Apply to teach at RHIIF 25
Information for Teachers

Expressions of Interest will be open from on Mon 27th Jan - Fri 21st Feb 2025.

Applications to perform will open once teaching EOIs have closed.

This year, the festival will run from Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 7th September 2025 in Nottingham, England.

Hi there! 

Thanks for your interest in teaching at the Robin Hood International Improv Festival (RHIIF) 2025.

Before you fill in an Expression of Interest (EOI), we recommend you read this page in full which sets out our goals for the festival and should give you a good understanding of what we’re looking for in successful expressions of interest. We aim to curate a festival line-up which balances the values and vibe of the festival, with the interests and desires of the local improv community - which is the wonderful, welcoming heart of the Robin Hood International Improv Festival experience.

We anticipate that the number of EOIs will far outweigh the number of opportunities we can offer. We’ve tried to make the process as simple as possible for everyone applying while giving us all of the information we need to design the most diverse and exciting line-up of workshops possible.

Note: there will not be a further formal application process, though we may want to have further conversations with shortlisted applicants.

Our Mission Statement

“To showcase the best of the world’s improv to Nottingham, and the best of Nottingham’s improv to the world.”

The local improv community - in Nottingham and The Midlands - is at the heart of what we do. We want to RHIIF to both serve as inspiration for the local community, and showcase the incredible improv talent creating work in this area of the UK. We aim to provide all who attend the best possible experience while having a lasting impact on the local improv scene that is felt beyond the five days of the festival.

The teaching opportunities we can offer fall into two categories:

• Open Workshops
  A workshop aimed at improvisers at the festival. Anyone will be able to pay to sign up to this class.

• Ensemble Coaching
  At the festival we have a number of festival ensembles. These are groups of individual performers put together just for the festival. They get a day’s coaching from a teacher, and a show at the festival.

What Are We Looking For?

• Bring What You Love
  We are most excited to hear about the thing that you love most. What is the topic you can’t shut up about? What is the little corner of improv that sparks your creativity and delight? We want more of this in 2025 - we’d much rather you bring a workshop born out of your passions, joys, and practical learnings than the tried-and-tested formats you think might be popular.
  
  Each year we survey past participants and the local community to see what they are most excited to learn at this year’s festival, so what we are looking for shifts and changes each year.

• Different Viewpoints
  We want to curate a line-up with a wealth of ideas to inspire and challenge us in different directions. We believe that the more influences we can give voice to, the better!

  We particularly encourage expressions of interest from teachers who are generally underrepresented in improv festival line-ups.

• Correctly Filled-in, On Time Responses
  As mentioned above, we anticipate more EOIs than the opportunities we have available to offer. As such, submitting a response late or half filled in is likely to hurt your chances. If you have any questions about the expression of interest form please reach out as we’re happy to help with anything you want to ask.

A note on voluntary donations

In previous years we have charged for expressions of interest in order to help with the general running costs of the festival. This year to make the festival more accessible, we are waiving fees and instead asking for a £10 voluntary donation from those who can. This donation is to cover the time of the team who painstakingly read every question, watch every video, and give each and every application the time it deserves to be considered fully.

The information of whether or not an EOI was submitted with a donation will be removed before the scheduling process begins. This means whether or not you donate will have no impact on your chances of a successful application. RHIIF is a volunteer ran organisation, and every donation goes towards making this festival the best it can be.

The Specific QUestions we will ask…

As we’ve said before, we anticipate the number of expressions of interest to be greater than the number of opportunities and we appreciate you spending the time to apply. Therefore, our EOI form is designed to be as brief as possible while providing us with all the information we need. Below we break down the exact questions you are asking and in some cases why we are asking them.

In instances where filling in a form is prohibitive, we are happy to accept short audio recordings of you answering these questions. Just drop us an email to let us know that is what you want to do, and we’ll let you know your next steps.

We will ask for:

• Name

• Pronouns

• Email Address

• Which City and Country are you from?

