Auditions & performance opportunities
We are aware that some casting websites and agents, copy our casting calls out to their clients. That is absolutely fine, but please ensure that ALL relevant information (dates, locations, rehearsals, pay/profit share, etc) are also shared to the clients & NOT altered or omitted in any way.
Our casting process also follows Equity policies, promoting fairness and excellence in running productions:
Manifesto for Casting | Safe Places Policy | Cast It Here | Inclusive Casting Policy | Performance for All | Autistic Artists
Our castings as laid out in this website section, are the correct official version. If you have questions, that are not answered here, please email us.
These are professional castings as stated below. We do not charge anyone to audition or get involved with us, we are strictly against "pay to play!"
We are an organisation of mostly local South Devon people, wanting to create our own opportunities for ourselves, and to welcome other local people like us, to work in theatre and showcase their creative skills, towards everyone being enabled and encouraged to create or further their freelance theatre-based careers, where few opportunities have otherwise existed. We welcome and work with creatives at all levels of experience, from beginners to Hollywood "names" with a strong ethos of inclusion, accessibility, a safe, bullying-free space, and a powerhouse of awardwinning professional theatrical creativity. The credits from our shows can be used towards Equity and Spotlight memberships, to enable people to build their profile as self-employed actors/ creatives, find agents, build their personal brand as actors/ creatives & thus access a wider range of freelance work opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Our rehearsal and show schedules are designed to work as much as possible around people's other work/ studies/ families/ commitments, and we ask all prospective actors about these in order to create a working rehearsal schedule.
Rehearsal times are usually
Wednesdays: 6.30pm to 9 / 9.30pm
Sundays: 12.30pm to 4 / 4.30pm
Show performance "runs" include two days at our home venue Brixham Theatre, then single-day performances: one performance per week, each week touring that performance to a new large venue, usually including Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Bodmin (hoping to expand) for a one-night show.
Our casting process also follows Equity policies, promoting fairness and excellence in running productions:
Manifesto for Casting | Safe Places Policy | Cast It Here | Inclusive Casting Policy | Performance for All | Autistic Artists
Our castings as laid out in this website section, are the correct official version. If you have questions, that are not answered here, please email us.
These are professional castings as stated below. We do not charge anyone to audition or get involved with us, we are strictly against "pay to play!"
We are an organisation of mostly local South Devon people, wanting to create our own opportunities for ourselves, and to welcome other local people like us, to work in theatre and showcase their creative skills, towards everyone being enabled and encouraged to create or further their freelance theatre-based careers, where few opportunities have otherwise existed. We welcome and work with creatives at all levels of experience, from beginners to Hollywood "names" with a strong ethos of inclusion, accessibility, a safe, bullying-free space, and a powerhouse of awardwinning professional theatrical creativity. The credits from our shows can be used towards Equity and Spotlight memberships, to enable people to build their profile as self-employed actors/ creatives, find agents, build their personal brand as actors/ creatives & thus access a wider range of freelance work opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Our rehearsal and show schedules are designed to work as much as possible around people's other work/ studies/ families/ commitments, and we ask all prospective actors about these in order to create a working rehearsal schedule.
Rehearsal times are usually
Wednesdays: 6.30pm to 9 / 9.30pm
Sundays: 12.30pm to 4 / 4.30pm
Show performance "runs" include two days at our home venue Brixham Theatre, then single-day performances: one performance per week, each week touring that performance to a new large venue, usually including Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Bodmin (hoping to expand) for a one-night show.
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(When attending an audition, please wear comfortable clothes, bring a pen, your diary, a comprehensive list of dates that you are not available for rehearsal or performing, and your completed audition form.
