Director: Bethan Haycock

Director: Duncan Moore
Producer: Steph Urquhart

Two separate casts will each work with a director and devise a one act ‘Splinter pieces’ based on the scripts of the main shows, Electra and Bones, focusing on any element of the play which they find interesting e.g the time period, a theme, character etc. The project will be both creative and challenging, with each actor being given the opportunity to experience a range of theatre styles and exercises.

The splinter pieces will be performed together in outdoor spaces on Friday 2nd,Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August.

Rehearsals will begin on Thursday 6th June and will be every Thursday and Sunday in June and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from July. Actors cast will need to be available from 4pm on the first performance nigh,t Friday 2nd August. Due to the tight time constraints of the project we ask that actors can commit to the entire rehearsal period.

Casting is via email and will be open from 9pm on Sunday 19th May until 9pm on Monday 20th May. After the deadline, all applicants will be put into a hat and names drawn at random until all available slots have been filled, this is to ensure the process is fair and everyone has an equal chance to take part. Each play will have a maximum of 6 actors.

Email the directors; Trina Hasthorpe and Kim Morrison at: devised@kdctheatre.com to apply or for further information. Please note applications will not be accepted until 9pm on Sunday 19th!

Frank McGuinness’ Electra is a modern adaption of Sophocles’ tale of revenge, power, sacrifice, murder and ultimately family. For any female actress Electra, as the title character, being the ultimate tour de force.

1. Auditions

First round auditions on the Monday 13, Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 May will be at Theatre Delicatessen, Marylebone Gardens, 35 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QA. Auditionees need to arrive from 6.30pm ready to start at 7pm. You do not need to register for auditions or prepare anything in advance. Please come on whichever day suits you. Recalls will be on Saturday 18 May from 12 to 4pm, by invitation only. You will be told the venue if you are recalled. If you are recalled you will be called by Thursday 16 May.

2. Show Dates

We’ll be performing from Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 July at The Barons Court Theatre in Barons Court. The shows will start at 7.30pm (plus 2.30pm matinee on Saturday 27 July) and you’ll need to be at the theatre at least an hour beforehand.

3. Synopsis

Electra is a story of one of the most famous families in Greek literature, and ultimately a story of revenge and family. The story begins with Orestes, Electra’s brother, who is going on a journey to avenge his father’s murder. Meanwhile, Electra is stuck lamenting the murder of her father, Agamemmon, while living in the royal palace of Mycenae with his murderers, her mother Clytemnestra the Queen and her treacherous lover, Aegisthus. Her only hope is her brother, Orestes. Electra smuggled her brother to safety when he was just a babe, and put him into the protection of a servant. His fate is to return to Mycenae and avenge his fathers’ death by killing his mother and her lover.

The story is told from Electra’s perspective, a prisoner in her own family and society. She is a woman who longs for justice, who longs to take action but is constrained by her sex and the hopelessness of her situation.

This production will be an all-female cast. I will not being changing the sexes of Orestes and Aegisthus, but will be expecting the actor to emphasis the universality and humanity of each character, regardless of their sex. I will be looking for a modern interpretation on femininity and masculinity, power, revenge and family. I am looking for dynamic actors who are keen to be part of a physical ensemble.

4. Cast

Electra (F)
She is the power house of the play. She is on stage the entire time lamenting her father’s death, inviting death by defying her mother. She is the one constant throughout the play as different types of perceptive come in and out; she never wavers in her convictions and stays strong. I need an actress that is energised, fierce, and able to play a range of emotions from anger, fury to sorrow, and vulnerability in just one speech. I also want to see a new and modern interpretation on Electra, thinking about how difficult is to be a woman, belonging to a powerful family that has been extremely patriarchal, to being motherless and alone.

Servant (F)
She is the character than protects Orestes, and ultimately delivers him to his fate. She has a speech at a pivotal moment in the play.

