Hey, Theatre Junkies

Here's your fix for the week: two theatre related opportunities I've come across lately, both of which are pretty damn awesome. The first is for the writers, the actors, the directors and producers. It also serves as a holiday. The second is only for the writers. The second is . Get on it people. Deadlines are coming up fast!!! And getting into any aspect of theatre is tough, there aren't opportunities like these just lying around all the time. Both are in association with IdeasTap http://www.ideastap.com/ so you need to get an IdeasTap account to apply. But it's free and you'll find out about more opportunities through it so it's all good. (Plenty of interviews with film, tv and theatre professionals giving great advice on there too by the way)

1. Kevin Spacey's (yeah, Kevin Spacey) TS Eliot Exchange

This coming April, 50 actors, writers, directors and producers will travel from London to New York to engage in a week of cultural activity and artistic development, hosted by The Public Theater, an NYC institution and home to some of America's most exhilarating theatre. The following month, 50 American artists will travel to London to take part in a similar program at The Old Vic, the legendary home of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and now under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey.

During The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange you will spend a week living, learning, and developing theatre in a vibrant and intense city. You will be able to build your contacts within the theatrical industry and have the chance to learn from some of the finest and most successful people in the business.

http://www.ideastap.com/newsdetails.aspx?articleid=879




2. WordPlay Script Competition
Being a fledgling writer can be a lonely business. It's all late nights at the computer and sitting alone in front of empty pages wondering when you might get your first big break. But sometimes, all you need is a nudge in the right direction.

That's why the National Youth Theatre is looking for new writers who need a bit of guidance. They'll invite five writers to attend a two-day development workshop with professional mentors and directors. From that workshop two of the writers will be selected to have their plays put into full production at a London venue as part of NYT's 2010 season. The plays will be performed by members of the Playing Up 2 course, part of the National Youth Theatre's Creative Learning Programme.
Fifteen further writers will be chosen to receive written feedback on their work.

For now we don't need the full play, just an outline of your idea and some indication of how it will work. You need to fill out an application form (link to form here) which will ask you for the following:
- A detailed synopsis of your idea for a play. It should relate in some way to one of the four topics below and be no more than 500 words
-Detailed character breakdowns for 10 defined characters or a detailed description of how your play could be performed by an ensemble of 10
-A draft of four completed scenes of your play. We need to get a feel for you as a writer so we would like at least 10 pages in total.

We're looking for ideas that best represent the experiences of the Playing Up students so we'd like to see work around the following themes: mental health, asylum seeking/immigration, the rise of political nationalism in Britain or class conflict. Feel free to use more than one of the themes and to interpret them literally or abstractly. They're just a pointer to some of the work the students have been exploring so you don't need to stick to them too rigidly.
There are 20 members of the Paying Up 2 course, so we're looking for two ensemble plays that offer strong character roles to at least 10 performers. There are no restrictions in terms of gender, and the National Youth Theatre encourage you to think creatively and experiment.

 http://www.ideastap.com/briefdetail.aspx?briefid=103

Good luck.
P.S. NYT plays get reviewed by The Times and the like. It's no Kevin Spacey but still pretty damn good