 We are looking for an actor to take on the role of Quintus Arrius, plus some additional one-scene roles for our theatre production of Ben Hur. This is a touring theatre show (touring the southwest of England), on our biggest tour ever, set in the 1st Century Roman Empire, based on the novel by Lew Wallace.
Covid Safety Covid safety protocols are in place for the rehearsals and shows, in line with that provided by Equity. All actors and crew are asked to test themselves before attending. We keep a good airflow through the rehearsal space at all times, and the director & fight trainer together disinfect the space (a rented community centre room) thoroughly before the rest of cast and crew arrive, ahead of each session. Actor's roles: Recasting Quintus Arrius. Quintus Arrius is a pivotal character in the story of Ben Hur. Arrius is the Roman naval commander who is rescued during a sea battle by Judah Ben Hur, and later frees, and adopts Judah. The original character in the story is male although the original actor playing the role with us was female, so the casting is genderblind and based purely on "rightness for the part". Age is unimportant, we are ideally looking for late thirties up to seventies, but happy to be flexible. It is not a role suitable for a child. As with the majority of actors in our show, the actor will also be asked to take on small additional roles in the show. The main scenes are below. FULL speaking scene list for this actor - (As Roman soldier): The arrest of Judah Ben Hur & family - ( As Quintus Arrius): Arrival at the port in Misenum - ( As Quintus Arrius): The Roman Galley - ( As Quintus Arrius): The Sea Battle - ( As Quintus Arrius): meeting Emperor Tiberias in Rome - (As gladiator): The Roman Games in Jerusalem - ( As Quintus Arrius): Final scene where Arrius reunites with the Hur family This role involves fight action (Sea Battle and Roman Games). Fight scenes are choreographed with out fight choreographer and cannot be "improvised" No scenes for this show involve nudity or sexual content. The actor must be based in Devon, UK (Ideally in the Torbay area) because of attending rehearsals in person. We are delighted to consider any actor who wishes to apply, regardless of ethnicity, religion, nationality, or accent. Script, costumes, rehearsal refreshments all provided. Rehearsal Dates & Location Rehearsals are already underway, and take place on a Wednesday evening 6.30pm - 9/ 9.30pm, and Sundays, 12.30pm to 4/ 5pm. Rehearsals are in a large community centre room at Chestnut Community Centre, 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham, Devon TQ5 0SA. We expect 75% attendance for the rehearsals in which your character appears. For safety, we do require you to attend all mutually agreed fight calls for your gladiatorial scene. If you cannot attend rehearsals, you do need to let us know ahead of the session. Just as you rely on the other actors in your scene to be there to rehearse with, so they rely on you as well. (any absence due to Covid etc is treated as unavoidable and not treated as "missing rehearsals".) Ongoing no-showing may result in the role being recast Show dates Our confirmed show dates are as advertised on the left, with the note that we are in discussions about two additional performance dates. These would be either a Friday evening or a Saturday within/ close to the timeframe of the other shows. The potential locations are in Torquay and Exeter. Payment (financial) and remuneration (in kind) - Equal profitshare. This is the money we earn from ticket sales performing at the venues, split equally among the actors and crew in that performance. We do not deduct for costumes/ props/ rehearsals/ advertising costs as those are funded by selling second hand items on ebay etc. All actors and crew are given full access to the final box office sales reports from venues, for openness, in all profit-share situations. - Portfolio photos and videos. We always do costumed/ character photoshoots for each actor, to promote the show, which the actors are also most welcome to use in their portfolios, and we may also be able to provide generic actor headshots. We also film the show for streaming and online screening, all cast and crew are also provided with the footage for their own portfolio/ showreel use. - Refreshments We always supply simple refreshments at rehearsals and backstage. These are tea, coffee, squash and biscuits. - Spotlight eligibility Several actors have been able to get their Spotlight registrations at least in part based on credits working with our shows. A credit in a show with us, therefore, counts towards getting your Spotlight, if that is something you are working towards. NOTE: We are currently waiting to hear from the Arts Council re funding for full payments but as it is therefore we can only promise what we can guarantee. All actors and crew in our shows, join on a project by project basis, as self employed, freelance creatives, who must report their earnings to HMRC. The show is fully insured. About the director The show is directed by our theatre company founder Laura Jury. Laura is a freelance actor, as well as working with the South Devon Players as an actor, director and producer. She has been an actor since 1996, a director since 2000, and founded the South Devon Players in 2005, to make opportunities for local freelance creatives and those wishing to embark on a career in theatre. Laura is a member of the Equity trade union Directors & Designers committee. Laura is also autistic, this is stated openly in case it affects communication or why she may appear "different", but doesn't affect the creating of awardwinning theatre projects, and it does not affect the care and respect for the rest of the team! To apply Please email Laura on [email protected] to arrange an audition. Laura will ask to meet you for a face to face audition in Brixham, alongside Rich, the fight director, and some of the stage crew, as soon as is possible. This will involve working with some excerpts of the show script.