Pylades (F)
A non-speaking part: Pylades is Orestes childhood friend, She is always by Orestes’ side, never saying a word but taking the journey with him. (The actress playing Pylades will also play a part in the chorus)

Orestes (F)
Next to Electra, Orestes is the second most important part in the play. Orestes is Electra’s brother and appears at the beginning and end of the play. Orestes completes the circle, as the mother killed the father so must the son kill the mother. Orestes is Electra’s hope, and they have a very strong bond as she saved his life and is more like a mother to him than a sister. Even though I will not be changing the gender of Orestes, he will be played by an actress. This will be one of the most challenging aspects of the part, as a theme throughout the play is that Orestes must complete the circle because he is the son. I will be looking for an actress who can put a different spin on this and think about how to play the part genderless, but still portraying his masculine traits.

Chrysothemis (F)
Chrysothemis is Electra and Orestes’ sister, she does not lament and challenge as Electra does. Even though she mourns her father’s death, longs for her brother and knows her mother is the blame. She plays the diplomat and lives by Aegisthus and Clytemnestra’s rules. She is an important juxtaposition to Electra, often being the more reasoned and level headed argument.

Clytemnestra (F)
Clytemnestra is the queen, Electra’s mother and Agammemon’s murder. Even though she is seen as the villain of this story, she still has a heart and conscious. She murdered Agammemon because he sacrificed her first daughter, Iiphigenia to the gods. She believes killing Agammemon was not murder but justice, and struggles with how her children defy and hate her. However, she still treats Electra cruelly and longs to hear her son is dead for fear over being overthrown.

Aegisthus (F)
Aegisthus is Clytemnestra’s lover, and ultimately plotted and killed Agammemon with Clytemnestra so as to take his throne and wife. He appeals at the end of the play smug and vicious, and ultimately meets his end.

Chorus (3-4 Females)
Chorus is the constant on stage the entire time with Electra. The Chorus is a massively important role and mammoth task. They act as the story teller, the conscious, the friend and the enemy throughout the play, creating a dynamic challenge for any actress. This role is heavy on speeches and will involve elements of physical acting.

If you have any questions prior to the audition, get in touch with the team at electra@kdctheatre.com.

Bones is a darkly funny play set in a run-down porn cinema in 1960′s Gateshead.

1. Auditions

Auditions will take place from 6.30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start on 13, 14 and 15 May 2013 at the Theatre Delicatessen, Marylebone Gardens, 35 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QA. You do not need to register for auditions or prepare anything in advance. Please come on whichever day suits you.

Recalls will be on Saturday 18 May from 12 to 4 p.m. and you will be told the venue if you are recalled. If we’d like to see you at the recalls, we’ll call you on Thursday 16 May to let you know.

2. Show Dates

We’ll be performing from Tuesday 16 to Saturday 20 July at The Barons Court Theatre in Barons Court. The shows will start at 7.30 p.m. (2.30 p.m. matinee on Saturday 20 July) and you’ll need to be at the theatre at least an hour beforehand.

3. Synopsis

Bones is a darkly funny play set in a run-down porn cinema in 1960s Gateshead. This failing cinema is run by two Jewish brothers, Benny and Ruben. The brothers cannot afford to pay their staff, projectionist Beck and cinema dogsbody/cum-cleaner-upper Moon, and also owe a lot of money to the local gangsters. Then all their problems seem to be over when one of them kidnaps Reggie Kray…

The dark, dank and close atmosphere of The Baron’s Court Theatre, with its old flip-up cinema seats, is the perfect venue for this intense and intensely funny play.

This play is pacy, twisted and very funny. Being set in a cinema, it nods its head to many films, including Get Carter and Reservoir Dogs. As well as being a play about gangland kidnapping, it also touches on themes like identity, the desire to be someone, family ties and brotherly love and hate … as well as gorilla fancy-dress costumes.

4. Cast

Benny
Accent: Geordie
Age: 30-35
Benny is the elder of the two brothers. Both he and Ruben own the cinema but Benny is clearly the manager, he has put himself firmly in charge. He provides a lot of the humanity in the play.

Although there aren’t really any straight roles, Benny is the closest to being the straight-man of the piece. He starts the play with a freshly broken nose and then his day just keeps getting worse.

Ruben
Accent: Geordie
Age: early/mid-twenties
The younger of the two brothers; in fact they are half-brothers. Ruben was one half of a pair of twins – but his twin died in a suspicious house fire when they were young. Ruben, as well as resenting Benny, desperately wants to impress him. He is convinced he isn’t Jewish, that his dad was an Italian American GI who was over in the UK during the war. He dreams of being somebody. He has virulent self-hatred, and has hatred of his faith and how it seems to have labelled him. He fluctuates between awe and terror as the play unfolds.

