News and Events
1 September 2010

Less Than Two Weeks Left for Naked Stage Submissions

Naked Stage is WRiTEON's oldest and most ambitious series of staged readings of new plays. This year we celebrate our tenth season, and the first to be performed in the ADC Theatre Bar.  Naked Stage is open to submissions of plays or excerpts of up to 50 minutes in length. All genres, including monologues and sketches, are considered. The only limitation is that the piece must be playable by a maximum of four actors (roles may be doubled or even tripled). Accepted pieces will be rehearsed with an experienced director and performed by our talented troupe in front of a knowledgeable and interested audience of theatre buffs and professionals on the Bar Stage of the ADC Theatre, Cambridge. They provide verbal and written feedback on each piece performed. All submissions must be accompanied by a submission form and meet our submission guidelines. There is a £10 submission fee for writers who are not members of WRiTEON. For full, detailed submission guidelines and instructions and to access the submission form, please click HERE.

Deadline for submissions: Sunday, 12 September
Performance Dates: Sunday evenings from 10 October - 7 November 2010
Questions? Write to submissions@writeon.org.uk

Naked Stage Autumn 2010 Casting Session

Actors and directors interested in taking part in this season of staged readings of new work are invited to attend the Naked Stage Casting Session on 26 September. This is a casual and relaxed open casting at which excerpts from some of the plays accepted will be read. We are looking for actors at a variety of levels of experience who are able to work with script in hand after a short rehearsal period. Actors are not required to be available for all performance dates but should bring their rehearsal and performance availability dates to the casting session. Rehearsals are usually in the evening during the week before the performance.

Those new to WRiTEON are particularly encouraged to attend - come along to  meet the organisers and show us what you can do. Please register at the address below.

Sunday, 26 September, 6.15-10 pm
Ross Street Community Centre Hall
Ross Street (off Mill Road), Cambridge
Performance Dates: Sunday evenings from 10 October - 7 November 2010
Questions or registration of interest to: michelle@writeon.org.uk. CV's and headshots helpful.

Stand-up Comedy Workshops with Chris Head

If you've ever fancied having a go at the precipitous challenge of stand-up comedy, come along to one or both of these WRiTEON subsidised workshops with comedian and teacher Chris Head. Each course provides stimulating exercises to develop your comedy writing and performance, plus each ends with a public performance at B Bar to test your skill. A few spaces are still available in each course.

Note: these courses are subsidised by WRiTEON to keep the cost as low as possible - and there's an additional discount for members of WRiTEON.

1) Two-day Introduction to Stand-Up
Over two Sundays, you will create a complete short stand-up routine. Session 1 will be about generating material. You'll  develop your ideas on your own during the week and return in Session 2 for microphone time in front of the group. You'll receive feedback and work on audience interaction. In the evening, you'll have the chance to put what you've  learned into practice in a stand-up show for a friends and family audience.

Sundays,  5th & 12th September 11.00am - 5.30pm
Friends and Family Performance in the evening of 12th at 7.30pm
B Bar, top floor, 6 Market Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PF
Cost = £45 for members of WRITEON and £50 for non-members

2) One Day Stand-Up Follow-Up
This Follow-Up will primarily be geared to those who have attended one of Chris's Two-day introductory workshops (i.e. in May or September), but others with some experience of stand-up may also attend. You will be required to bring along some prepared material which you will develop and refine during the session and try out in front of a friends and family audience in the evening.

Sunday, 14th November 11.00am - 5.30pm
Friends and Family Performance in the evening at 7.30pm
B Bar, top floor, 6 Market Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PF
Cost = £25 for members of WRITEON and £30 for non-members

About Chris Head
Instructor Chris Head is a writer and performer and teaches comedy writing and performance at City Lit in Central London. He has run workshops for the BBC and Channel 4 and articles about his teaching and comedy work have appeared in Time Out, The Guardian, The Times Education Supplement, The Scotsman and more. He has directed twelve shows for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, co-writing five of them, directed many shows in London, including at Soho Theatre, is a regular contributor to The Fix comedy magazine and is the editor of the forthcoming "Make It" section on the British Comedy Guide website.
 
To Book
To book your place on either or both of these workshops, please contact Julia Bolden (julia@writeon.org.uk) You can book both in advance or reserve judgement until after the first session. If you did not/are not attending the Beginners sessions but have already had some experience of stand up and would like to attend the Follow-Up session, please e-mail to enquire.