All actors are engaged on a self-employed basis and are required to report all earnings to HMRC. All engagements are on a show-by-show basis. If travelling to or from rehearsals/ shows at unusual hours, or to a company which you do not know, we would like to make you aware of this personal safety phone app which you may find useful Hollie Guard Our auditions take place at our rehearsal base: Chestnut Community Centre, Poplar Close, Brixham (in normal times), on a specific Sunday afternoon 1pm onwards. Our audition, and rehearsal space at the community centre includes disabled access (inclusive of wheelchairs), & disabled-access toilet, as well as a small kitchen and urn for making hot drinks. (We supply complimentary tea, coffee, orange juice, and biscuits). We also provide free Wifi (please ask us for the wifi password) We do not have a system of callbacks, we run one full face to face casting day and at the end of that day have all the information we require to make our casting decisions. If an actor is unable to attend on the casting day, we ask that they contact us beforehand to arrange an alternative date to meet the director and audition. This must take place before the advertised main audition day, as casting decisions are made on the evening of the main audition days |
NOTE- COVID-SAFETY
Although (dependent on the UK government roadmap out of the pandemic) we intend to be back to physical castings and rehearsals from August 2021 onwards, we may be working in smaller groups. Therefore knowing in advance intentions to attend the upcoming casting, is useful as we may divide the casting day into smaller groups. All live castings will maintain distancing and excellent ventilation in the rehearsal hall, and strict covid safety measures will be in place. 
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Theatre auditions for BEN HUR are now closed as the show is fully cast.
Read the book the play is based on HERE
NOTE: Dependent on any Covid safety restrictions at the time, we may split the day up to audition people in smaller groups. So having an email for you in advance would be appreciated (please let us know you’re coming on southdevonplayers@gmail.com). The room is heavily ventilated with doors and windows open, cleaning in place and TrackNTrace. 
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE AUDITIONS:
Castings will take the form of reading and characterising excerpts from the script. As with all our shows, all persons appearing as cast and crew for this production will be entitled to remuneration, which is at minimum: - equal profit share (ticket-take less venue hire cost) - photos for portfolio use - copies of all production press/ media in which the character / actor is featured - programme credit (and anything else we find that we are able to offer) Some roles may be combined, or an actor take on more than one role. NOTES Due to previous incidents and misunderstandings; we need to state unequivocally that 1) All cast will need to be able to attend regular rehearsals up to twice a week in Brixham, and to be able to learn characterisation, lines and blocking. 2) Actors will be required to wear costumes (supplied) 3) All people in the production are expected to adhere to calm, socially acceptable behaviour at all times, and work as a member of a focussed professional team. Bullying, sexual impropriety, causing distress to another team member, attempting to direct other cast / crew members behind the production teams backs, or bringing the company into disrepute, is forbidden. 4) Cast and crew payments are on an open-book equal-profit share basis unless we have secured specific funding for full industry-rate fees, which you can read the full details about, in the right-hand column. 5) We welcome performers of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, disability or religion. FOREIGN NATIONALS
Foreign nationals are most welcome to audition for our shows on the same basis as anyone else with the understanding that they can meet rehearsal and performance requirements; and where required for physical shows, can demonstrate that they are legally allowed to work in the UK (Government website about working in the UK). We reserve the right to check that you are legally able to work in the UK. Please be aware that with current political changes in the UK, that eligibility to work in the UK, for European Union citizens, may alter at short notice as our government makes changes. Foreign nationals, including those working with us online, are subject to, and required to follow, UK law and production regulations, the same as the rest of our cast and crew. FOREIGN CHILD ACTORS Please understand that we will not accept actors who are unaccompanied minors from other countries; and that age does not permit circumvention of the law. We are becoming increasingly concerned by the high number of these illegal trafficking requests being recieved by our company over social media, from children and the parents of childen, in several foreign countries. Please be aware that any such enquires and requests from such children or their parents, will be forwarded, in full, to the National Crime Agency and AntiSlavery investigative organisations, as well as to child protection or social service organisations in the enquirers country for full investigation. |
From Equity's "Safe Spaces" campaign against bullying & harrassment