Reg
Accent: Cockney
Age: mid-thirties
Reg spends a lot of the play bound and often gagged, however this does not impact on to his authority and menace. He is a ‘puppet master’.

Beck
Accent: Geordie
Age: 20-30
Beck is a fan of James Cagney. When there are no punters in the cinema, Beck happily puts on his favourite 1930s and 40s Hollywood films.

He believes he is a player and has links with the local crime scene. He talks the talk and walks the walk but when push comes to shove, what kind of guy is he really?

Moon
Accent: Geordie
Age: 20s
Moon is a fan of Humphrey Bogart.

He is the cinema’s dogsbody, doing every job from doorman to cleaning up (everything) after the porn cinema’s punters have left. He wants a quiet life, he is an expectant father (well, he hasn’t had sex with his girlfriend but they’ve been looking at prams). He always seems to draw the short straw in life – and at times that short straw may lead to big challenges.

If you have any questions prior to audition, please contact the team on bones@kdctheatre.com.

http://meltonmowbrayholborn.co.uk/

As if by magic, our Spring season ends, and like a pagan rite banishes the cold from these lands (for now). Perhaps we should do it earlier next year?

Once more a season from one of the hardest working theatre companies in London draws to a bittersweet end! Bitter for ending so soon. Sweet for being such a good splash of shows. And Summer is so close too!

It’s been a really exciting season. Zoe spearheaded our Spotlight Showcase initiative with the amazing drama, The Early Bird, Fiona and Kat continued our tradition of supporting new writing with The Player Played and Stag Nation, Trina and Kim took the reigns on the latest very cool and VERY spooky devised piece, Visited, and Chris stepped backstage to direct Richard III as only he could imagine it! And of course, how can we forget that we actually started the year with Sarah’s Cutting Edge: An interactive Fairy Tale. Blimey! It’s all go!

So, as my self-enforced tradition dictates, mine and the committees thanks go out into this blue skied ether to:

Zoe Thomas-Webb, Fiona Thomas, Kat Wootton, Trina Hasthorpe, Kim Morrison, Chris Warren, Sarah Provencal, Steph Urquhart, Helen Niland, Doug Baker, Edith Webb, Richard Williams, Juliet Colbert, Charlie Golding, Matthew Partridge, Amy Wallis, Fozia Khaliq, Prasan Modasia, Carrie Johnson, Louise Bastock, Carl Fletcher, Emma Cherry Rolf, Thom Petty, Kate Sketchley, Amy Wackett, Ulli Ackermann, Bradley Johnson, Lorenzo Mason, Yasir Senna, Ciera Rose Allen, Claire Hubbard, Valentina Petito, Jacqui Adams, Brittany Atkins, Aruna Buchanan, James Edenborough, Eddie Register, Ami Sawran, Violet Edelman, Maeve McClenaghan, Vanessa Okello, Anna Postle, Chris Stooke, Anna Tsekouras, Francis Whittaker, Thea Beyleveld, Ben Waring, Laura Hymers, Monica Ibe, Wayil Eisa, Judith Barbeler, Sarah Ratner, Lisa Bender, Nick Dastoor and “Disco” Chris Dascalopoulos

COMING UP NEXT ON KDC THEATRE!

SUMMER!

PICNICS!

THIRSTY THURSDAYS!

READING NIGHTS!

AGM!

And most importantly, our XX/XY season at the Barons Court! More details to come VERY soon!

Now you may have an ice cream.

Be seeing you!

Andy Marchant

KDC Chair

Our summer season will run on the weeks beginning 15 and 22 July, and we are looking for pitches of a very specific nature.

The XX/XY season

Each of our weeks will see a production with an exclusively male or female cast (but we will also consider “predominantly” male of female as an option)

What we want from our directing members are interesting and exciting pitches for shows with casts of AROUND 8 actors (and upwards).

