This covers all the areas generally connected with the theatre as a venue rather than the actual performance or play. It refers to a range of departments including the box office, theatre management and finance departments as well as cleaners, catering, ushers and van drivers.

The number of employment opportunities in these areas will differ greatly depending on the size of the theatre or venue. In a very small theatre one person could end up doing many of these different jobs! Getting yourself a part-time job as an usher or in the box office at your local theatre is a great way of finding out what goes in to running a theatre and organising the performances.

The running of most theatres is the responsibility of the General Administrator/Manager who works alongside the Artistic Director. Together these two people are concerned with the artistic policy of the theatre and will then share their decisions and ideas with the Theatre Administrator as well as the Board of Directors to get approval for their policies and plans.

The Theatre Administrator is responsible for the day to day running of the organisation, working out budgets for productions and employing technical staff to work in the theatre.

This is the member of staff in the theatre who has overall responsibility for the audience and FoH facilities, such as the bars, programmes, and ticket sales via the box office. They are required to be on duty every evening in the foyer to oversee the people attending that night's performance and make sure all the theatre facilities are running smoothly. As for training, the House Manager may have done an arts administration course, after having first acquired some theatre experience.

Run by the Box Office Manager this department is responsible for performance ticket sales. The Manager is most likely to have started out as a member of the Box Office Staff and then moved up to the position of Manager. Tickets are sold by telephone, email, via websites and in person, and the Box Office Staff will co-ordinate these to ensure correct booking of the seats. In an average sized theatre there will probably be four or five staff, usually employed on a full-time basis although casual staff will sometimes be employed during busy periods.

Ushers are the most visible part of the FoH staff and are responsible for the welcoming, guidance, safety and comfort of the audience. They are usually employed on a casual basis. In a larger theatre there can be many different types of ushers - ticket and door ushers, theatre shop ushers and assisted learning device ushers who help any members of the audience who may have hearing difficulties.

During the interval the theatre bars are open to the audience and are run by the bar staff who may be employed either on a permanent or casual basis and are usually supervised by the Catering Manager. The Catering Manager may have had previous hotel or restaurant experience as well as following formal catering training.