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We have updated our Covid-safety document in order to formalise and describe what we are doing to keep our actors, crew, and venue visitors/ staff safe. This is of course a living document as regulations may change at any time Venues will have specific safety policies in line with the venue needs and legislation in place at the time of the shows, which we will also share with our cast & crew, and on the box office page. Our document updated for December can be downloaded here: 
Covid Safety Update
Just a note that over the Festive break, I have obtained a box of lateral flow tests to keep at rehearsals. I have also ordered a hand-held temperature check scanner. As things stand, when we return to rehearsals after the New Year, we will be asking all actors, crew and anyone else visiting the rehearsal space, to complete a lateral flow test before coming. This will remain on an honour system, but if it tests positive please let us know and dont come in. If you have run out of lateral flow tests, you will be able to come early and use one at the rehearsal hall. We also will have the temperature scanner in use as a second line of defence as soon as it has arrived. If you do not wish for it to be used on you, please let us know ahead of time. I will not be recording data on temperatures, basically the attendance book will suffice as "you are reasonably believed to be all clear at the time of attendance". Please note that we may update safety notes at any time as more information and any change to regulations comes in. I apologise very much for all of this as it does feel like a lot of privacy invasion, however, it is really important we all not only look after ourselves and each other (after all we all want to make a hell of a great show!) , but also remember that at home or work, many of us have contact with people who are elderly, or have disabilities/ health conditions which make Covid a great deal more dangerous to them, so we don't want to take anything back to them. Laura Jury Some of the Roman swords and shields and helmets arrived today for our theatre production of Ben Hur- and will be prepared for the show over the next little while. Many thanks to funding from Tesco community fund via Groundwork. Getting reenactment gear wherever possible is brilliant for us with historical- set shows because it can add a brilliant dimension of realism to the show as well as an educational dimension for learning about historical aspects for both actors and audiences. #theatre #acting #actors #Romans #brixham #tescocommunityfund #benhur #devon #regionaltheatre #britishtheatre #actorslife #stageproduction  Another great evening at Chestnut Community Centre rehearsing for our touring production of Ben Hur- thank you to everyone for the hard work- much progress was made on scenes and characterisation. #actors #acting #benhur #BenHur2022 #stage #brixham #rehearsing #arts #Britishtheatre #theatre #devon #torbay #brixhamtheatre A huge thank you to the lovely Rich Sandford (AKA Massala in our production of Ben Hur) who came to rehearsals hours early and spent loads of time and energy, unasked, tidying up the area outside the community centre which we hire twice a week for rehearsals. This will be lovely for people in all the groups and church groups that use the community centre, not just us. #community #volunteering #gratitude #actor #Brixham #devon #torbay #kindness #britishtheatre #volunteer #RichIsAwesome.  Another look behind the scenes of rehearsals for Ben Hur. The cast and crew are doing fantastically. It is wonderful to see the characters and emotions coming through. We may not be costumed yet, and we may not have the set up, but the power of the acting is already so clear in the photos. Absolutely wonderful work. It is also beautiful how all the cast and crew are so friendly, kind & supportive to one another - it lets a production absolutely blossom. Photos by Jenny Abrahall 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 A wonderful play about autism is coming to Exeter, featuring two of the actors from Ben Hur10/10/2021 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 |
This is our new format news page. To read all our news between 2010 and Jan 2015, please see our old format news page HERE The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, is the trading name of The South Devon Players Limited;
Registered at Companies House: Company number 11569166 
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