OPEN AUDITIONS FOR ROMEO & JULIET - SUNDAY 17 JUNE
The New Wolsey Theatre is delighted to be one of the regional partner theatres in RSC Open Stages and is holding open auditions for an ambitious production of Romeo & Juliet to be performed at Ipswich Town Hall in September.
Open Stages is a project that embraces, develops and celebrates amateur theatre. Over 260 amateur companies have signed up to produce RSC Open Stages productions across the UK from the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Wight, with over 7200 people taking part. Productions are due to be performed everywhere from castles to village halls, from beaches to ball rooms, with many being performed in the hundreds of successful amateur run theatres around the country.
Partner theatres in the project include the Lyric Theatre Belfast, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Sage Gateshead, Contact Theatre Manchester, Hall for Cornwall, The Nuffield Theatre Southampton, the New Wolsey Ipswich and the RST in Stratford-upon-Avon. Partner amateur organisations include Voluntary Arts, National Operatic and Drama Association (NODA), the All England Theatre Festival, Little Theatre Guild, International Theatre Exchange, National Drama Association of Wales, Scottish Community Drama Association and The Bear Pit in Stratford-upon-Avon.
As one of the 10 highly regarded regional partner theatres, the New Wolsey has been working with the amateur theatre companies from all over East Anglia taking part in Open Stages since 2011. A selection of their work will be presented in the New Wolsey Open Season at the New Wolsey Theatre from 22 to 23 June. It'll be everything from As You Like it to The Winter's Tale and back again. So brush up your Shakespeare, see some scenes from plays you may have never seen before, hear the wonderful language of the Bard from a variety of amateur theatre companies and support this fantastic project.
Now the New Wolsey announces plans to produce a large-scale community Romeo & Juliet at Ipswich Town Hall from 11 to 15 September as part of the Open Stages project. New Wolsey Associate Director Rob Salmon says;
"In our production, Romeo has been brought up to be a fighter. One fateful night he drunkenly stumbles into a party held by the family of his own father's sworn enemy, searching for the girl he came in for, he encounters another girl altogether, Juliet. The story that follows may be the one we all know, but reimagined in the modern world with a cast of characters drawn from cultures and communities where men still use violence to defend their honour, and strong women still have a defined role in the home."
The audience will follow the star crossed lovers as they risk everything to be together, in a performance that uses the many spaces within Ipswich Town Hall, moving from one location to the next.
This is a professionally produced production that uses an amateur cast of actors from Suffolk and the wider region. New Wolsey Associate Director Rob Salmon will direct a cast of 40 in this unique production for which open auditions take place on Sunday 17th June at New Wolsey Studio (St George's St) from 10:30 - 1:00 for 16 - 25's, and 3:00 - 5:30 for 25 and over's.
"We are looking for cast of adults with a passion for theatre, aged 16+ and available to rehearse the play on Sunday's in July and for a 10 day rehearsal period in late August, the production will then run from 11 to 15 September. Auditionees don't need to prepare anything; it's a workshop audition where they will work mainly as a group, then they'll be given a short speech to work on that they will perform to the audition panel. It's going to be a really exciting day" says Rob.
So if you fancy taking part in this exciting production sign up to audition by emailing by Wednesday 13th June.
RSC Open Stages is a Royal Shakespeare Company project funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation