The second half of our Ben Hur stage production opens at the arena.
The Romans were famous for their gladiatorial games, spectacular and brutal in equal measure.
On Sunday, those of our cast who volunteered, began the training for our staging of the gladiatorial games.
Where we thought, we would get through safety, backgrounds, and basic moves, the cast picked it all up like lightening, and we actually ended up beginning the choreography for the fights.
If Day 1 of this is anything to go by, this is going to be absolutely incredible.
Some gladiators will live, some won't.
A lot of our staging of the latter part of the Games remains a hidden spoiler (after all, it culminates in the epic showdown between Judah Ben Hur and Massala) until show-day
but you will get to see bits of the leadup, as we follow the production.
*Note, please don't try any of this at home - our actors are training in strictly choreographed sequences, working to their own strengths and abilities, under the supervision of fight trainers, with safety-checked weapons - currently mainly foam "larp-safe" weapons.
#theatre #acting #BenHur2022 #BenHur #rehearsal #Brixham #Gladiators #Roman #actors #actorslife #Torbay #theater #staging #Devon #regionaltheatre #britishtheatre

​Two of our lovely actors from our production of Ben Hur, are involved in this production by Ugly Duck Theatre Company, bringing to life the experiences of an autistic student at college, performing soon at Exeter Phoenix.
As a theatre company founded and adminned by an autistic creative, ourselves, and with several creatives working with us who have similar conditions, this is a theme we can fully appreciate.
Wishing the two gentlemen involved a fabulous performance!
Screenshots below have more information about the show
Blurb online about the show from the theatre Facebook page: 
​
“We are incredibly excited to announce that we are involved in the Exeter Fringe Festival this year
We will be bringing a newly updated "Mental" to

STUDIO 1, EXETER PHOENIX
16th of October 2021.
8:30pm
Tickets are £12 full price/£10.50 concessions
"A behind-the-scenes look at Autism. We follow a day in the life of Jake, an autistic teenager trying to navigate the trials and tribulations of a day at college."
Follow the link below to book tickets
https://exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/mental/“

Dear Casts of both Ben Hur and Henry V;
Some more external work offers have come in. especially for you lovelies, (this time for Halloween scare actors). Please check the respective production facebook groups for more information and how to apply.
This is fab stuff. Well done for being so awesome.
Laura

In addition to that, two of our team have also been asked to assist with the pirate fight choreography for a new short film being made in Brixham next week. 

This is one of the outcomes that we love - as well as producing our inhouse shows, we love it when external acting work comes in and is offered to the people currently working with us. Getting into professional freelance acting is a huge and thick glass ceiling especially down here in Torbay (its why we were founded in the first place, lol!) without drama schools and local agencies etc. 
Lots of productions come down, and lots of acting work looks further afield to bring people in, when in reality, there is a ton of fab talent right here. 

Seeing talented people get additional opportunities is one of the most rewarding things you can imagine. 
​<3 

​Our amazing deputy stage manager, Jenny Abrahall, captured these fab photos of some of the Ben Hur cast in rehearsal last Sunday. We hope to start bringing in costuming soon soon very he next few weeks (we are still in early days!) . The characterisation and focus of the cast is brilliant.
With many thanks to Crafty Cwtch and Tesco bags of life who are helping with sponsoring costumes and such - these are some of the amazing local actors who you’re helping!

Absolutely great Ben Hur rehearsals again today- including the galley slaves, Judah Ben Hur’s return to Jerusalem, and the trial & Crucifixion of Jesus. The cast are doing absolutely fabulously- and an enormous thank you to those who read in for those not able to attend with the petrol shortages etc
Our fabulous deputy stage manager, Jenny, also got some fabulous photos which will appear on our social media over the next week or so.
#theatre #Brixham #BenHur #actors #actorslife #theatrelife #Devon #Torbay #britishtheatre #stage #theatrerehearsal

Huge congratulations to our lovely Ben Hur cast members Parascovia and Phil. We were recently approached by a film company seeking fully paid local actors for a new commercial being filmed tomorrow- and these two awesome people were selected. This is fabulous - after all, the reason that we were founded in the first place is to support local people in building their careers as freelance actors and creatives - and with the fees coming to them from the commercial film company, they will both be eligible (should they wish) to apply for their Equity cards!
Have a wonderful time filming both of you!
#theatrelife #actors #Brixham #filmmaking #torbay #theatre #SmashingTheGlassCeilings

