We’re running a roundtable reading on Thursday (11 July) @ Hoop and Grapes from 7pm.
Everyone is welcome, there’s no need to prepare anything.
The plays are Casual Encounters and Status Quo
Casual Encounters by Andy Moseley [2m & 2f and 1 m/f]
An experiment in wife-swapping goes badly wrong. A chance to hear it before it appears at the Etcetera Theare (August 15-18th)
Status Quo by Brian Eastwick [1m and 1f]
A banker and his wife see their world fall apart.
Thanks to all who attended the AGM on Thursday 27 June. Welcome to the new committee:
Chair – Emma Knott
Artistic Director – Andy Marchant
Treasurer – Richard Williams
Secretary – Juliet Colbert
Tech Team – Dave Balfour and Fiona Thomas
Publicity – Carrie Johnson
Social Team – Kim Morrison and Trina Hasthorpe
New Writing Coordinator – Matthew Partridge
Webmaster – William Baltyn
Executive Officer and Deputy Chair – Steph Urquhart
The Bones promotional poster is now available. Please print it off, display it and tell your friends.
The poster for Electra is now available; please download, print off and advertise the show!
What the Dickens?By Amy Bird, Andy Marchant, Carl Fletcher, Frances Bushe, Jimi Odell, Julia Collier, Kathy Petrakis and Mary Groom
Directed by Andy Marchant, Jacqui Adams and Kim Morrison
KDC Theatre returns to our friends Giant Olive at The Lion and Unicorn in Kentish Town this Halloween. Following last year’s sell out run of Dracula, we are returning with 8 chilling tales from Charles Dickens.
Last Halloween we set a challenge to our membership to adapt some of Dickens’ ghost stories that he loved so much into scripts. The results were so fun, that we decided to stage 8 of them in another Halloween season!
In this document you will find out all about the plays And what we are looking for cast-wise.
What is the show?
Well actually, it’s two shows, under one production name. The first collects a series of Victorian Ghost Stories, and the second is a series of modernised ones.
Rather than running a week of one set of plays, then a week of another, we have decided to alternate the nights, to really push them together as an “event” (so instead of “WEEK ONE – Victorian, WEEK TWO – Modern”, it’s “TUESDAY – Victorian, WEDNESDAY – Modern, THURSDAY – Victorian”, etc)
What this means is that there will be the potential to cross over on the casting, and for any of our members who are cast and are up for it to be performing over TWO weeks (there would be a break between on the Sunday and Monday) meaning that your mates could get the chance to see you in different productions TWICE in as many weeks.
But the ultimate objective here is to give our writers some exposure, our acting members an opportunity to get into the Halloween (hoho) “spirit” and also:
To do some chilling spectral stories and have a LOT of fun doing it.
Casting
The auditions for the show will be on 2 (19:15-21:15) and 4 July (19:00-21:00).
There will be a recall on 6 July which will be invite only, and will run from 12pm – 4pm.
The venue for these auditions will be the St Brides Institute, Blackfriars Room (2nd) and The Foundry (4th). Details on our venues page.
If you do not hear from us about a recall, don’t worry, there are lots of roles to cast and we may just not need to see any more from you.
If you are cast you will hear on the Saturday, and if not, a member of the committee will be in contact on the Sunday.
As with all KDC Shows, we ask our acting members for a participation fee of £70 (£35 concessions) if you are cast. However, please note that as a special incentive, this payment will also cover you if you have been cast in the Spring or Summer 2013 Seasons, you don’t pay a thing!
PLEASE NOTE:
EVEN THOUGH THE AUDITIONS ARE IN JUNE, REHEARSALS WILL START IN AUGUST, SO IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN THE SUMMER SEASON, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO AUDITION!
DUE TO THE TIMING OF “WHAT THE DICKENS?”, ANYONE CAST WILL NOT BE ABLE TO AUDITION FOR OUR WINTER 2013 SEASON.
You do not need to register for auditions or prepare anything in advance. Please come on whichever day suits you. We will be looking for a cast of around 20 actors.
Ensemble
This is a very important role in the production. Several of the plays have a background/choral/ensemble element, so we will be auditioning for a group of around 8 actors who can help move between being extras in one play, and specific smaller roles in another, and more. It means we are looking for a tight group who work together well and can support one another to maintain the mood. Ideally ensemble performers will be free for the entirety of the production so that they can span both shows.
In addition to this there are key roles within each play that drive the stories.
Til Death (key roles, 1m, 1f)
A madman in an institution relives the circumstances of his incarceration.
