These are not theatre - based necessarily, but may be local sources of assistance in Torbay for those experiencing hardship. Many of us are limited in what we can do due to low incomes / non-conventional housing situations, but this is what we can help with, and signpost to.  

Please let us know if any application etc, requires a reference or confirmation from us

In-house:
As always at this time actors and crew with us are most welcome to fill up extra thermoses with hot drinks at rehearsals, and charge additional devices/ power packs at rehearsals. 

Any members of the cast and crew who require assistance obtaining menstrual sanitary items, please speak to Laura (theatre company founder) for confidential assistance from the supply we keep at the rehearsal hall. 

Local Assistance:
The Household Support Fund is for residents of Torbay; The maximum award Torbay Council can provide is £50 towards food and for those applicants who are liable to pay energy costs, another £50 towards those costs (£100 in total).
The Torbay Community Helpline signposts local people to assistance with food banks around Torbay, benefits advice & applications, housing, domestic violence, etc. 
​Yes Brixham  run a free foodbank for which you do not need a referral, and a warm heated communal space where you can sit in the warm, use internet, etc. 

Wider assistance 
Equity Benevolent Fund supports members of the actors & creatives trade union who need one off help with financial hardship. 
Acting for Others - Provides financial and emotional support to theatre workers in times of need through their 14 member charities
British Association for Performing Arts Medicine  - Provides medical advice to people working and studying in the performing arts, helping you overcome work-related health problem
The Actors’ Children's Trust - Awards childcare grants and education support to help working actors cover the costs of their child’s care and education
Dance Professionals Fund - Provides financial grants to dance professionals of all ages facing illness or injury and can support everyday living costs or with crisis funding
The Grand Order of Water Rats - A fund that helps performers and their dependents who, because of old age or disability are unable to work. 
The Royal Theatrical Fund - Support for people who have worked, or work, in the theatrical profession and are in need as a result of illness, accident or old age. They provide grants, assist with shortfalls in nursing and residential homes fees, give advice about benefits and debt
The Theatrical Guild - Practical help at any stage of your career – from welfare and debt advice to financial support and counselling 

A common misconception….
This is especially common among people who are in love with the idea of “fame” and being on stage, but have never considered that acting on stage takes more than just learning a list of words and actions. 

“ All I have to do for a theatre show is to learn my lines and where I stand. “

Yes, that misconception has had me grumbled at more than once for insisting on a bit more than that.  I was physically attacked once for suggesting it. 
Certainly, without learning your lines and where you stand, you won’t be able to set foot on stage in a play, but what about bringing life to your character? What about creating a performance that the audience will enjoy with believable interesting characters? 

Here’s an imaginary dramatic scene: 

-Rose kneels on the stage, shaking with suppressed tears
-John enters, and pauses, watching her.
-John: "The same fate befell another thirty men. But Kenneth was the bravest of them all. Out of the four captains he was the only one to speak out. You should-"
- Rose: (interrupts) "how can you say that? You stood by as the Emperor had him shot in the city square with his men. You know-"
- John: (interrupts) "yes, and if I hadn’t, your son would have died too."


Now even with no more context, there’s a lot going on there. Just walking on the stage, standing in a designated area and saying the lines will lead to a flat scene with no emotion, nothing which encourages the audience to believe, or buy into, the reality of the situation that Rose and John are experiencing.

Both actors need to analyze what is happening with those lines. Rose is obviously mourning the execution of Kenneth, someone very important to her. She is distraught and also angry at John. 
John is trying to rationalize and explain his decision to not help Kenneth, in order to save someone else.

Learning to analyze a script is a critical tool for an actor. New to this? Here is a link to help: 
How to Analyze a Script 

Both characters are going to be feeling intense emotions. They are arguing, interrupting one another.
If either actor just stands(or kneels) in their spot saying the lines they have learned, parrot fashion, there will be no emotion. It will be flat, unconvincing, at best conveying a completely different meaning for the characters and at worst appearing ridiculous and false.

Only by analyzing the script and exploring how those characters feel, and developing ways to express that in tone, body language, physical and vocal dynamics, can the actors bring that to life on stage.
Only by practicing together numerous times, can the actors create the dynamic. Interrupting one another needs numerous rehearsals to time it correctly.  Reacting to the other characters emotions and expressions take time. As they work together, the interaction gets more and more nuanced, and the relationship better developed. 
Creating an emotional scene needs the actors to build a rapport and energy between them. That again only happens over time.