If you are booking as a member, you will need to quote your membership number. See the Contact us page of the WRiTEON website www.writeon.org.uk for information about membership (note that subscription to the newsletter is not the same as membership).

Writing Opportunities

Classworks Youth Theatre Seeking Writer
Cambridge, Paid

The Youth Theatre Performance group of Cambridge-based Classworks is planning a new production based on the film Donnie Darko. This will be presented as a work in progress in February and as a full production in July and may then tour to several Youth Festivals.  It will be very much about a young person’s surreal view of an adult world. It will be in partnership with Sincru dance company which recently collaborated with Classworks on The Insect Play. The two groups are interested in developing a strong link between physical and text based theatre.  Classworks is now looking for a writer who would be interested in creating a short script (40-45 minutes max.) to include some non-verbal moments as part of the scenario.  They are offering a fee of £350 for this work. 

To apply, sent a short sample monologue or dialogue (no more than half a page)  which captures a quirky, teenage (15/16) sense of humour and absurdity, but with a hint of darker or more profound thoughts, to the address below.  They are keen to receive any of these sample writings as soon as possible and hope to select a writer towards the end of September. 

Send scripts or inquiries to Jenny Culank:  jenny@classworks.org.uk

Acting Opportunities

Physical Actor Needed, Two Tomorrows Theatre
London, Paid

Two Tomorrows Theatre, a Lecoq based company starting up in London, is looking for three male actors with devising-based physical theatre training or experience (Lecoq, LISPA, Gaullier, etc.). Ability to hold a tune or harmony strongly preferred. Each actor will both play a character and be a "creator of worlds" using music, shadow puppetry and other physical theatre techniques to create different spaces.

Compan i looking to put together a short performance (10-15 minutes) for a few scratch nights in late September and early October. Expenses for the two week rehearsal period and performances will be paid, and of course payment may change as the project develops.

Please send an introduction and a CV to Joy at two.tomorrows.theatre@gmail.com. Auditions will be held in early September.

Actor/Facilitator, Mark Greenop Associates
South East, Paid   

Vibrant male performer wanted to tour in a TIE Roadshow promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, that will be covering the southern part of the country from September to December.

Applicants must be over the age of 25 and have a driving license.

The Roadshow consists of a 40 minute energetic performance followed by a 1 hour workshop, visiting 2 schools a day, with an age range of 7-12 years for the performance and 9-12 years for the workshops.

Closes Monday 6 September 2010
Rehearsals: 13th September 2010 - 17th September 2010 (these will take place near Wakefield)
Touring: 20th September 2010 - 3rd December 2010 (please note: half term week is unpaid)
Payment details: Pay is £300.00 per week + Accommodation during rehearsal period and the duration of the tour
Contact: Lee lee@markgreenopassociates.com

Actor / Performer, Theatre Sans Frontieres
Touring UK,  Paid 

Theatre Sans Frontieres will be holding auditions in London on 13th September and Newcastle on 14th September for performers for forthcoming production of Caribbean Tales. This is a devised show in French touring to schools in Spring 2011. Looking for performers with minimum conversational French, physical theatre training and experience of working with children.

Applications with CV to Sarah Kemp: sarah@tsf.org.uk
Closes Wednesday 8 September 2010

Actor Required, The Outside Edge Theatre Company
London, Paid
   
Actor required, late 50's - mid 60's, to play Bob Smith for production of new play, One Day At A Time. Bob Smith was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He was American, native of Vermont.

One Day At A Time is about the people behind  Alcoholics Anonymous, the organisation which changed the world’s treatment of chemical addiction forever.

Auditions: 25th September
Recalls: 2nd October
Rehearsing: Oct 25th - Nov 6th.
Performances: Nov 9th - Nov 28th - Touring to Tara Studio Earlsfield, Oxford House Bethnal Green, Riverside Studios Hammersmith.
Contact: Phil Fox admin@outsidedgetheatre.com

Actors Aged 18-30 for English T.I.E Tour of Italy
Paid

ACLE (Associazione Culturale Linguistica Educational) is a non-profit organization endorsed by the Italian Ministry of Education operating successfully for 27 years. ACLE promotes a student based teaching method and is the first in Italy to teach English to children through Theatre In Education (T.I.E) with their touring company, THEATRINO.