So perhaps this is the time to dust off your copy of Glengarry Glen Ross, or Playhouse Creatures, or whatever you may have seen or read before that you love! Or go online and see what’s out there. Or tell us about your all female Julius Caesar, or your all male Top Girls (that one might not work).

BUT we need to hear from you and we need to hear from you soon.

We are able to extend (or XX/XYtend) our pitch process to Midnight on Sunday April 14^th, so if you are interested, please email artistic@kdctheatre.com and let us know your ideas and we will arrange to meet you to hear more!

Amy Wackett

This is Amy’s first role with KDC. Having had some success at acting in the provinces, she decided to try her luck in the big city. Aside from the high glamour of Kentish Town, she has found that the main difference is efficiency. For example, you don’t need to go to the pub after rehearsal because rehearsals are in the pub. That kind of progressive thinking can only be found in the capital. Last stage role written in verse was Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; first was ‘The Little One’ in a Year 1 performance of the song, There were Ten in the Bed.

Ulli Ackermann (Doug)

Ulli has been acting on stages around the world (Germany really) for the past seven years, having played a few Shakespeare’s, a crazy German poet and the bear Baloo from the Jungle Book. He is now allowed onto an English stage (thanks Fiona!) to finally kick off his acting career in London! He hopes to mask his German accent so well that people will believe he is from here, as he can’t stand being recognized as a foreigner. If you do recognise his German accent, don’t tell him, as he is known to bite on different occasions.

Bradley Johnson (Charles)

It has been over 3 years since Bradley last acted, where he played a crazy Australian murderer. It has taken another Ozzie, coming in the form of a perfectly normal female director, to give him the chance to get back into acting. This is his first show with KDC and has really enjoyed the process so far. Bradley will be playing the part of lothario Charles and he hopes you enjoy the show.

Lorenzo Mason (Belleur)

Lorenzo was born in Rome, Italy and has been doing theatre most of his life. He trained at Doreen Bird College in Acting. Previous theatre credits include Francisco/Osric/Gravedigger/Player Queen in Hamlet (Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford), John Wilmot Earl of Rochester in The Libertine (Greenwich Theatre), Bradley/ 7/7 witness/Lead bum in London Wundergorund (Camden Roundhouse studio), Fieldzieg/Knight of the round table in Burlesque and other distractions (Orchard Theatre,Dartford). In addition to acting Lorenzo is also a writer having penned three short films in the past year (Once upon a time at the beach, Last days of Summer, City Lights Requiem). This is his first time working with KDC.

Yasir Senna (Henry)

It is great to be involved again in KDC’s new writing program having been in, “Cabride” in 2011. The rehearsals have been great and I know you will love the show. Thanks for coming. Also don’t forget my own self-penned play, “Rumble”, is being staged by Beyond Theatre at the Barons Court Theatre from April 16 to 20. The play is about a woman fighting a constructive dismissal instigated by her male bosses. The ladies will love this. See you there.

Ciera Rose Allen (Rose)

Ciera Rose Allen is from Los Angeles, California where she studied acting under the great Gue Bua at the Acting for life Theatre. Her first role was in the web-based soap California Heaven playing the conflicted Alicia Gabaldon. Since, she has pursued various film roles and television presenting before moving to the UK in 2008. Her first KDC play was Jake’s Women as the hysterical Sheila. Ciera is thrilled to be a part of the KDC family once again and hopes to keep wearing down directors to cast her in the future!

Claire Hubbard (Miss Nantolet)

Claire did some acting in school but that was back in the Middle Ages. After a (cough) 25-year gap, she decided on a whim to take an acting class at Central St Martins, later moving on to Simon Bowen’s Exmouth Market acting group. She has also played actress for a course of budding directors at the City Lit. She first became acquainted with The Player Played when its author cast her as Nantolet in a 15-minute showcase of the play at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone in November 2012. She was thrilled after she auditioned at KDC to get the role again, this time with a whole new director and cast. This is her first KDC production.

Valentina Petito (Mia)

Valentina grew up in a big, crowded, noisy city in southern Italy and wishing for a big change she moved first to Rome and then to London! The passion for acting came up when she was a little girl, became stronger through the years and she eventually even graduated in Performing Arts at the Link Academy (Rome) in 2010.
Proud to be Maid Mia in The Player Played, she is at her second theatre production in London; the first one being Cinderella, performed for a Primary school Christmas party, of which she is also very proud.

