Paines Plough Blog

Yesterday team PP ensconced themselves in The Actors’ Centre for the first Open Auditions of 2012.

Open Auditions are our way of broadening our horizons when it comes to casting, and getting to meet actors we might not otherwise get to know. So we split the PP team across three rooms and meet actors for a quick chat, and ask them to prepare a duologue from a play written in the last 15 years.

It’s a great way to spend a Sunday. Aside from the wealth of talent on show, we meet some fascinating people from all walks of life, with amazing stories to tell.

With James deep in rehearsals for LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and Hanna on the road with WASTED, representing PP were George, Tara, Kate, Claire and Sean. Joining us were members of our Associate Company Forward Theatre Project Fran and Gemma, as well as ex-Trainee Director (and Artistic Director of Curious Directive) Jack and ex-Intern (turned freelance Casting Director) Sophie.

Over the course of 7 or so hours, we met over 160 actors – the majority for the first time. We saw some superb work on display across the board with actors breathing life in to some of the finest contemporary plays from Britain, Australia, Germany and the US.

Playwrights whose work we saw included (in no particular order):

Lee Hall, Dennis Kelly, Michael Wynne, Mike Bartlett, David Eldridge, Penelope Skinner, Nick Payne, April de Angelis, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Mick Gordon, Andrew Bovell, Philip Ridley, Fin Kennedy, Jez Butterworth, Shelagh Stephenson, Chloe Moss, Joel Horwood, Lucy Kirkwood, Naomi Wallace, Charlotte Jones, Lisa McGee, Abi Morgan, Christian O’Reilly, James Graham, Simon Burt, James O’Shea, David Lindsay-Abaire, Roy Williams, Che Walker, Jason Hall, Alan Wilkins, Simon Stephens, Simon Farquar, Owen McCafferty, Doug Lucie, Joe Penhall, DC Moore, Patrick Marber, Martin Crimp, Steven Bloomer, Anya Reiss, John Kolvenbach, John Godber, Terry Johnson and Roland Schimmelpfennig.

Thank you to everyone who came along to audition for taking the time to so carefully select and prepare scenes and for your passion for Paines Plough. It was great to hear from so many of you on twitter:

So what happens next? We keep everyone’s details on file and if we liked what we saw we’ll be sure to keep people in mind for future castings. Lots of actors we’ve met for the first time through Open Auditions have subsequently been invited in to meet for our productions.

If you’ve got any feedback for us, or ideas how we can improve the Open Auditions experience, please let us know by posting a comment.

We try and hold Open Auditions as often as possible, right across the UK. If you’re interested in attending in the future, you can read all about the process here.

You can also read about past events on the Open Auditions section of this blog: http://www.painesplough.com/blog/category/open-auditions/

Paines Plough Open Auditions:
Sunday 1 April 2012
Actors Centre, London
10am – 5pm

Many actors find themselves in the position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. In response to this often frustrating dilemma, on the 1st April, we’ll be meeting 180 actors previously unknown to the company.

If you would like to meet us please do the following:

• Find yourself a partner – we are auditioning people in pairs
• Apply by sending ONE email with BOTH you and your partner’s names to auditions@painesplough.com
• Put OPEN AUDITIONS @ ACTORS CENTRE in the Subject line

If you’re in the first 90 emails, we’ll email you back by with an audition time by Friday 9th March. Once we have confirmed your time, please prepare a 3 minute piece of dialogue in your pair from a contemporary play written post 1995. If you are not in the first 90 emails, we’ll keep you on a waiting list and let you know if a meeting time becomes available.

Read our Open Auditions FAQs before applying.

Casting begins today for three productions of ‘Programme 2011’. I am directing brand new plays by Katie Douglas and Leo Butler with fellow Artistic Director James taking the helm of David Watson’s new work. We have co-commisioned all three playwrights with Oran Mor in Glasgow, where the plays premiere this autumn.

Our commissioning policy means that we are often committing to producing commissions long before they even have titles, let alone scenes. We find it the most thrilling way to work with writers. James talks about the resulting ‘New Plays with No Names’ here.

With Katie’s play first up in the season, we’re beginning to meet actors this week in London and next week in Edinburgh. With Open Auditions in both cities this week and next, we’re incredibly excited about the prospect of meeting many actors new to the company, who we hope to be able to consider for the three plays we’re currently casting.

Personally, I think casting is one of the best parts of the directing job. Having been brought up immersed in Sunday league football, Match of the Day and Championship Manager, there’s something in the casting process that reminds me of picking a dream team of players – the more individually skilled, well suited to their role and equipped they are to team play, the stronger the team itself becomes.

