Event crew jobs with Pirate Crew
We’ve been crewing theatres and live events since 2009, mostly in London: get-ins, fit-ups, get-outs and everything in between. You’re freelance, you pick which calls you take, and you get paid every week.
What stage and theatre crew jobs with Pirate involve
Theatre is our speciality, but the work covers a fair bit of ground. In London, that means venues like the National Theatre, Hammersmith Apollo and Alexandra Palace.
- Get-ins, get-outs and turnarounds
- Fit-ups, staging, rigging support and set builds
- General technical crew on theatre shows, arena shows, exhibition builds, corporate events and festivals
Calls run from half a day to several days in a row. They aren’t all nine to five either: there are weekend, evening and overnight calls as well as daytime ones.
What it’s like crewing for Pirate
Paid every week
Every Thursday, for the Monday to Sunday before. If something’s wrong, we put it right quickly. Your rate goes up with the role, the shift type and unsocial hours. There are supplements for senior tech and crew chief work, and for tickets like IPAF, PASMA and forks.
You choose your calls
You work freelance, so you decide which jobs to accept and there’s no minimum commitment. You put your availability into TeamTrack, our crew app, and that’s where you get offered calls.
You learn the trade
You’ll be working next to experienced chippies and techs who think for themselves and are happy to show new crew how it’s done. The better everyone on the team is, the easier the job is for everyone.
Somewhere to go next
The next step up is senior tech and crew chief, running a team on site. The rate goes up with it.
How we work
We take feedback from our crew seriously. On the job, though, the client makes the call and we do what they ask, and we expect you to work the same way. Nobody here knows it all, even after years in the trade. People who drag the team down don’t get booked again. People who go off on tour or take a contract elsewhere are welcome back when it ends, and plenty of them come back.
Theatre crew, stage crew and technician roles
We take on:
- Theatre crew
- Stage crew
- Carpenters (chippies)
- Lighting technicians
- Sound technicians
- AV and video technicians
What we look for
- Reliability first: you turn up on time, every time
- Safe manual handling
- Confidence with hand and power tools
- Clear communication in English
- Able to work on your own and take direction from a crew chief
- A positive attitude, and good humour when the pressure’s on
- Courtesy to crew and clients, and smart presentation
- A willingness to learn
No tickets? Apply anyway
Forklift, telehandler, PASMA, IPAF, carpentry and set construction tickets all help, but none of them is essential. We recruit for attitude and reliability first, because skills can be taught.
Who it suits
- Experienced techs who want regular work near home
- People starting out who want a proper route into live events
- Crew between contracts
- Anyone who wants flexible day-rate work around something else
Where we work
Most of our work is in London, and we also crew in Milton Keynes, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham. Each city has its own jobs page:
What the crew say
I can’t accentuate enough how nice it is getting paid every week without fail.
More often than not we get full days of work as opposed to many short shifts a day.
Most of all it’s a professional outfit: guys come to work to crack on, no slackers are tolerated.
Some of the jobs have been tremendously challenging but the people you work with can get you through anything.
How applying works
Apply. Fill in the online application, or email your CV, experience and tickets to recruitment@piratecrew.co.uk.
Hear back. We read every application, and you’ll get a reply either way.
Get set up. If it’s a yes, we do a quick right to work check and get you onboarded on TeamTrack. Then you start getting offered calls.
Apply to join Pirate Crew
Apply online, or email your CV, experience and tickets to recruitment@piratecrew.co.uk. We’ll reply either way.
