About
I build the schedule, hold the room and get the show on. My work sits between two things: the technical delivery of performance, and the making of the design that goes into it.
Since July 2026 I have worked on the technical pool at the Linbury Theatre, The Royal Ballet and Opera, providing lighting, sound and production support across opera, ballet and live events, and operating ETC EOS consoles, QLab and Dante-networked audio. Before that I spent nineteen months at The Royal Ballet School, building schedules across a dual-campus venue and stage managing and calling around ten productions and events a year — from the annual Kenneth MacMillan programme and the Ursula Moreton Emerging Choreographer platform to the Next Generation Festival — and replacing the venue's webcams with PTZ cameras running through OBS Studio.
I trained as a theatre maker at the University of the Witwatersrand, directing Bare: A Pop Opera and an excerpt from Happy Days, and designing set and lighting for Hallelujah!, directed by Fiona Ramsay. That training still shapes the technical work: I know what a designer is asking for because I have made it myself, in model, in paint and in plaster.
Alongside production work I run Off The Grid Creative, a freelance practice for production, lighting and design. I also support the operations of Truly Truly Sewing, a working sewing school and haberdashery in Kent, where I built the booking and invoicing system and the website and ran the event production for the 2026 open day and fashion show. I sing jazz outside work.
Experience
Roles & dates- 2026 – Present
Technical Production
Royal Ballet and Opera · Linbury Theatre, London
Lighting, sound and production support across opera, ballet and live performance on the Linbury Theatre's technical pool, operating ETC EOS consoles, QLab and Dante-networked audio.
- 2024 – 2026
Production and Theatre Technician
The Royal Ballet School · London
Stage managed and called around ten productions and events a year across a dual-campus venue — the Ursula Moreton Emerging Choreographer platform (March 2025 and 2026), the Kenneth MacMillan Emerging Choreographer programme (December 2024 and 2025), the Frederick Ashton Emerging Choreographer (May 2026), the Next Generation Festival at the Linbury Theatre (June 2025 and 2026) and the 2025 Summer Performances at Opera Holland Park and the Royal Opera House main stage. Ran the pre-show lighting workshop for the 2025 Ursula Moreton platform and guided the student stage crew on the 2026 edition; built the production schedules, worked to agreed budgets and prepared costings, and replaced the venue's webcams with PTZ cameras operated through OBS Studio.
- 2024 – Present
Volunteer Operations
Truly Truly Sewing · Kent
Operations, systems and events support for a working sewing school and haberdashery: set up the retail and workshop space, built the booking and invoicing system and the website, and ran the event production for the 2026 open day and fashion show. Built the Body Shapes & Styling workshop presentation and the survey and consent materials behind the school's colour and shape evening.
- 2021 – 2024
2026 – Present
Specialist and Training Lead
Apple · Covent Garden, London
Advising customers across the product and services range, and leading onboarding and product training for the store as Training Lead.
- 2019 – Present
Founder
Off The Grid Creative · London
Freelance production, stage management and lighting design practice for Off-West End and fringe productions, with ticketing and marketing systems for small theatres.
Tools & methods
Held, not listed for show- 01
LightingETC EOS family programming and operation; rigging, focusing and de-rigging conventional and moving lights; CAD plots and lighting plans.
- 02
Sound & videoQLab and Dante-networked audio; PTZ camera and OBS Studio capture systems for rehearsal and assessment.
- 03
ProductionProduction scheduling, show calling, rehearsal room management, event budgets and costings, risk assessment and safe systems of work.
- 04
MakingSet and model design at scale, scenic painting, mask making and live casting, prop and poster design.
- 05
AccessIPAF push-around vertical (PAV) operator; enhanced DBS on the update service; full clean UK driving licence.
daniel@offthegridcreative.co.uk