It is only in this way, for numerous rehearsals, that the "realism" of the characters can be created for a convincing performance. 

It is for this reason that we insist on a lot of rehearsals and excellent attendance. If one actor in a scene is not participating in this process or not turning up to rehearse, the dynamics of the whole scene are ruined - someone "reading in" is not able to create the same dynamic. 

One of the things we and many other actors & creatives have found, is that during the Covid pandemic, we have ended up working on Zoom, online. 
Zoom is  powerful video conferencing software (basic package is free!), (GET IT HERE) which also allows for things like digital effects like  digital backdrops - brilliant for transporting your audience into the enviroment inhabited by your character, while remaining socially distanced and safe at home. 

I should add that at the production (directing, tech) end there are many more considerations than the ones below. This is written strictly to support our actors who are new to zoom, and how it works from the point of view of a performer. 

We expect all our actors who are working with us online during the pandemic, to be fully conversant with at least these basics prior to beginning. This blog allows actors to explore the basics of Zoom, and have a central place with information on how to practice. As professional actors, everyone should be working to expand their skills on a continual basis, at the best of times, and while this is a lifesaver during Covid, for full shows; I can personally see this becoming very useful and common for auditions and workshops as well even as we move back to normality when this crisis is over. 

What we have found though, is that there can be a huge range of ability levels among people joining zoom projects, and a lot of anxiety around the use of the technology, which can make for quite stressful experiences, when in reality, they need not be anything approaching stressful. This blog article tries to set out the basics of what a performer will need to know (from our experience) in coming to use Zoom, and what tools they will need. 

We cannot reccomend enough that as you explore these skills for the first time, that you spend an afternoon on Zoom, practicing. You don't need a partner to conference with, though it can help to check that they are seeing what you are seeing. Open up zoom on your laptop, explore the buttons and links and menus, and familiarise yourself with where things are and how to change your settings. 

Zoom runs on any computer, tablet or smartphone. For the purposes of this blog article, we are writing about running zoom on a Windows PC or laptop. 

Before you start: 
You will need
- a computer or tablet (I would personally reccomend avoidng a smartphone though they do work too) with a passable webcam and microphone (providing a steady, reliable sound and image) 
- Moderatly good, to good WIFI signal (you can use 4g or 5g phone signal, but it will eat up your data allowance. 
- Reasonable computer literacy, to learn how to use menus, screenshot, type, etc. 

Getting started
Create a basic (free) Zoom account. This lets you access with ease, and be sent the weblinks for signing up. There are a number of ways to join a zoom meeting, but it is easiest when it is created as a "scheduled" event, and a weblink sent to all those being invited. 

Next, if you need to create a meeting, follow the screenshots below:  Set your time and date, and use the video and audio settings as in the second screenshot. Zoom will then give you a link to follow to the meeting.  

Getting set up for a Zoom show.
Lets assume you have already been sent a link for your rehearsal or performance. You click on it to join the meeting. If there are several people in the meeting you may see their faces in tiles across the screen.If it just you, then only you will appear in the window, like so: 

The important thing here, is the menu at the bottom of your screen. You have here, access to all your controls, including your audio and video settings, which are your most important settings as an actor. In audio (the settings are the small upward pointing arrow next to the icon of the microphone), it is best to turn on "original sound" as it picks up clearer audio from your computer microphone. It also improves bandwith issues, the bane of all zoom performances, which we will come on to later. 
HOW TO TURN ON ORIGINAL SOUND TUTORIAL

Next, you need to look at your video settings. In here, you will find things like the all-important digital backdrops. 
HOW TO SET UP DIGITAL BACKDROPS
In reality, if you are like me, with an older laptop, do not be surpised when your backdrop first looks like this, 

(This is happening because the computer is struggling to differentiate the colours. Try, for the first time, with a plain wall, you may be lucky and rectify the problem. If not then, like me, you will need a greenscreen. This is a bright green (a specific shade of green) cloth or background. You can buy them on ebay for around £15, £20, and they are invaluable for modern actors to keep at home anyway!