The White Wreck (key roles, 1m, 1f)
A young woman lives in fear of her home as her guardian schemes against her.
The Signal Man (key roles, 2m)
A man strikes up a friendship with a Signalman haunted by visions.
The Mother’s Eyes (key roles, 2m, 1f)
A couple recount the horrific disappearance of a child in their care.
The Lawyer and the Ghost (key roles, 2m – no ensemble)
A lawyer finds his new digs haunted by an inconvenient spirit.
The Portrait and the Shade (key roles, 1m, 2f)
A painter pitches a TV executive his encounter with a mysterious lady.
Sir Simon of Soho (key roles, 1m, 1f)
A playboy millionaire finds himself being pushed into despair
The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton (key roles 1m, 1f)
A woman tells her husband about the monsters that stalk her family
We’ll be holding our AGM on Thursday 27 June, 7pm at The Hoop and Grapes. This is your chance to get involved in how KDC is run by making suggestions, quizzing the current committee or standing to be on the committee yourself. Anyone who’s been involved in a KDC production within the last three seasons, whether on-stage or off, has the right to vote on any motions tabled at the meeting, and on the election of committee representatives.
Being on the committee is great fun and less of a time commitment than some people imagine. We have 2 or 3 committee meetings each season which you’ll need to attend, plus you’ll need to help out at auditions and come along to see the shows. The committee is made up of the following roles, please note that if you’d like to stand for Chair, Artistic Director or Treasurer then you need to have been on the committee for at least one year.
Chair – steers the good ship KDC
Artistic Director – chooses the plays, theatres and directors for each season
Treasurer – handles all the money talk
Secretary – organises rehearsal/audition spaces and sends out the weekly Showdown
New Writing Co-ordinator – provides feedback on new plays and organises our round table readings
Technical Director – co-ordinates back stage requirements for all our shows
Social Secretary – chief party organiser and leader of merriment
Publicity – keeps the world up to speed with the world of KDC
Webmaster – administers the KDC website and all things technological
Executive Officer – generally helpful person who lends a hand wherever needed
KDC is what it is because of the people who give up a bit of their time to make it a success. If you’d like to find out more then we’d love to hear from you – just e-mail [email protected]
This Thursday, 6 June, the Round Table Readings return with a bang to our spiritual home, the Hoop and Grapes.
Matthew Partridge will be hosting the event where we read and feed back on two plays from members and new friends.
It’s FREE to attend, and we need voices and ears and your own thoughts on the pieces. Kick off is 7pm. Don’t miss out, these things are SO much fun.
Directors of KDC Theatre! We need YOU!
Following our XX/XY season of Electra and Bones, we will be trotting back up to Kentish Town this winter, to The Lion and Unicorn, on the weeks beginning 19 and 26 November.
We have no specific theme for this season aside for awesome and interesting shows that have a cast of 8 plus roles, which are pretty fairly split gender-wise.
We are looking for engaging and attractive shows from enthusiastic directors.
You have until 30 June to get us your pitches, and of course you can say “I’m interested” straight away. We aim to listen to the pitches in early July, to announce by our Summer Season.
Please email [email protected] in order to express interest.
Very excitingly, The RSC are re-launching their open stages project this year, an opportunity for amateur theatre companies in the UK to work with the RSC.
Last year KDC Theatre rocked up with The War Of The Waleses, our own piece of new writing written as a “contemporary history” in the style of Shakespeare. Not only did the show sell out at the Lion and Unicorn, it ALSO got put on at the Camden Fringe, was part of the Open Stages Regional Showcase, and was performed on the RSC’s open air stage in Stratford upon Avon! As well as that, Sarah, the director of last year’s show, is taking a production up to the Edinburgh festival this year! (be sure to catch it if you go)
The deadline for pitches is mid June, and this time round, spaces are a lot more limited, so our pitches have to be REALLY appealing.
If you have a concept or an idea you think we should pitch (something you might want to direct/devise/audition for), then please send us something by 10 June, and no later, so that we can have plenty of time to review all the ideas. It could be anything Shakespeare related, a production of a play, some new writing, or a piece inspired by Shakespeare.
Please email [email protected] if you have anything you want to suggest.
Orestes: Alex Hedges
Servant: Alison Cowling
Electra: Ami Sawran
Chorus: Helen Jackson
Chorus: Kate Moore
Chrysothemis: Katherine Kilshaw
Aegisthius: Lisa Firechild
Clytemnestra: Paula Leigh Mount
Chorus: Sinead Vaughan
Director: Bethan Haycock
