year, working with a range of age groups. This will include reading scripts and choosing the title and aims for each production in agreement with the Resident Producer and Head of Drama. The Resident Director is expected to generate the overall vision and concept, hold auditions and cast, take rehearsals and lead the technical rehearsals. The students’ skills and abilities should be developed through this process in a creative and supportive manner. The Resident Director will lead the lower school Theatre Academy, for years 7-8, which performs at least one play during the course of the year. The resident director will usually take a school production (with a Sixth-Form cast) to the Edinburgh Fringe (or equivalent tour) during August.

The Resident Director will normally assist on the main summer production in Oxford Playhouse as part of the Arts Festival.

The Resident Director will also be expected to contribute to our extensive outreach programme by assisting with drama-related activities through the school or the Playhouse. We have recently evolved the school’s Community Service Organisation to include a drama-based option, bringing a piece of theatre to local primary schools.

Opportunities with Oxford Playhouse will be tailored, as best as possible, to the individual interests of the Resident Director post-holder. The theatre will provide mentoring and advice, throughout the year, including hands-on support with project management, funding applications, budget-writing, contracts, career development and industry introductions.

The Resident Director will work as Assistant Director on Oxford Playhouse’s pantomime Sleeping Beauty, with specific responsibility for preparing the Young Company (16x young performers between the ages of 11 and 15 years old). The role will support the Director, Toby Hulse, in full company rehearsals both through creative input and administrative tasks, ensuring good communication between the creative team and staff. The Resident Director will be expected to lead on line runs, understudy rehearsals and visit the show on a weekly basis to give notes to the company.

Further opportunities include leading and supporting the planning and delivery of Youth Theatre skills sessions at the Playhouse, as well as provide both administrative and dramaturgical support across Playhouse artist development schemes. Opportunities to direct and assistant/associate direct on Playhouse productions can be explored across the year, with previous examples including directing extracts of new writing from the Playhouse Playmaker scheme, co-directing short plays written by primary school children on our Primary Playmaker scheme, and assistant directing on the Playhouse Plays Out Tent community tour project.

The Resident Director will contribute to the professional working culture of the theatre, and will be able to volunteer to join OP staff working groups that focus on specific areas such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Environmental Sustainability.

For the duration of the residency the Resident Director will be expected to work within the policies and procedures of both organisation and ensure safe, legal, and supportive working practices are maintained and undertake any other duties reasonably requested or required to fulfil the objectives of the role.

The Candidate

Skills and Experience

• Proven previous directing experience.
• Serious interest in and understanding of the current theatre landscape.
• Previous experience of working with young people in participatory arts.
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to keep calm under pressure
• Organised and efficient, able to prioritise and take initiative

Personal Attributes

• Passionate and inquisitive about theatre making and directing
• A genuine desire to further develop your directing skills
• Proactive, hard-working individual
• Naturally collaborative, with enthusiasm and an ambition to succeed
• A team player who is sensitive to colleagues’ pressures and instinctively supportive
• Ability to work long and unsociable hours

Application Process

Candidates should submit the “MCS Application Form with Supplementary Resident Director Questions ” which can be found on the Job Vacancy link of the website (www.mcsoxford.org).  To access Click here.  To apply for the position please send the following two documents to the Recruitment Officer, Miss Yelena Molcanova (recruitment@mcsoxford.org).

1. “MCS Application Form with Supplementary Resident Director Questions” Form
2. CV (Curriculum Vitae)

All documentation should be sent no later than Tuesday 7th May 2024 at noon; early applications are highly encouraged.  The school’s preferred method of communication is by email and it will not be necessary to send a hard copy of the documents by post.

References may be taken up in advance.  If you do not wish references to be called for at this stage, please make that clear on the reference section of the application form.

We anticipate holding 1st Round online  interviews from Wednesday 8th May and 2nd Round in person interviews  on Thursday 16th May . We will be in contact with shortlisted candidates by telephone.

Equal Opportunities

Magdalen College School recognises and is committed to ensuring applicants and employees from all sections of the community are treated equally regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marital and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Safeguarding Policy

Magdalen College School is committed to the safeguarding of pupils, and any offer of employment will be subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure, the receipt of satisfactory references, the school’s pre-employment medical questionnaire, plus sight of relevant original ID documentation and degree certificate(s). This role will be in regulated activity and will require a children’s barred list check as well as an enhanced DBS check. The enhanced DBS check is due to this role being exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Remuneration and other benefits

This is a full-time fixed-term position running from 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025,  Salary will be £26,425 pa. Although the post will reflect the school’s academic year of 1st September 2024 through to 31st August 2025 it will, as part of the contracted period, include school induction days and additional handover periods with the current post holders through the summer of 2024. Given the nature of the role the post-holder will be required to work during weekends and evenings during, and in the run-up to, productions.

Non-teaching staff are automatically enrolled in the school’s contributory Group Pension Scheme.  This is a defined contribution pension scheme into which the employee contributes 5% of gross salary and the employer contributes 10%.

There is a wide range of benefits on offer to staff, including a free lunch during term time and complimentary use of school sports facilities. Head to mcsoxford.org/vacancies to find out more.

Please note that MCS is an inner-city school, with very limited parking. Staff are encouraged to use public transport wherever possible for their journey to work.

Additional Information

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the HR office: 01865 253401.