What happens at our auditions, payments, etc: COPYRIGHT Due to a large amount of repeated copyright/ IP violations in the past of our work, especially frequent instances of our in-house scripts being passed around and given to other companies for unauthorised performances and publication, we do not provide full scripts before casting. Audition packs do, however, include a full breakdown as to contents of the play. NO scripts, or audition sides, may be passed around to friends, publicly performed or recorded, physically or online, or uploaded to other websites, without the express written permission of the author. Please be aware that we also register all our in-house scripts copyrights with ScriptVault. If someone wishes to enquire about performing one of our scripts, they should contact us on southdevonplayers@gmail.com to arrange the licencing of performance rights. Marketing materials for shows must not be amended, cropped, edited, or altered in any way. ATTENDANCE Actors are expected to attend a minimum of 75% of all mutually agreed rehearsals involving their character. If someone no-shows to rehearsals, we reserve the right to recast without discussion upon the second occasion of no-showing. Any prospective actor with any questions about the script, is welcome to ask us about those questions and answers will be descriptive. (In non-Covid times) Auditions and rehearsals take place at our rehearsal base of Chestnut Community Centre, 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham, Devon TQ5 0SA WHEN YOU HEAR BACK You will be informed within a stated time if you are selected for a role. It is only in very rare cases that we accept video auditions, and then only from people whom we already know are reliable. As a rule, we expect you to attend in person. During the Covid Pandemic, we are only accepting video auditions. When the world situation returns to normal, we will be back to our usual way of working. PAYMENT We do our utmost to ensure that we do our utmost to reward the team members with the show profits, from ticket sales, less venue hire. We fundraise and work with our Supporters Trust to cover the costs of rehearsal hall, costumes, props, printing and other production expenses, so that we can pay the maximum possible to our team. While full amounts can never be guaranteed as it is based on ticket sales numbers; the total amount, whatever it is, is equally shared among all actors and production crew, so that nobody is treated differently than any other. We have never finished a production in the "red". At the time of payment (usually within 10 days of ticket sale monies being received from venues) we also provide the box-office sales reports from the venues, showing precise ticket sales, and how much the venue has deducted in hire for the space; to the cast and crew. You will also receive portfolio photos of you performing or working in your crew role during the rehearsal and production process, references (upon completion of your first production), backstage light refreshments, and anything else that we find we can offer as relevant. We are applying for funding to increase our work, including a prioritised aim of being able to offer full union rate payments, and at such time as we find such funding or sponsorship, everyone will be automatically upgraded on the spot (even if mid-way through a production). The current profit share situation is because we are self-funded from our eBay shop, small fundraisers, and sponsored activities to pay for a rehearsal room, costumes, and materials, so that we can then share the ticket takes, less show venue hire only, to all our cast and crew. We are committed to rewarding our cast and crew to the very maximum of our ability. We have a strict equal opportunities policy EXPECTATIONS As a professional company, we require that all actors have the ability to attend required rehearsals and performances on time, note and follow directions/ production details, the literacy to read and understand scripts, the ability to be respectful of other cast and crew, be calm & focused in rehearsals and shows, and maintain a positive, stress-free workplace environment. Actors are expected to attend a minimum of 75% of all mutually agreed rehearsals involving their character. If someone no-shows to rehearsals, we reserve the right to recast without discussion upon the second occasion of no-showing. We expect our actors to aim to be among the most skilled and professionally-minded in the Southwest. Bullying/ aggressive behaviour, backseat directing, inappropriate sexual behaviour, breaking of copyright, etc, are unacceptable in our company. CASTING MINORS : We are currently not considering any child actors. All applicants must be aged 18 or over. Any minors must have proven previous professional (not amatuer or school) experience, and must be accompanied by a parent, or legally licensed chaperone at all times, including at rehearsals, shows, and travelling to or from a rehearsal/show. We only cast minors where there is a specific role in a play that needs to be played by a child. A minor's involvement in our productions is subject to individual licensing per child, from the local authority, and is also dependent upon the parent/ chaperone following legal guidance; including remaining with the child at all rehearsals and performances, and keeping the child in your line of sight at all times when with us. You may obtain more information about this from Torbay Council - CHILD PERFORMANCE LICENSING TORBAY (additional useful links to peruse the legal obligations further: Child Performance Legislation Advice - Children & Young Persons Act 2014 - Chaperone Service professional practice). The child is required to work to the same standards of professionalism and excellent performance as the adults, and the parent or chaperone is required to be fully familiar with, and to follow, at all times, UK law on the licencing and chaperoning of child actors. | ||