John

Dave – Dave definitely considers himself to be the brains of the gang and probably the most beautiful too, supported by his notion that the guys often wear Velcro trainers to avoid laces rather than making an active fashion choice and how females’ eyes dart to the floor to prevent scarring when the gang enter any kind of drinking establishment. Despite an obvious awareness of superiority, Dave is a strong advocator for group-bonding activities. Bring on the stag!

Steve – Since I’m not the best man, I didn’t realise I had to write a poncey speech too, but I guess I can just say this.  John, I hope you’re going to be nice to Jane when you’re married because she is properly sound and smells a lot fucking better than you.  Can’t wait to get lashed before you have to start behaving!

Terry – Terry is thrilled to be John’s one and only official best man after years of friendship! This is going to be a Stag to remember! Tanya and Terry wish the happy couple all the love and happiness in the world! Welcome to the club!

Rachel – Rachel is studying media studies and forensic psychology at UEL and this is her first acting experience.  “OMG, I was so excited when Kat asked me to do this!  I feel just like Julia Roberts and I’m totally speechless.  I really don’t know what to say.  Break a leg everybody!!”

Sir Michael Bloke (voice only) – Splendidly marvellous to be able to introduce John’s stag to the world. What a splendid example of this marvellous phenomenon of nature, met the producer in the bar, no was it the pub, and she was marvellous one of those good looking chaps you know a woman and she asked me to do this so I finished the whisky and the beers and had two Alka Seltzers and put on the voice.

Jacqui Adams – This is Jacqui’s second time on stage with KDC, after playing Miss Mockridge in 2009′s production of Dangerous Corner; she also directed last year’s Measure for Measure, and contributed to 2011′s new writing collaboration Summers Gone. She’s chuffed to be able to fit in some fun before getting down to the very serious business of directing Neil Labute’s Autobahn for the Sedos Summer Festival.

Brittany Atkins – Somewhere between juggling unemployment with watching re-runs of Come Dine With Me, Brittany is pleased to have found the time and been given the opportunity to display a complete disregard for manners and womanly etiquette in her second performance for KDC. Brittany first performed with KDC, in 2010, in the Penelopiad. She then went on to perform at the Camden Fringe in 2011 for So It Goes… Theatre Company and graduated from RADA Youth Company the same year, and now hopes to make it into drama school.

Aruna Buchanan – Ever the Drama Queen it’s no surprise that Aruna ran away to join the theatre! Highlights include Oscar Wilde’s Salome (Rock Opera) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and A Clockwork Orange, Anna Karenina and F*ckArt for KDC. Production credits include Buddy, Jailhouse Rock and Blair on Broadway in the West End. Aruna is looking forward to undoing all her mother’s training to be ladylike!

James Edenborough – James has enjoyed acting from an even earlier age and continues to do so whenever not working as a lawyer. Recent work includes Woman Bites Dog’s Martini Bond at the 2012 Camden Fringe then Barking and Manchester, and audio plays for Talk About Productions. Other work includes Rafe in The Knight of The Burning Pestle, Lieutenant Gruber in Allo Allo, and Generals Haig and Von Moltke in Oh What A Lovely War, who fortunately at no point had to be on stage at the same time.

Eddie Register – After roles in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘The Tamer Tamed’, Eddie returns to KDC, to take on his most interesting role to date.  This role is quite a departure from Eddie’s previous performances in “Man of Destiny”, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” and “Debris”, but he is clearly up to the challenge.  Now let’s just hope he doesn’t lose his top !!!

Ami Sawran – Hailing from THE NORTH, this is Ami’s first appearance on a London stage, having brought culture to the masses in Liverpool, Durham and at the Edinburgh fringe.  From appearing bald in W;t, profoundly evil in Dr Faustus and downright slutty in Shakers, this is the first time, (despite once playing a wild pig), Ami has really had an excuse to scratch herself and burp freely in public.  Whilst she finds this liberating, she would like to apologise to her mum who, for the record, did not condone this behaviour at home.  Ami would like to thank those that have influenced her trampy character traits and general manly swagger.  You know who you are.