• Which days do you intend to be with us for the festival?
  Note: In the main, we will prioritise EOIs from teachers who can be with us for the full length of the festival as we have found this helps to foster the community vibe we are after across the 5 days. That said, we recognise that is not possible for everyone’s life situation - for example, it may simply be unfeasible for those with caring responsibilities. If that is you, please ensure you mention this in the equal opportunities part of the form. In the past we have supported teachers who are parents and carers to work at the festival in a way that works for them.

• Have you attended RHIIF Before?
  This will let us balance new voices with community favourites.

In the EOI you can pitch two workshops. For each workshop we ask for:

• Name of your workshop * 

• Length of your workshop *        

  2hrs / 3hrs / 1 day (5hrs + Lunch) / 2 days (2x 1day)

  Note: Each year the make-up of our line-up has changed, quite a bit, though we have always programmed comparatively very few 2-day workshops - especially when compared to the number of applications to teach them.
  In 2022 we offered: 3x 3hr workshops, 6x 1-day workshops. Taught by 3 different teachers.
  In 2023 we offered:  7x 3hr workshops, 3x 1-day workshops, 1x 2-day workshop. Taught by 9 different teachers.       
  In 2024 we offered: 10x 3hr workshops, 2x 1-day workshops, 1x 2-day workshop. Taught by 12 different teachers. We also had Friar Tuck’s Improv Feast of mini-workshops.                                    

• Description of your workshop *

  Two to three sentences. This is a workshop description, not sales copy, so please include the key learning objective(s) for students and what you feel students will take away from your workshop.

• What experience level and/or core skills should participants have for your workshop? 

  It's very difficult to get people to accurately assess their own suitability for a workshop based on terms like "intermediate". Have a think about what participants will need to be able to bring into the room to support themselves and one another. IE ‘Basic musical improv skills’ or ‘Understanding of the format "The Harold”’, etc.

• Ideal capacity of your workshop?
  Note, most of our previous classes have been capped at 16.

• Would you like your workshop to have a showcase?
  Yes / No.
  Note, last year one workshop had a showcase attached to it.

• If ‘Yes’, please describe the ideal showcase for this class
  IE “Split class in half, have 2x 30min showcases.”, “1x 30min showcase for everyone.”, Etc.

• Do you want to be considered to coach a Festival Ensemble?

  Yes / No                                      

• If yes, what is the name of the format / show you would like your Festival Ensemble to perform?
  Just the name of the show or format you would teach the ensemble to perform.

• Brief Description of Ensemble Show Format.
  Four to five sentences on the format you would like them to perform.

• Brief description of your teaching experience. *

  Four to five sentences, including how long you have been teaching, where you have taught, and a brief glimpse into your philosophy or style.

• Please provide a reference for your teaching

  Could be the artistic director at a school you have taught at, a festival you have taught at, a mentor teacher, etc.

• Reference contact email

  We will get in touch with your reference should you be shortlisted. We also run our teacher list past ‘Safe Play’ before making final decisions.

• Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Equal Opportunities Monitoring

RHIIF believes that a greater diversity of voices makes improv a better place and we want to be able to foster that as best we can. You can help us to do this by filling in the following questions. Please note this is completely voluntary and leaving all or part of it blank will not affect the chances of your Expression of Interest being successful.

• Do you consider yourself to be part of a group that is underrepresented in improvised comedy theatre

  Including but not limited to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, neurodiversity, and religion or belief.                                  

• If so, how?

That’s the whole Expression of Interest - if you have any questions please get in touch at robinhoodimprov@gmail.com.

We intend to let all applicants know whether they’re successful or not within one month of applications closing.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we recieve, we cannot offer individual feedback.

A note on finances

We review and update our pay packages for teachers ahead of each year, balancing on what we feel is fair and equitable reimbursement with the festival’s financial sustainability. While this year’s pay package will only be finalised after we have created a draft schedule, we are sharing last year’s offer, which gives you a rough idea of the type of offer you are likely to receive should you be successful.

In 2024, teachers were paid £75/hr to teach an open workshop and £50/hr to coach an ensemble (min. 5hrs).
On top of that, teachers were also paid a travel stipend that scaled up with distance travelled (IE UK < EU < Rest of World) and given the option of free accomodation by being hosted by a local improviser.