Hi, I’m Amanda and I am a box office assistant at the Torch Theatre. I have worked at the Torch Theatre for over 5 years now and first started in November 2017 on a casual basis, fitting hours around another job. In February 2018 I joined the Torch theatre on a permanent basis and the rest, as they say, is history! My love of the theatre and the arts and my passion for people is the reason I chose this role. We do more than just sell tickets and no two days are same. Our hours and shifts vary so we have to be flexible, and adapt to last minute changes, such as event cancellations or venue changes. The thing I love most about my job, aside from the lovely team I work with, is getting to meet the public and help share our local venue, (did you know that the Torch is a registered charity?) and my passion for the arts with people from all walks of life. The Torch is a welcoming place for our community.

As part of my role, I deal with customer enquiries over the phone, via email and in person, advise on upcoming events, seating, access and group rates for larger bookings such as schools or community groups. I also work closely with the FOH team including our senior/duty managers, ushers and kiosk/café staff, as well as our marketing team to help promote marketing campaigns, display and proofread marketing material. I am also responsible for updating spreadsheets for group bookings, liaising with local schools and community groups, sending daily film figures/weekly film reports to film distributors and some invoicing. If we are ever short of ushers, to assist customers and sit in on events, I often help here too.

Working at the box office can often be stressful, when it gets busy and the queues are out the door or if things change last minute. Our small team work together to provide the best service we can, and often find a humorous side to our job. The most common things we deal with is people losing tickets, turning up on the wrong day or even forgetting what name they have booked under! Luckily, we are always on hand to help as much as we can. The covid outbreak and following lockdowns were difficult for us as a charity and the support from the public, was incredible. For a time, we worked form home, contacting people to reschedule bookings and update them on events at the theatre. This time, for me, was the most valuable, as I got to keep in touch with our lovely customers and for some it was the only part of their day that they spoke to anyone. Re opening post covid, was a challenging time for the theatre and for our box office, as we were dealing with people who were often anxious and unsure. The introduction of new safety rules and covid passes proved a huge challenge for everyone and working alongside our FOH team, I did my very best to help everyone who came through our doors. It is so nice to see familiar faces returning and some new ones too.

I will always be grateful for the experiences that working on Box Office at the Torch Theatre has given me, and the many people I have met along the way. There’s no job quite like it!