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Get Involved Opportunities Royal Shakespeare Company Uncategorised

Call-out for Actors and Directors to work with Hall for Cornwall on the RSC’s 37 plays programme

37 Plays – Actor and Director Call Out for October 2023

We’re looking for 10 Actors and 5 Directors to work together this October to perform 3 Rehearsed Readings across Cornwall of 5 new scripts.

Hall for Cornwall are proud to be one of 12 Regional Theatre Partners of the Royal Shakespeare Company. We work collaboratively with the Royal Shakespeare Company across a number of programmes including The Associate Schools Programme and Shakespeare Nation.  Following on from their successful 37 Plays programme launched last year (you can read more about the project here: 37plays.co.uk), we are delighted to be producing 3 Rehearsed Readings of the new 37 Plays scripts this October.

Working with our colleagues at The Writers Block, we’re seeking 10 professional actors to read 2 Full Length scripts that have been selected by the panel from the Royal Shakespeare Company. You can read more about the panel and the plays here: 37plays.co.uk. We are also adding 3 extracts of 3 new scripts, written and submitted as part of the programme to the Writers Block and Hall for Cornwall. The evening will consist of sharing these 5 new plays and a facilitated post show Q&A with some of the writers and directors.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for ‘teams’ to read the 5 plays (2 full length and 3 extracts).

The pay is £120 per day, plus travel to be arranged at the start of the contract. As per our environmental policy, we will be aiming to car share and use public transport where possible.

Actors 

If you’re interested in applying please email the following information to [email protected]

  • Your CV, Spotlight or Showreel (whatever you have, don’t make one especially)
  • An email, voice note or film (from your phone is fine – it’s applying in a way that suits you) to tell us the following:
  1. Why you’d like to do this and your experience of delivering script/text.
  2. Your playing age and your accent range.
  3. Tell us if you’d like to be in team A,B or C (see dates below)

(Please note that films / voice notes need not be longer than 2 mins)

You’ll need to be free on the following dates:

7th, 11th,13th October (these are the 3 rehearsed reading dates in Truro, Redruth and Liskeard)

  • Team A: 1st , 6th October (10am-5pm) and 7th, 11th,13th October (3pm – 10pm approx.) – There is a fee of £600
  • Team B – 1st, 2nd, 6th October (10am-5pm) and 7th, 11th, 13th October (3pm-10pm approx.) – There is a fee of £720
  • Team C – 1st,2nd, 4th, 5th,6th October (10am-5pm) and 7th, 11th, 13th October (3pm-10pm approx.) – There is a fee of £960

Directors

If you’re interested in applying please email the following information to [email protected]

  • Your CV or Showreel (whatever you have, don’t make one especially)
  • An email, voice note or film (from your phone is fine –it’s applying in a way that suits you) to tell us
  1. Why you’d like to do this and your experience of directing so far.
  2. Your suitability for directing a Rehearsed Reading (there will be no physical staging of the work, the sharings are to focus on the text and delivery. There will be no lighting or props or costumes)
  3. Tell us if you’d like to be in team A,B,C or D (see dates below)

Please note that films / voice notes need not be longer than 2 mins. The one day rehearsals are to work up a 10-12 minute extract. The 2 days are the full length pieces.

Rehearsal days are with the actors being called from 10am-5pm, and Rehearsed Reading days are approximately 3pm-10pm.

  • A  – 1st,2nd October– plus a pre planning meeting with the writer and attending 1 Rehearsed Reading (7th, 11th or 13th October) to take part in the post show Q and A – There is a fee of £670
  • B – 1st October  – plus planning meeting with the writer and attending 1 Rehearsed Reading (7th, 11th or 13th October) to take part in the post show Q and A – There is a fee of £470
  • C- 6th October  – plus planning meeting with the writer and attending 1 Rehearsed Reading (7th, 11th or 13th October) to take part in the post show Q and A – There is a fee of £470 (there are 2 Director positions available for these dates)
  • D – 4th, 5th October plus a pre planning meeting with the writer and attending 1 Rehearsed Reading (7th, 11th or 13th October) to take part in the post show Q and A – There is a fee of £670

 

The closing date for both applications is the 7th September at 12 noon.  We will let you know by the 9th September at 5pm .

 

How to Apply

Please send your application to [email protected]

If you’d like to ask any questions or talk to anyone ahead of submitting an application please email [email protected]

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Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre

THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY RETURNS…

 

“Julius Caesar is the perfect play for our age of emergency,”

We’re delighted to welcome the Royal Shakespeare Company back to Hall for Cornwall this spring with this fast-paced political thriller. Whether you can recite every word of this play, or you’re yet to hear the lines passionately performed on the stage, what better way to experience it than at the newly renovated Cornwall Playhouse?

Synopsis…

Concerned that Caesar poses a threat to democracy, revolutionaries take the violent decision to murder him. They have no plan for what comes next. As the world spins out of control, chaos, horror and superstition rush in to fill the void. Civil war erupts and a new leader must rise: but at what cost?

Join us for drama and excitement as the Royal Shakespeare Company returns to our stage this April. Julius Caesar’s thought-provoking storyline will keep you on the edge of your seat as the characters navigate the treacherous waters of power and ambition.

Meet the Cast…

Joining Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar) and the formiddable Thalissa Teixeira (Brutus) is a cast of talented individuals with a portfolio that includes television’s Call the Midwife, Doctors, and The Witcher, and theatre’s Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

 

Pictured: (Left to Right) Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar), Thalissa Teixeira (Brutus), and Kelly Gough (Cassius).

Along side this carefully thought-out casting will be 2 deaf actors performing sign language throughout the performance.

For each location on their tour, the Royal Shakespeare Company have also invited along community champions and leaders to join the cast of Julius Caesar on the stage as part of the play. Each group will partake in 5 weeks of rehearsals before performing alongside actors from one of the most well-known theatre companies in the UK.