As long as you do not also wear green, the computer will now be able to run the background clearly.  (this screenshot also shows the selection window for setting up your backdrop). 

But wait! your director or stage manager have just sent you some photos on email or facebook, that they expect you to use for your backdrops. You need to load them into Zoom first. 

Again, look back at that screenshot above. Above the tiles of 8 thumbnails, you will see, at the right hand side, a small + sign in a box
​

First of all, save the pictures to an easy-to-find folder on your computer, then come back to Zoom. Press that little +, and then click "add image". You will need to add the images one at a time, and speaking as someone who several times has nearly wept, as people struggle, having not uploaded their pictures in chronological order for their different scenes beforehand, or kept a note of which backdrop is for which scene, please make sure that you upload your images in a way that you can easily identify them for each scene. In a live performance you will have 20 seconds to swap your backdrops between scenes, and you do not want to get confused. Nobody can do this for you!
When I am acting, I upload one image per scene, in chronological order, so that I know as I finish one scene, I can use the next backdrop for the next scene, and so on.

You then will want to explore other fine tuning such as three point lighting. The last thing you want in a zoom performance is natural light, which cannot be controlled. If your room lights do not work on their own, then you will need to add extra lights, and we have proven that it is viable to use anything from studio lights (if like me you are lucky enough to own your own lighting rigs), though to torches and phone lights. You will, however, need to be conversant with the basics of three point lighting
READ ABOUT THREE POINT LIGHTING HERE.


BANDWIDTH AND THE JOYS OF INTERNET SIGNAL
This can be the bane of any Zoom based performance. Dropped signal, especially for any of us living and working outside a major city, is a fact of life. However, the details below should make life rather a lot easier , if not disaster-proof, for everyone!

- First of all it is crucial to ensure that you are working close to your router, or plugged in via an ethernet cable.

- Next, make sure all other programs, (yes including Facebook!) are turned off on your computer. Let your computer focus fully on Zoom. If you are in rural Devon like me, with ghastlly internet at the best of times, you may also find you have to ask the other people in the house to not be streaming on the TV while you are performing. I found that can be a make-or-break request, especially in the evenings. The other day, I was struggling with the internet signal in a zoom meeting. I popped into the living room and asked Mum to turn off the Netflix. Instantly my internet signal picked up and was fine.

- Remember me talking about Original Sound? Make sure that is enabled, that helps too.

- When you are not in a scene on zoom, mute your microphone and stop your video. Not only does this stop any accidental jumps of the camera to you, in a scene that you dont appear in (to the great confusion of the audience) it also frees up Zoom bandwidth for the actors who are in that scene. As a director I am hugely fussy about this.

Bad signal or low bandwidth may result in all kinds of issues, like sound and video not syncing, stuttering or frozen images, low microphone volume, or even your internet dropping out completely as you give that dramatic speech. While these things can happen anyway at times (roadworks cuttiing a cable? Everyone in your street streaming Netflix at once?) , we can hugely reduce the number of times they happen.

Unfortunately, if we see your internet signal, or computer being unable to keep up with Zoom on a general basis (no penalties for occaisional issues, they get us all from time to time) , or an ongoing lack of ability to work with the techincal instructions, this may preclude involvement in digital shows. (the door will still be open as usual when we can get back to physical live shows though, because dodgy internet dignal does not detract from your skill as a performer!).

THE CREATIVE SIDE
And after all this, you are now in a rehearsal. You will notice how Zoom automatically highlights the camera of the person who is speaking or making sound. (Thats why we need everyone to mute microphone and cameras when they are not in a scene!)

Clicking in and out of a scene has a good convention as well.
Microphone On, Camera On
Camera off, Microphone Off.
This allows for the distracting clicking of a mouse or keyboard, to be covered by the next actions taking place in the scene, and not to break the immersion for the audience.

The chat window may be used by the tech team, to send cues to the actors (on zoom theatre, if actors are provided with a cue script, then that cue script becomes their show Bible! Never ever pre-empt or be late for a cue (so we discourage the use of the chat box for general team chatter, to prevent any cues getting lost) .