Young, enthusiastic actors with T.I.E. experience are being selected to tour Italian schools from January-June 2011, presenting interactive English language shows supported by workshops (knowledge of Italian not necessary). Touring in groups of three, you will perform English shows and co-ordinate class workshops for particular age groups. You should have the flexibility to perform in a range of genres from Slapstick to Shakespeare. This is an exciting opportunity for actors with a love for T.I.E. and children and provides the opportunity to act, teach and travel Italy taking in the Italian culture.

THEATRINO provides a flight from London UK/a travel contribution, accommodation, car, petrol, insurance, paid rehearsals and a weekly cash salary.

To apply, please visit www.acle.org for more information, application forms and alternative show reel options for overseas actors. You must send in a complete application package with the application and reference forms, along with a headshot photo, a copy of your resumé and if you cannot make an audition in London, it is imperative to send in a show reel.

APPLICATION CLOSING DATE OCTOBER 23rd 2010.
Auditions are by invitation and will be held in London, UK on 29th October.

Community Notices

WRiTEON Writer's London Performances

Writer Julia Bolden has two London performances coming up this month, both of works which first saw the light in WRiTEON staged readings. Do go along to support her if you can!

Lost Theatre Company Five Minute Festival

The five minute play, To Be Honest. written and directed by Julia, will be performed at this festival along with 13 other five minute plays.  To Be Honest is about how the story changes when you move from prospective customer status to so-called "after sales care" and was inspired by Julia's experiences of buying or nearly buying various items..

Saturday 18th September 7.30pm
The Lost Theatre, 208 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2JU (Stockwell Tube)
See www.losttheatre.co.uk for more information.

Offcut Festival
 
Julia's 15 minute play, Falling Apart, will be performed along with five other 15 minute plays selected for In Company Theatre's Offcut Festival. The play, also inspired by personal experience, concerns a woman's observations, over the course of a year, of certain changes in her husband’s behaviour. The audience each night will vote for their favourites and those selected from each group will go through to a final the following week, when they will be judged by a panel of industry professionals. The prize is to have a full length play performed at The Old Red Lion.
 
Wednesday 29th September 7.45pm, Friday 1st October 7.45pm, Saturday 2nd October 3pm, Sunday 3rd October 7.45pm
The Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St. John Street, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ (Angel Tube)
Full details of the Offcut Festival can be found on the website.

Wilde in New York at the ADC

This brand new show written by David Geasor and directed by Paul Holloway premieres at the ADC Theatre from Tuesday 21st September. Featuring Robert Jezek, who many will know from TV and film as well as the work he has done for WRiTEON, the show is made up of two one-act plays, both inspired by works by Oscar Wilde and both set in the Big Apple. The first play, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, was read as part of Naked Stage in February. You can view a video trailer for Wilde in NY at: www.PleasantDanger.com where you can also buy tickets.

Dates and Times: 21st to 25th Sept (evenings at 7.45pm and Sat matinee at 2.30pm).
Tickets: £8/conc £6 for Tue, Wed evenings & Sat matinee; £10/conc £8 for Thu-Sat evenings.

Stewards Needed for Wilde in New York

Volunteer stewards are needed for the ADC run of Wilde in New York, Tuesday 21st Sept to Saturday 25th. You need only steward for one performance -- but you can do more if you want! Stewards need to arrive at the theatre at 6.45pm for the evening shows and 1.30pm for the Saturday matinee. You will see the show for free, sell show programmes before the show and ice cream during the interval. Oh, and you get a free ice cream as well! If you're interested, please call David Geasor on 440058 or email david@PleasantDanger.com

Murder Me Gently at the Mumford

Crossroads Theatre Company presents this noir comedy thriller written and directed by Alec Harris (recently seen in WRiTEON's MAD festival) and featuring Genevieve Cleghorn and Matt Ray-Brown.

When a Russian Journalist is shot dead on her doorstep, a con-man and an Interpol agent unite to wreak revenge on the people they believe responsible.

But while all's fair in love and war, little is even civil in the world of international espionage.

Who's fooling who? Who's on whose side? And what wouldn't you give to torture an ex?

In the classic tradition of Film Noir comes a romantic thriller/comedy that pits nation against nation, friend against foe and sex against sex in a global game of cat and mouse right out of today's headlines.

Suitable for 12 years and older. Contains strong language and adult themes.

Thursday 23 - Saturday 25 September, 7.30pm
Tickets: £12.00 (£8.00 concessions)
Click HERE to book online, or call the Box Office on 0845 196 2320
For More information, visit the website: www.murdermegently.com