Emily Kent, Michelle Sudworth, Laura Allen, Molly Banks, Amy Rom and Lisa McNally have been handpicked by HfC for the inspiring contributions each of these wonderful women make to the community. We are in awe of all the women who make things happen for the creative industries right across Cornwall and beyond, and are thrilled to welcome them to Hall for Cornwall.

The choir have been prepped for their performance by local Musical Director & Community Chorus leader, Matthew Thomason. We’re so grateful for all of his help and guidance over the last few weeks helping to prepare the chorus ready for action. He’s been flexing his creative talents to lead singing techniques, breathing and vocal exercises, as well as teaching songs and cues.

Matthew is a composer for Film, Theatre, Games and Dance currently living in Falmouth. His most recent projects of note as a composer include: Europa (Game 2023); Long Way Back (o-region 2022); A Short Film About Ice (Black Cat Films 2020), HIRETH (Sound Design o-region 2018), as well as touring solo piano performances of his new suite ‘Gwlaskor’ across Europe. He also has 12 years experience as a Music Director in theatre and the community, most recently working on Melior Opus Griot (Hall For Cornwall 2022).

“When asked to imagine a better future for us all, what resources do we have left? What are the limits of peaceful activism? How far would you, personally, go, to make the world a better place?”

Meet the Director…

Atri Banerjee won The Stage Debut Award for Best Director, and a UK Theatre Award nomination for his production of Hobson’s Choice at the Royal Exchange Manchester. Other credits include The Glass Menagerie (Royal Exchange Manchester), Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), Kes (Octagon Theatre, Bolton/Theatre By The Lake, Keswick), Harm (Bush Theatre, also broadcast on BBC Four), and Utopia (Royal Exchange Theatre).  Last year Atri was named in The Stage 25 list of theatre-makers to look out for in 2022 and beyond, and in November 2022, along with Rachel Bagshaw, he was awarded a Peter Hall bursary by the National Theatre, which will support Atri in developing work for the NT’s stages.

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Get Involved Heritage Stories HFC Youth Theatre Royal Shakespeare Company Schools & Colleges

Hall For Cornwall Youth Theatre present Hells Mouth by Nick Darke

Hall For Cornwall Youth Theatre present Hells Mouth by Nick Darke

Part of Nick Darke 70

A celebration of the life, work and legacy of Nick Darke throughout 2018 & 2019

Nick Darke (1948-2005)

Young people and professional artists are presenting the work of Nick Darke throughout 2018 & 2019 in a celebration of the work of this unique playwright and film maker in his 70th Birthday year.

Jane Darke told us ‘Nick would have been 70 in August of this year, he died in 2005. It’s wonderful to be able to share this birthday with so many talented people, some who knew him personally but many who have come to know him through performance of his work. It’s really good to be able to make this a year of celebration for him and his friends, old and new. So thank you in advance to everyone sharing Nick’s 70th year!’

Hall For Cornwall Senior Youth Theatre will be presenting Darke’s Hells Mouth on the main stage during the venue’s last week before it closes for redevelopment. Over the last 20 years 100,000 young people have been given performance opportunities at Hall For Cornwall.

As part of Nick Darke 70 Hells Mouth is the second of two Youth productions of Darke’s work this year after Cornwall Youth Theatre toured The Riot across the county.

When a deadly game of chicken on the Tamar Bridge ends in tragedy, civil unrest threatens to break out in war torn Cornwall. In a cynical to bid to placate the press and suppress the ‘revolting’ locals, a clay worker and part-time rock star from St Stephen, is elevated to the lofty position of Duke. The only person standing in the way of Kernow’s subjugation is feisty local girl, Gonietta.

Post apocalyptic, passionate and poignant, Hells Mouth is Nick Darke’s hilarious retelling of Sophocles Ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone. The play will be directed by Simon Harvey and Sam Colborne, with musical direction from Richard Healey and choreography by Helen Tiplady.

The cast have been enjoying the exploration of Darke’s writing, Chloe Endean who plays the part of Gonietta in the play said: ‘Hells Mouth is such a beautiful text and I feel very grateful to be bringing Nick Darke’s art to life as part of the HFC team. Working under the direction and guidance of the creative team is a joy, their inventive visions inspire everyone and we are all incredibly proud of the material we’re creating.’

Hells Mouth was originally written by Nick Darke and performed by a company of young people brought together from all over Cornwall under a Royal Shakespeare Company Education project exploring the story of Antigone. Darke was present throughout the improvisation process, over several residential weekends and rehearsal days, asking students key questions about loyalty, courage, patriotism, survival, stubbornness, pride, status and who or what they would die for. Drafts of the play were read and re-worked until the final play was produced in October 1992. Under the direction of Mike Shepherd the actors portrayal of the characters were playful, poignant, inventive and relevant.

The culmination of the project was at Stratford upon Avon at The Other Place, where the 6 regional projects joined together and shared the performance work. Not all the projects had worked as successfully as Cornwall, but nevertheless, it was incredible to see an Antigone based in medieval Scotland, an inner city court room in London, a tenement block in Solihull to contrast with alongside our play set in Kernow’s land of silent rock.

Nick working with the original Hells Mouth cast at the RSC

Hells Mouth helped to begin the careers of Carl Grose, now a successful playwright and Jenny Beare, a well known Cornish actress amongst many others.

As one of the earliest reviews of Darke’s work, in The Financial Times stated: “Darke gives shape to a Cornish idenitity that feels vital and real and has nothing to do with clay pipes and clotted cream”.

Come and support HFC Youth Theatre’s production of Hells Mouth on May 31st. It is full of potential stars of the future who sparkle in this unique, contemporary and passionate version of the play.