BEING NICE
While we all have to be fully conversant with the techincal aspects of zoom based theatre, and these are the main points for the actors, not everyone learns technology at the same speed.
If you are someone who finds it harder to learn, then you will likely find it an anxious time as you learn. We are happy to help where possible (remember that anyone helping you is doing it for free in their spare time so please respect that!) if we can see that you are truly trying your best.
If you are someone like myself who finds technology fairly easy to learn and adapt to, then it can become inwardly quite frustrating to explain something several times that seems so simple, though it is very obvious that they are doing their best .
What has to be remembered on all sides, is how the other side feels. And that we are a team, who all want to achieve the same goal for a paying audience. However scared or frustrated we may feel, the rule of thumb is to think how the other person feels, and be nice! If someone genuinely needs help, then we do our best to help.
Thats mainly why I wrote this article. With this available to our actors, (current and prospective), it provides a central place with links and information to practice. I am happy to add more information to this article on request!

So, on top of all the other challenges we face as a small regional theatre company, we now have to face Covid-19. 
This is going to be a death knell to many theatre and film production companies. With (quite nessecarily) theatres closed, and film productions shut down, and us all encouraged to at the minimum socially distance, and if ill (even with a cold) to self isolate. 

As with all other businesses and organisations, it is down to us to help set a good example and not only look after our cast, crew and audience members, but also on a wider scale, to not break the reccomended methods for keeping people safe. 

We have lost our main funding source - the market where we have our book stall is closed. 
Theatres are closed - so we have no shows in rearly spring therefore no Spring earnings for cast & crew 
We cannot meet to make films for festivals - social distancing. 

This does not mean we are finished. FAR from it. We are adapting and developing new temporary ways of working. All work is now happening online. 

- We are rebooking our shows for a time that hopefully life will be starting to get back to normal. 
- We are rehearsing and meeting online using a video-conferencing system called Zoom. (many thanks to the people on Women+ In Theatre for reccomending). Until it is safe, there will be no meetings in person. 
- We are setting up online broadcasting, so that we can live-broadcast Zoom-based readings and other creative work on a "pay what you can" model. 
- We are finding ways that our people can offer their skills online, for a small fee just over UK minimum wage), helping them raise some money for the time being. 
- We are working on funding bids, networking, and preparing all sorts of things to build company publicity, funds (ultimately to find ways to fund full wages for all cast and crew as opposed to profitshare), developing further expertise by online and book study, and networking.   
- We are writing new scripts & training manuals, making new costumes, repairing equipment, and doing all those tasks that we didnt have time to complete before, that can all be done from home with no physical interaction. 
- We are keeping a safe locked online network for our cast and crew to chat and interact, with friends from our productions - helping keep all our mental health together at this incredibly stressful time.

Ultimately, however upsetting and stressful (and absolutely heartbreaking) it is, we will survive this. We will even have developed new things,and  when things are able to get back to normal, we will have used this time as well as possible. We will have the technology to reach many more audiences via online broadcast. We will have maintained interaction and operation.  We will have developed and grown many things. We will be ready to hit the ground running. 

For now, please stay at home if you possibly can, keep well and safe, look after those around you, follow social distancing advice, and do not, whatever you do, give up. This storm will pass. Decide that you WILL emerge victorious, just as we have decided. 

We are sometimes asked to take children, and under-18s into our shows, and we have noticed that there is often very little awareness as to what this entails. 

As people will know from our auditions page, there is a section on the basics of casting young people in shows, but this article is intended to explain a great deal more. 
What has to always be borne in mind is that this is a professional, touring theatre company. This means that shows are often toured to venues around the Southwest (and possibly further afield); and actors regardless of age need to be able to keep up to the performance quality, and be safe (and legal) coming to shows in unfamiliar spaces . We don't have the same facilities that amateur or small activity clubs may be able to offer. 

First of all, you need to be certain that the show script, the specific roles in consideration. and the way the show is being staged, is suitable for the age and wellbeing of the young person. 

Next, you need to consider the care of the young person. By law they must be chaperoned at all times, and there are specific rules about this: The very basics are that the chaperoning must be by a parent or a legally licenced and employed chaperone. The child must stay in the line of sight of the chaperone at all times, who in turn cannot be distracted by reading the phone or a book, and needs to be aware of the child's wellbeing.
The child must have use of their own changing space which must not be entered by adults other than the chaperone, while the child is changing.  The child must not enter the space(s) where adults are changing, while the adults are changing. 
The chaperone must ensure that the child has their legally required break times, and if necessary, study-time for schoolwork, and for arranging the child's travel to and from rehearsals/shows. 

