Photo Consent Policy
Consent to take photographs is something that we are asked for at almost every activity we, or our children do. At RCT we will ask you for consent each and every time you book on to an activity. Theatre and performance is by its very nature creative and photography based. Show photography is a big thing at RCT! We do however understand that there are many reasons why you may not wish your child to be visible in photos. The way we ask for some activities might be a little different to what you are used to, so I thought I would explain why we take the approach we do.
Shows / Pantos / Events etc
As these are publicly accessible performances, on sale to the general public it is significantly harder to guarantee a child can be kept out of all photography. As such when signing up to a show, panto or event, allowing show photography is a condition of registration. The reasons for this are two-fold. When taking photos of dress rehearsals, performances etc, it's simply not safe or practical to take kids out of scenes live on stage to avoid photography. Secondly, when staging a cast of 40, 70 or sometimes even 180 it's impossible to stage scenes in such a way to ensure children aren't behind principal action etc and therefore in the background of photos (particularly with younger children who don't always end up where they are put!) On a full length show we normally end up with over 5000 photos, so it's just not possible to guarantee we can safely keep someone out of all photography. It is however likely that they will primarily be in on-stage photos as part of a group or large cast.
I fully appreciate there are many very important reasons why people don't want their kids in photos - I simply can't guarantee in live public performance that that is possible.
Please note that performers auditioning for principal roles are likely to be featured more prominently in photographs and may have a higher public profile.
Drama Classes / Musical Theatre
We often take photos and videos during classes to share on social media what we've been doing, share within the parent whatsapp group or use in other RCT marketing, website, flyers etc etc. If you choose to say no to photo consent we will ensure your child is not in any of the photos taken.
Theatre Festival
It is a requirement from the organisers that we consent to photos on behalf of all attendees.
