| Well it’s been a very productive week again, still rebuilding after two years of pandemic. - we are now in ongoing (and highly positive) talks with one of Devon’s universities about partnering with them to create more learning and training opportunities and the university will also be promoting our shows and opportunities. - we are now talking to some very interesting new venues for our shows: with the cost of petrol and minibus travel skyrocketing, we are sadly having to look at keeping closer to home for a bit for our shows: unless funding is found to keep our usual span across the wider southwest of course! Of course this mustn’t mean a significant reduction in the number of shows- and the streaming options for each show will still happen too, to reach global audiences. - this weekend several of our lovelies came together to film showreels. As actors we all need showreels to send to casting directors and agents; and varyingly some us need to update as all footage is a few years old, so on Saturday we were filming showreel clips for one another. And also to say are delighted with the quality of initial enquirers for our open auditions for Beowulf, and are really looking forward to casting a glorious mixture of returning and new actors for this show. We will happily audition anyone who wants to try out for the show so do check out our events section on Facebook or the auditions page on our website, for more information.  |     |
|
0 Comments
Absolutely thrilled to be contacted yesterday by another film production casting for regional actors - and a role being suitable for one of our lovely ladies from Ben Hur- who is now submitting her selftape. We wish her all the best of good luck with it! Getting brilliantly talented local people “seen” and on the performance career ladder, is a huge one of our aims. #filmmaking #castingdirector #brixham #acting #actor #theatre #devon #regionalactors #regionaltheatre #britishtheatre #castingcall #creative #arts  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   Have you wanted to create voiceovers or demo videos for a product? Connect with audiences using video and voiceover? If so, we have a fantastic team of professional male and female actors, all with their own home studios, and recording equipment, who are available to record for you. During the Covid pandemic, we are all accustomed to working online and creating from our home studios. We can do the same for you.
Our team members are happy to audition so that you can find the perfect fit for your requirements. If you feel we can help, and would like to discuss further, please email us on southdevonplayers@gmail.com to discuss. Our company founder, Laura Jury, recently entered a Shakespeare project run by the Globe Theatre. Her "angry drunk" Hamlet monologue was one of those picked for the Globe Theatre's Shakespeare Solo / Shakespeare from quarantine project - and there she is in the header image (middle of the far left column, holding the vodka bottle). :) Considering that the Globe is pretty much as prestigious as you can get when it comes to Shakespeare...that is quite a feat. You can view the link below at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2020/apr/23/all-the-worlds-a-stage-shakespeare-performed-around-the-world-in-quarantine-video  Laura's original audition video can be viewed here. Shows & Performance dates:
Brixham - As you may have seen, most theatres have closed for the time being (our home venue Brixham Theatre is closed until May, as things stand). We have resceduled our performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream there for August (details now updated on our Box Office page). Brixham Brixfest - our excerpt performance of acts 2 & 3 of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Brixfest in May, is cancelled, as Brixfest, an annual festival celebrating local arts, culture and business itself is cancelled. We will be working with them to perform in 2021 - discussions have already commenced Plymouth - We are planning to reschedule oour performance st Stoke Damerel Church in Plymouth also to August, but we are currently awaiting a reply from the churchwarden to discuss new dates. When this occurs, all tickets bought for the current date will be honoured, or can be refunded (no quibble), if the new date does not suit. Bristol - We have discussed with Bristol Shakespeare Festival, who are working on the best case scenario to run still in July. Both the festival and the venue are very happy to have us, and so as things stand, this date will go ahead. If we are forced to postpone, we will postpone until later in August/ September, and then perform "under our own steam". We are also exploring the possibility of online broadcasts and readings/ performances. Rehearsals: The vast majority of our rehearsals have now moved online, to protect the health of our actiors and crew; using the video-conferencing programm / app, Zoom. Cast and crew should stay in regular contact via email or Facebook with the team, as we send the conference links out to everyone on a twice-weekly basis, and send out updates about online work opportunities for actors for our team. Castings for Jack the Ripper Our audition date in late July, remains as-is. We hope that the worst of the crisis will be over by then, but if it is not, we will be looking at alternate ways to cast the show and send out scripts etc to cast. Please keep an eye on our news, social media and the auditions page for any updates. People who have emailed us will be updated as well. Making online work In this current crisis, most work for actors and crew has dried up - even big TV series and film shoots have cancelled. This leaves the nations entertainers unable to pay rent or the bills. We are doing our best to help our team with creating various online work opportunities. All we can do is but try, and do our best, rather than giving up. Our first opportunity for our team is offering online tutoring for adults and children; chiefly in drama and English, but also in other subjects as well, by an expert team of creatives. We are in the process of setting up, but expect to have it done open for business by Sunday March 21st 2020. You can find it at ONLINE TUTORING SERVICE. In the interim, if you would like to be contacted as soon as this service is live, please email us on southdevonplayers@gmail.com. You or your loved ones will be able to access expert tutoring, and also support some of our nations entertainers and creatives, during this hard time. The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is currently in the process of talking to leadership figures from across the nation in an attempt to understand this universal trait and what it means in Britain and Northern Ireland today.
Laura from The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company was invited onto an episode of the podcast, which also included an interview with Geoff Hurst. Host Matthew O'Neill asked both guests a series of questions about leadership and the role it has played in their careers to date. Matthew O'Neill commented, ‘Hosting a show like this, where you speak to genuine leaders who have been there and done it, either on a national stage or within a crucial industry sector, is an absolute honour.’ Lord Blunkett, chairman of The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said, ‘I think the most informative element of each episode is the first part, where Matthew O'Neill is able to sit down with someone who really gets how their industry works and knows how to make their organisation tick. Someone who’s there day in day out working hard and inspiring others. That’s what leadership is all about.’ You can listen to the podcast in full here: https://youtu.be/LIZ9du16ot0 You can also discover more about both Laura Jury and Geoff Hurst here: http://www.leaderscouncil.co.uk/members/laura-jay
 In these times, with budgets stretched, and marketing of shows always being a challenge for any theatre company, we are proposing this new initiative, where theatre companies exchange advertising. A text page of line adverts in a programme, where we list each others productions in the same region, means that we all reach more audiences, encourage theatre-going, and grow together. This isn't intended to exchange money, just help one another with a few lines of text.
Since it is based on an exchange, (just with the provision of a checking copy to the companies involved, to prove openly that agreements are honoured), it should hopefully be something that is accessible to all companies. We are based in the Southwest (Southwest UK), and that is the area that we would cover, but if people in other areas of the country want to initiate the same kind of idea - that would be awesome :) Please get in touch if you would like to exchange with us, and get involved in this new idea. Laura (company director) - email southdevonplayers@gmail.com Some of our team have been working with a multi-agency team led by Childrens Services at Torbay Council, at St Cuthbert Mayne School in Torquay, as part of the 16 Days of Action, raising awareness of coercive and abusive behavior, and how to seek help. Our contribution at the school was for two of our team, to work with the students, through drama workshops, to create a play based on students experiences. This will be performed back to the school during 2020.  |
Updated by our founder
|
RSS Feed