If the young person passes the auditions, their involvement in a shows is still subject to the Child Performance Licence that needs to be granted to them by (in our case) Torbay Council. This could be withheld for a number of reasons either from the theatre production or simply that the child has been involved in too much in the past 12 months and there is concern that it may interfere with schooling or allowed work hours. The licence application needs to be filled out jointly by the production producers, and the parents, as well as including a letter of support from the child's school. 

The adults of the company need to be briefed, if they are not previously experienced, on working with child actors; this includes interaction on and off stage, making sure language backstage remains acceptable, and much more. 
The child and the chaperone, need to be aware of company policies, data protection, non-disclosure of intellectual property, health and safety regulations as with everyone else in the company. 

There are, to be realistic, reams of documentation on legislation and good practice, but this is a quick look at the basics, and hopefully an explanation of some of the things that we have to consider, for every young person who is considered for a show. 
It may seem like overkill, but theatre is a complex workspace in terms of production health and safety, and with the requirements for late night working, clothing changes, etc, a lot that has to be taken into account to keep the child's wellbeing paramount. 

This is probably the one political post you will ever see from us. As an organisation, we are strictly non-political, we work without political bias, but on this pivotal day in history, with Great Britain leaving Europe tonight, we wanted to acknowledge how our working with European nationals utterly saved this company.

So last winter, we were in late rehearsals for our production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was a "make or break" show for the company after some difficult months.and it was about ten days before the show, when the lead actor found he was unable to continue with the production.

Recasting Macbeth with 10 days before opening night required a miracle. Either an actor who had already played Macbeth, or an actor with an exceptional learning ability who would be able to learn it in time. We usually only cast locally in south Devon, UK, but we had only one place that we could find an actor who could pull this miracle off. French-Italian actor, living in the republic of Ireland, Christophe Lombardi, whom our company director, Laura, knew of, due to being friends with Christophe's wife.
That same evening, an urgent message was sent to Christophe and his wife; and to everyone's extreme relief, he agreed to take on the role.
For the next week, Christophe was learning the role online, and with video conversations, as travel to England was arranged. Christophe was now learning the uncut text, in a "Second language", in ten days.

He arrived at the theatre for dress rehearsal - and had it down perfectly. Singlehanded, he saved the production from needing to be cancelled- and the probable ensuing closure of the theatre company.

The productions of Macbeth continued through 2019, with two tours, ensuring the survival of The South Devon Players, and winning a theatre award in New York, as well as incredible audience feedback.

Following this, Christophe again took a lead role with us, playing local Victorian Brixham trawlerman Bob Sheppeard in our historical production The Great Gale of Brixham 1866, utilizing his unique skills to help bring local Devon history to life.

Working with this highly talented European actor, and maintaining cross border working relationships has, with no exaggeration, saved this small British theatre company, allowing people from across the Southwest of England, access professional acting opportunities, in an area where such chances are hard to find. Without this working link having saved us, it is highly unlikely that we would still be able to exist.

We remain always, immeasurably grateful to Christophe, and hope that as the political climate settles down, we will all be able to work together again.

Find out more about this amazing actor on his website: ​www.christophelombardi.com

For anyone who really cares about improving work in theatre and film, profit share is never the first or ideal choice. However, for grassroots organiations - like us - with little to no external funding or sponsorship, and no wealthy benefactors, it is the only honest way to reward the cast and crew of a show. We can proudly say that as a result of this good practice, we have never once ended a show in the red, and our actors have always earned money from the shows they are in with us.

Regardless of the budget of a production, you should never, ever, for any reason, promise anything that you cannot guarantee offering your cast and crew.


Sadly, as with anything, people jump on the bandwagon to use it as a fancy way of saying that they have no intention of paying the cast and crew, or add so many "dodgy costs" to the outgoings that they make it look as if no profit is made - which then badly hurts the companies who are genuinely paying whatever they can and supporting their cast and crew in whatever way they actually can.