More fab rehearsals for Ben Hur today.
We started on the Games. We have two versions of this depending on the available tech at venues, but whichever version of the “Games” we do, it opens with gladiators.
This isn’t just brawling- the gladiatorial games, unspeakably brutal though they were, were entertainment and the actors appearing as gladiators will be recreating that atmosphere. Here are some of our gladiators, from all across the Roman Empire, today practicing their entrances for the first time.
​(Photos by Sophie Rodgers)

A great bit of driftwood on the beach that will be critical for making a specific prop for our theatre production of Ben Hur. Recycling is awesome & probably saved us about £10 (which is a lot to us!)! The realities of making theatre in the U.K. regions
#recycling #zerowaste #britishtheatre #equity

​Hello lovely people! 

We are really looking forward to meeting you on Sunday Aug 29th for the auditions. It's so wonderful to be slowly getting back to working on shows again.  We just wanted to share some additional information ahead of the day. 

COVID SAFETY
With times as they are, we would be hugely grateful if people attending could do a lateral flow test at home before coming. We won't be asking you for results, and will be working on a trust system,  BUT Should you find yourself testing positive, please dont panic - send us a quick message and we will arrange a Zoom/ Facebook Messenger meeting to audition later in the later afternoon / early evening. 

When you arrive, we are in the downstairs room at Chestnut Community Centre - doors will be open for a maximum of good ventilation with a through-draught. We would be really grateful for people to wear masks as there are likely to be quite a few people present. When doing your auditions, though, we will ask you to remove your mask so we can see your facial expressions. 
If, however, you rely on lip-reading, please let us know so that the casting panel can also remove our masks when speaking. 

We will be asking everyone to sign in and out. 

For those filling out audition forms at the community centre, please bring your diary, as the forms do ask about your availability - this is really important as we will use this information to create the rehearsal schedules for the selected cast. 

AMENITIES
Toilets and coffee/tea making facilities are available - we will be supplying coffee, tea, squash. The room and the adjoining loo are both fully wheelchair accessible. 

GETTING THERE
Chestnut Community Centre is a little out of town. For those who drive, the address and postcode is 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham, TQ5 0SA for the satnav.

For public transport, the nearest bus up from town is the 18 - for which you can download the timetable at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south-west/18/brixham-kingswear/xdao018.o.  The stops are on a road parallel to the centre, so there is a short walk - the easiest is to get off at Laywell Lane and to walk up Chestnut Drive. 
Alternatively, if getting a taxi from town, Ace Taxis are pretty good, on 01803 882121, or there are usually taxis at the taxi rank in the town centre just around from the central bus stops. 

If you find you are running late, please drop a quick message to us to let us know.  

WHAT TO EXPECT
- Doors will be open by 12.30pm. 
-  We will start promptly at 1pm; with a brief introduction about the project, and an introduction of the crew members present. We will also throw open the room to any questions at this point. We aim to finish this part by 1.30pm. 
- The casting will consist of two parts. The first part will involve auditioning using character sides, where cast members will work with the scene excerpts. We may ask for some of these to be run twice, especially if someone has not requested character sides in advance, or has also decided to try out for a different character. 
- The second part will be a brief improvisation from each person, for up to two of the characters for whom they are auditioning. 

After the auditions have taken place, everyone will be free to leave. The panel will then catch up with zoom auditions for anyone needing to quarantine from Covid, etc, and then the panel will be discussing the castings. 

Please note that there is no right or wrong way to audition, and it will not be judged on second-guessing what the director may have in mind. We will also not be judging on the pronunciation of any obscure words or names. 

We will be looking at: 
- good time keeping
- pleasant interaction with others in the room
- definite choices about the scene you are auditioning with (it does not in any way have to be "the director's vision" but what we do like to see at this point is a convincing strong choice on how to play the scene.) 

We may photograph or video auditions for reference back during the casting decisions. Once the casting choices are made, those photos and videos will be deleted. 

We aim to have contacted everyone with the outcomes of the auditions by the end of the week. We do ask you to reply to any offers of roles as soon as possible, so that we can finalise the castings. 

On Sunday September 5th (same time and place) there will be a cast readthrough of the script, to work with the whole script, to cover things like pronunciations, cover actors agreements, and do other bits of housekeeping before the main rehearsals begin.

And that is about it. Do please get in touch with any questions that you may have ahead of the 29th, and it will be great to see you in person! 

Laura and the rest of the crew.