This year our Season Launch and our Auditions for the Autumn Season are going online. We have two fabulous productions for you to get involved in. ‘But how CAN you make theatre in this restricted world of ours?’ I hear you ask. Well, come along to the season launch and we’ll tell you.
Prepare to forget we’re not all together in a pub as KDC gets up close and personal (online). As well as answering your usual questions – “What’s the show and what is my part?”- we’ll be testing the limits of socially distanced socialising. [Read: cameras on and be ready for anything.]
What’s on the agenda? – Breakout room silliness. – Hear from the directors of our Autumn Season shows – Ask them as many questions as you like.
Season Launch timings: MONDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2020 FROM 19:00-20:15
In the coming season we would like to explore radio plays, and the magic that can be made once you close your eyes. Join us in creating aural wonderlands from talented voice actors and inventive sound effects.
We are looking for…
Writers
We want to hear from writers who have a script that they would like produced, you don’t have to have a production team organised, bring us an appropriate script and we can find you a director.
Directors
We also are looking for directors who want to direct an audio-only play, bring us your ideas and/or a script that you would want to produce. (for example, the BBC have a list of available scripts). We would also like to involve live foley sound to support the atmosphere you create, so, be ambitious! This is your chance to travel to impossible locations or present un-theatre-friendly genres.
We’re looking for something around about an hour in length, that requires no more than 5 actors. (though shorter could also work and be doubled with something else). We see the play being rehearsed through October, mostly remotely, eventually getting together in November (in an appropriately virus-careful way) in a theatre space to record/stream the performance. We will provide the equipment & technical support to do the recording.
The turnaround is going to be tight! Get in touch with your ideas by 27 August, we wanna get started as soon as we can!
As we say goodbye to a thoroughly successful but also pretty unusual summer season, it’s time to look forward to Autumn. We’re now opening our pitch process for new shows for Autumn and beyond, apply here. More about that later, but first a quick update on the current status of KDC.
Things are starting again! Horray!
What happened to Spring??
The current health situation has of course affected us. Rehearsals were almost complete for our Spring shows Pomona and Rules For Living before we had to postpone their performances. These were lining up to be amazing shows and our intention very much is still to perform them as soon as we can! While we desperately want to show-off these ‘on-hold’ performances, it is not yet possible, so we’re going to keep those until we can perform them as they were intended.
What we did instead
Our new writing / devising project Snatch & Merkin moved to rehearsing online and released as a web series, and summer season’s Writing on the Wall transferred entirely to the world of Zoom, last week performing a live streamed show to great success earlier this month.
The future
As a theatre group banned from theatres… we got new licence to try different things. Restriction breeds creativity! We’d like to keep this going so we’re now opening pitches for autumn season. Given the current climate this will be an unusually open pitch process, we’d like to hear your ideas. We have a large and enthusiastic actor community, as well as directors and technical people on hand to support your vision.
It is likely that physical distancing restrictions will remain in-place for the remainder of the year to some extent, however we are also expecting them to be partially lifted so it is possible that we will be able to so some physical rehearsing and performance late in the year. Here are some examples of the sort of thing you might want to propose:
1. Radio play
Either a long full-length single audio production, or multiple shorter pieces to be released as a series. Think the Big Finish Doctor Who serials, or Radio 4 play like Neverwhere. We would imagine this would be initially rehearsed remotely, hopefully being able to gather in a venue to record the audio in late autumn. We can help with equipment, sound expertise, foley & mixing the show, what we really need is a enthused piece of writing or adaptation that we can record.
2. Storytelling
Holding an audience’s attention, narrating directly to them is one of the oldest forms of performance, and one we see less often now. What will you bring? A tale of fairies and castles with a strong moral core? A dark campfire horror of shock and gore? Paint your world with words. When we return to theatres it will probably require distancing of the audience and between the cast, so a set of stories told by lone actors would fit well.
3. Monologues / Small casts
A series of monologues or a play that has a very small cast that can be kept distant would also likely be possible. New writing is always appreciated, and existing pieces are also welcome, subject to us being able to acquire rights.