We spent a lot of time working out the fairest possible way that we can do this. One day hopefully, we will reach our ideal - which would be to have the funding and income to be able to offer all cast and crew union rate payments. In the mean time we are constantly looking at best practice to benefit everyone involved with us. After all, we started to benefit local people wanting to get into self employed theatre work, in an area where there are few, if any, such opportunities, and in an area of high poverty. We would be extremely remiss not to benefit everyone!

So today, we decided to share what we have developed as our best practice for honesty, open-ness, and supporting everyone in our team. Obviously this is always looking at improvement but this is where we are at, at the moment.

The money.....

So, we looked at funding day to day running costs in a way that this does not come from the actors earnings from shows. That covers rehearsal space (we use a local community centre), and annual insurances.
We traditionally have had tables at carboot sales and fetes; and while this will continue, we will be soon opening a regular book stall at our local town market. This covers the costs of the rehearsal venue, and the insurances for the most part - as well as providing extra publicity for our shows, which of course sells more tickets to earn for the actors! Again, none of those costs are taken from the show ticket sales. We are also able to provide free tea, coffee, biscuits and milk for free rehearsal refreshments - on a week when income is low, one of the company directors will purchase these for the group.

Then of course there are show costs. With early planning, and always keeping an eye out, we have been able to source most of our costumes, props, and even technical equipment, by touring local second hand charity shops, and picking up things from Freecycle (or even the local dump!). We have some lights (fully tested, and working beautifully), and a sewing machine for repurposing fabric and costumes, that had been found dumped. It is amazing what you can find, and remake, with planning and effort.

Then it is down to getting the show on the road. We usually only book venues which can offer a box-office split, rather than an upfront hire cost. The usual split is 80% to the production company and 20% to the venue. We did learn in our early days to be very careful with contracts for the venues, to make sure they do not add hidden extra costs that you never agreed to. As a regional and female-led company, there are venues which will try to change things from under your feet.

We tend to be quite clear that we only accept actors and crew based in our regional area - this is because many of us live in less-than-ideal accomodation where we cannot put another person up, and we do require people to attend rehearsals and performances in person - after all theatre is a group effort.. With no possible budget to cover travel and hotels, we therefore are restricted to working with people based in our local area.

So, once shows are booked, we work ourselves crazy in publicising the shows - after all the more ticket sales we get results in the more that the actors and crew earn. Publicity on little or no budget is a whole other article, and takes a huge amount of work, but it can be done very effectively.

After the show, we get the ticket sales reports from the venues, and the payment for our (usually 80%) of ticket sales, from the venue to our company. This is usually quite detailed information, and we make this available to all cast and crew, in our productions locked cast/crew facebook group, as screenshots, so that everyone involved in the show can peruse and check the figures should they so wish. Once the show run (which may include several venues) is over, and all sales reports recieved, we refer back to these reports as made available to the cast and crew; and also provide the final breakdown of total earned by the show.

This (again in a group post provided to all cast and crew) is then broken down equally by the number of people involved in a show, so that each person will recieve an equal amount, down to the nearest penny. (Regardless of your role in the show, you recieve an equal share, because you are equally valuable to to the show - without you it couldnt happen!).

The payment then is made available and paid out within 7 working days, of our having it, to all cast and crew.

That is how we deal with the financial side. However, that is not the limit of what we provide.


You can provide more than money as well.

Regardless of a low or non-existant budget, you can provide extra things to your cast and crew, which is seriously valuable. It can vary a little by show but there are constants we developed our list by looking at portfolio development opportunities for your people, creature comforts, and tangible things! It also doesnt need to be the often nebulous and undefined "exposure", hated by all theatre and film professionals. It is far better to consider what actual things you can guarantee being able to offer. These do not need to be expensive things, or even cost you much time, but can be very valuable to the recipient none the less!

Our guaranteed "extra" things for cast and crew on any production include:
- Show photos (character photos, on set, or in a themed location)
- Individual character posters (featuring a character poster of the actor)
- Video clips of the show featuring the work of the actor or crew member.
- Copies of any publicity (think newspaper articles, etc) featuring the cast or crew members image or name.
- Social media shoutouts where possible for the cast and crew members.
- In-rehearsal / backstage refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit squash)
- references for work or education (after show run has ended)

We do not ascribe a financial value to these things but instead provide them in addition to the financial profit-share.


