We’ve been running a super-secret experimental R&D acting group for the last 6 weeks, and as a little sweetener we’re showcasing a couple of scratch performances of what we’ve come up with. They will be after Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons performances on Tuesday 23 & Friday 26 November only. It is a free extra included with your Lemons ticket. If you come see Lemons on Tuesday or Friday, stay for the scratch!
The good ship Titus is steaming into port ready for their premier next week. I’ve been assured that there will be plenty of blood, horror and death. Lovely.
Ladeeez & gennelmen, please welcome our actors for the Autumn Season! Auditions were a riot and I would like to express how particularly high the quality was this season. Thanks to all that tried out, and congratulations to our new casts.
Titus Andronicus
Titus — Govind Hodgson Tamora — Sarah Beebe Lavinia — Grace Aldridge Chiron — Ricky Hutchinson Demetrius — Tyler Woods Marcus — Nicolas R Obetsebi Lamptey Bassianus — Andre Frey Aaron — Kieron Mieres Quintus — Gabriella Guymer-Davies Marius — Josie Stephens Lucius — Natalie Woodward Saturninus — Stephen Reimer
Titus audition extracts(Please note you do not need to learn these, they are just for reference if you would like to know what will be used in the initial audition)
Massive congratulations to the Pomona team for their run last week, and getting their corona-delayed production finally in front of live audiences. A big achievement all round.
But the wheel doesn’t stop turning here at KDC towers! It’s time to announce our autumn season shows, and your chance to get involved either by auditioning to act or backstage.
Autumn Season shows
First up, we have action-packed blood-soaked Shakespeare in Titus Andronicus. It’ll be a modern adaptation, exploring the dangers of revenge and how it can twist the intentions of everyone it touches.
Our second show will be Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, about censorship and free speech in a world where people are limited to 140 words per day.
Auditions are free and open to all, and will be held 20 & 21 September in the evening. You only need to come to one audition and you can audition for both plays on the same evening.
Recalls take place on the evening of 23 September.
Auditions
Attend whichever date suits you best, and you can audition for all 3 plays on the same evening.
Monday 20 & Tuesday 21 September 2021 7pm-9:30pm (registration from 6:45pm) Theatre Deli, Broadgate. 2 Finsbury Ave, London EC2M 2PF
Titus Andronicus, by William Shakespeare Directed by Matt Aldridge and Jess Rogers Performance dates: 16-20 November 2021 Audition notice
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, by Sam Steiner Directed by Lloyd Smith and Sarah Berryman Performance dates: 23-27 November 2021 Audition notice
Meet the directors
Hear the directors speak about their project, and answer your questions at the Season Launch. You can also talk to them about getting involved in other backstage ways.
Tuesday 14 September 2021, 7pm Theatre Deli, Broadgate (in the ground floor bar). 2 Finsbury Ave, London EC2M 2PF
With the pandemic now in retreat (sssh, grant me my optimism!) we are now looking to the future, and getting back to physically theatres. We’re looking for pitches for our next couple of seasons, so if you want to direct, read on!
This is what directing looks like. You get to sit down.
In November we have one week at Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town, and one week in Barons Court Theatre. In March next year we will have another 2 weeks in theatres, TBD. We want shows that will fit into one of these small pub theatre venues for a one-week performance, preceded by about 8 weeks of rehearsal, rehearsing around 8-hours-per-week.
What we’re looking for
Fringey or contemporary or classical plays, or devised projects, that can be auditioned in September and presented in November (or auditioned January and presented in March, during Spring Season). Our spec is deliberately open, as we try to keep a varied season, we would aim to do something known (a Shakespeare or classical or contemporary play) and something unknown (new writing or devised or obscure) each season. Please feel free to pitch multiple projects, it allows us more freedom to balance the season and makes more likely we can choose you. We would like to keep a fresh take on anything we do, so if you do pitch something that is very well known (eg Romeo & Juliet) then I would be particularly interested in what will make your production unique.
What we need from you
A motivated, creative, ambitious director
A interesting play or project that will be fun & fulfilling for cast & audience
A production team. I wouldn’t recommend pitching as a lone director – it can get quite lonely at the top. You should bring with you someone that can fill the role of Assistant Director, or Co-Director, or Producer, or Dramaturg, etc. or have a plan to fill a role like that before audition, so that you don’t have to carry the show on your own.
A frugal and inventive use of budget (we are a charity!)
What we provide
Audition & rehearsal space (about 8 hours of rehearsal per week for about 8 weeks)
A week theatre hire to perform
Marketing on our email list, website, socials, etc. for audition and then later audience.
£400 show budget for props, costume, logistics etc.
Rights to show if needed (copyrighted plays need rights, and these are not always available. Another reason why it is a good idea to pitch multiple shows)
A technician to run the show
Advice & support from KDC creative team
You don’t need experience per se, but if you have never directed before then you should try to bring some experience on your production team. KDC can & will support you, but we have limited capacity.
If this all sounds like something you’re up for, head on over to our pitch form and send us your ideas!
What happens next
Pitches are open until 30 June 2021 and we will get in touch for director interviews shortly after. (Where possible, we interview everybody who applies.)
In this last year we’ve all had to change how we work and socialise. From unexpectedly chaotic parish council meetings, to cat lawyers, and finding out what your boss’s bedroom looks like, there have been some rather… unusual aspects to the “new normal”.
As we start to tentatively envision a physical world again, KDC reimagines some of its previous productions through the constant (sometimes unwelcome but always useful) online lens…
Including pieces from: – Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Carried Away (2019) – Future Imperfect (2018) – What Keeps Me Awake (2017) – Romeo & Juliet (2015)
And a special newly produced segment from A Midsummer Night’s Dream!
The Most Lamentable Comedy, and the Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisby
*Audition signup now closed*
What would Shakespeare be doing today if he was still alive? Well, obviously he’d be telling people what it was like to be over 450 years old, plus, like many other people in the theatre industry, he’d be working out how best to perform plays via Zoom.
And that is what KDC will be doing as we perform via Zoom on 31 March – 2 April, the Mechanicals’ scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Whilst in lockdown, Quince, Bottom, Snug, Flute, Snout and Starveling must rehearse a play over Zoom to perform it for the Duke and Duchess on their wedding night (via Zoom). Think the Handforth Parish Council meeting, with even more inflated egos.
KDC are holding online auditions to perform in this comedy of putting on a play where we’ll be mining the script for every drop of comedy along with mining the fact we are having to rehearse a play on Zoom for a performance on Zoom for every other drop of comedy.
Quince, Bottom, Snug, Flute, Snout and Starveling are often referred to as Mechanicals. They are a group of amateur and incompetent actors and that incompetence shines through as they rehearse and perform their play.
Gender is not important. Age is not important. Shakespearian experience is not important. What is important is the drive to make scenes that are funny on the page even funnier on the Zoom stage.
The first round of auditions will Thursday 25 February from 7pm revolve around group work, some improvisation and you may be asked to read both Bottom and Quince – see script below.