Over to you
We’re really looking forward to hearing your ideas, and we can also help develop your concept if it is not yet fully-formed. Get your pitch in here
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an Annual General Meeting of KDC Theatre will be held online on Zoom at 7pm on Monday 27 July 2020 to transact the following business.
AGENDA
Reports and accounts
To receive and consider the draft and partial accounts for the year ending 31 July 2020 and the reports of the charity trustees.
Member proposed resolutions
Details any proposed resolutions will be made available. Proposed resolutions should be sent to the Chair by 9am on Saturday 25 July. If applicable, a revised agenda will be issued prior to the AGM.
NB. Proposed resolutions may be submitted by full members of KDC. Information about full membership is available from the KDC website (click here).
Appointment of charity trustees
Nominations are required for the following officers: Chair, Artistic Director, Treasurer.
Nominations for all trustees, including non-officers, must be received by 9am on Saturday 25 July.
NB Details of how to make a nomination are available from the KDC website (click here).
Appointment of non-trustees to specified roles to assist in the running of the charity
Nominations of non-trustees to specified roles to assist in the running of the charity must be received by 9am on Saturday 25 July.
NB Details of how to make a nomination are available from the KDC website (click here).
Any other business
To deal with any matters raised at the meeting.
On behalf of the Board of charity trustees,
Sarah Dobson
Chair of Trustees
KDC Theatre
The 2020 Online AGM was announced to our members by email on 9 July 2020.
Live shows of Writing on the Wall on 9, 10 and 11 July
Live shows of Writing on the Wallon 9, 10 and 11 July
This week, we’re beaming live theatre straight to your living room.
Writing On The Wall is a compilation of short plays – 5 directors,12 actors and 14 fantastic scripts, performed at 7 pm this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Join us for a one time performance. As it’s a real-time event, each show will be available to watch at the time of the performance only (somewhat like in-person theatre, if your memory stretches that far back…).
Congratulations to the winning writers and our cast!
The writing is no longer just on the wall – it’s been put to virtual paper and we have chosen the best ones for our Full Stack show. Many thanks to all writers for their submissions; we had a fantastic time reading all of your plays, and a difficult time picking the ones to win. Book your tickets for the performance now!
But we did have to pick and it is our pleasure to announce the winning writers and their plays for this year’s Full Stack. Drumroll please!
100 Ways The Fire Starts — Max Wilkinson Best Before — Jonathan Skinner Box of Joy — Ken Preuss Don’t Cross The Line Of The Army — Stephen Reimer Filling Time — Danielle Florence Hunting — Timothy King In Full Bloom — Paige Zubel It Just Is — LH Grant Like Frogs — Hope Shooter Lost Judgement — Rex McGregor Paper Girl — Jim Moss That Place — Alison Cowieson The Poe-Ster — Judy Klass You Haven’t Changed a Bit — Donna Hoke
And of course we need actors for these scripts, so it is double the pleasure to announce our wonderful cast:
Anie Hu Anjali Dwesar Caroline Beckett Doug Dunn Jamila Jennings-Grant Kate O’Rourke Katie Mainwood Maddie Dunn Matt Tylianakis Matthew Ali Rahul Singh Tom Cunningham
Our Full Stack show, Writing On The Wall will be performed live online on 09, 10, and 11 July from 7pm.
Merkin and her intrepid intern Michael get their first case! Phil Grange, Cam Girl (sorry, Visual Simulation Artist) has been having issues with his Virtual Desires Platform. Is this linked to Mr Nibblesworth? Probably not.
Since the beginning of the year our intrepid devising cast have been beavering away on their new future noir play – Snatch & Merkin. At some point the future… actually happened. But undeterred they have refocused their creativity, and re-written for video! Appropriate… do film noir, better film it…
Over the next several weeks they are going to be releasing 8 video episodes for your delight at home, culminating in a live online performance on 14 June. First episode airs this Monday!