Final
What is important in any profit-share production, is to offer everyone what you can guarantee: in our team, nobody, from the company owners, to the tea-lady, is treated differently from any other, or gets any more or less than the others. It is also critical to be open about everything. Not only does it allow people to see for themselves, that you are doing all you can for them, but in a world where all of us are jaded by malpractice, it builds confidence, which is also important - it adds to a positive atmosphere, and a positive atmosphere makes for a happier cast, who put on a better show, which builds the production following, and so on.

Our ultimate aim is to find the funding and support to be able to move to union rate payments for the people in our projects, and in fact active attempts are being made to find the support to take this next step, however, in the meantime, this is where we are. And doing our best with the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Over the past few weeks (more since we won the theatre award in New York!) we have been recieving enquiries for our actors for external stage and screen productions. These are always welcome, but are vetted quite strictly. Sadly many companies approach us, hoping for inexperienced actors who will not expect recompense, in return for "exposure". This is not the case and productions deemed to be wilfully avoiding recompensing actors, will be reported to Equity. 

As you will know by this point we are a professional production company and while we strongly support community work, and even voluntary work as well, there is a fine line of standards. We remain flexible to encourage work at all levels (we know all too well what it is to have no funds), but we do expect a minimum of standards in line with the resources of the production.  The core requirement is that by contacting us, you are asking to engage professional actors, and therefore you are expected to treat them as such. Projects which ask an actor to pay a fee to "join" or audition ("pay-to-play") will be rejected at all times.

Individual cast members may freely get involved in whatever they choose, outside of our company requirements, but as a company we cannot pass on any castings that do not meet these basic requirements.

There are sometimes "shades of grey" so if you are unsure about whether we will accept a casting, please get in touch and discuss. southdevonplayers@gmail.com

Large TV / film companies, commercials, training & corporate, national production companies:
In general terms we will only pass paid work offers to our actors. Effectively if your company is deemed to be one that is in a financial position to pay actors, then payment must be offered in line with Equity minimums, to be paid within 28 days. We will not accept unpaid extra / crowd work under any circumstances.

For local start-up productions, there must be a minimum of equal profit-share and portfolio material (clear character photos, and video of performance) offered.

Student productions should, at the minimum, offer full portfolio material, as well as travel expenses, and provide contact details for the college/ university, and the course tutor. Equity reccomend that students raise funds for projects and state that most colleges/ universities recieve funds to pay actors for being in student films. While this is still a grey area, the student should offer whatever they are able to guarantee.

Amatuer theatre/ local fetes/ community fundraisers will be considered, if deemed to be of benefit to our actors, but again must guarantee portfolio material (clear character photos and video) to be provided within 28 days of the event.

Talent shows will be advertised to our members with the following caveats. That there is no fee to enter, that it is with a known company, and has no reputation of exploitation or favouritism.

Overseas castings must be fully paid with expenses, and provide full pay & expenses rates, company details, work permits/ visas, and any other relevant documentation. Due to the number of fake castings "just apply to this whatsapp", or companies being impersonated,  we reserve the right to take a little longer to do some background verification.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
I am sharing what happened the other day as an example of asking questions and watching out for warning signs, and keeping safe as an actor.

So on a social media acting group there was a casting for a TV station, seeking young people.  Not a lot of information but that could (at that stage) be someone not aware of group rules. Having some teens involved in my theatre company, I decided to ask for more information to pass on to our youngsters parents in case the info was legit and it would be something worthwhile to pass on.

As soon as I entered into conversation with the person, my alarm bells went off. I asked for location, pay/ expenses details, could anything done be used for portfolio/ CVs, how one would apply and what exactly they were looking for.

The person gave an address for auditions but missed out building name or number, and would not answer when asked other than to day they were hoping to move to another (undisclosed) venue . They also stated it was unpaid, but would not answer when asked if images/ video could be used for portfolio or showreels. They said a monologue was needed but then anyone accepted would need to attend a week long course "to learn to be good actors". They also didn't answer when I asked about chaperone arrangements etc.
So effectively that was a case of run a mile - anyone who is reticent about these things, or unwilling to answer (or acknowledge they have been asked even!) is definitely (IMHO) up to no good.
So with all my alarm bells going off, I ended the conversation.
About two later, the person started messaging me again, were my company youngsters coming to his audition? All quite pushy. Ultimately, I had to block him on Messenger.