Here at Paines Plough we’re fortunate enough to have worked with some incredible actors over the years. Thanks to our new Open Audition initiative, the number of actors whose work we have seen is rocketing up each year, which only makes it easier for us to find the right actor for each part and to give each play we produce the production it deserves.

Lots of lovely actors gathering at Open Auditions

We had another brilliant day of Open Auditions at The Actors Centre in London yesterday, meeting 180 actors for the first time.

Open Auditions are our way of broadening our horizons when it comes to casting, and getting to meet actors we might not otherwise get to know. So we split the PP team across three rooms and meet actors for a quick chat, and ask them to prepare a duologue from a play written in the last 15 years. Joining us yesterday were Charlotte Bennett and Fran Bradley from our Associate Company Forward Theatre Project, director Titas Halder, and freelance casting director Sophie Davies.

It’s a great way to spend a Sunday. Aside from the wealth of talent on show, we met some fascinating people from all walks of life, with amazing stories to tell…

We also get to spend the day listening to extracts from brilliant plays by writers we love. The most popular choices of the day were COCK by Mike Bartlett and EIGENGRAU by Penelope Skinner. Both of which we thoroughly approve of! We also heard extracts from plays by Jez Butterworth, debbie tucker green, Jack Thorne, David Greig, Dennis Kelly, Laura Wade, Tom Basden, Martin McDonagh, Fiona Evans, Moira Buffini, DC Moore, Simon Stephens, Anya Reiss, Anthony Neilson, Nick Payne, Chloe Moss and lots more. A few people even wrote their own duologues, which were great to hear.

So what happens next? We keep everyone’s details on file and if we liked what you showed us we’ll be sure to keep you in mind for future castings. Lots of people we’ve met for the first time through Open Auditions have subsequently been invited in to meet for our productions. At the end of the day yesterday, as always after Open Auditions, the pub discussion centred around finding parts for people who really blew us away.

We’re so grateful to everyone who took the time to come and meet us. It was a real pleasure, and we hope you’ll all stay in touch.

Next stop Edinburgh, where we’re meeting 192 actors over two days when we’re taking up residence with our friends at C Venues. If you’re coming along, check out our Top Tips here.

And if you’ve got any feedback for us, or ideas how we can improve the Open Auditions experience, please let us know by posting a comment.

As regular blog readers might know, we’re holding our next round of open auditions in London on Sunday 14 August and then in Edinburgh on Tuesday 23 & Thursday 25 August. We understand the quandary of needing to getting yourself seen to get cast, but needing to get cast to be seen, so we’ve committed to meeting 700 actors previously unknown to us  every year through Open Auditions. We love meeting new actors, and want you to get as much out of the auditions as we do. With that in mind, we thought we’d share some advice for anyone either coming this month or applying next time.

-DO check your emails. Space is allocated on a first come, first served basis. So as the audition date approaches, it’s worth keeping a beady eye on your inbox. That said, we’re never going to send you messages at 3am, so no need to sleep with your blackberry under your pillow.

-DO get reading. We ask you and your partner to prepare a 3 minute duologue from a play written in the last 15 years. That’s because we’re a new writing company, and would therefore rather hear contemporary dialogue than Jacobean pentameter. If you need some inspiration, have a look at our production archive, the wider work of writers we’ve worked with or just have a browse at Foyles or the Royal Court bookshop.

-DO make it personal. We’re excited by meeting actors that want to work with Paines Plough. However, that excitement tends to dwindle somewhat when people don’t know anything about who we are and what sort of work we do. Let us know if you’ve seen any of our productions, and come prepared to chat about which emerging voices you’re into.

-DO turn up. For our last round of London auditions we had over 900 people apply for 180 slots. When spaces are so oversubscribed it’s frustrating for us – and unsuccessful applicants – when people don’t turn up. We always have a waiting list, so do let us know if you’re not able to make it, and we can offer your place to someone else.

-DON’T be nervous. We like to think that we’re a pretty friendly bunch, and we’re there because we want to meet as many of you as possible.  So don’t panic and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions about how we could make the process better.

See you in London or Edinburgh, or beyond.

Paines Plough Open Auditions:
Tuesday 23rd and Thursday 25th August 2011
C Venues, Edinburgh
10am – 3pm

Paines Plough is delighted to announce our first Edinburgh round of Open Auditions in collaboration with The National Student Drama Festival and C Venues.

Many actors find themselves in the position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. In response to this often frustrating dilemma, Paines Plough has committed to meeting over 700 actors previously unknown to the company each year.

We are holding auditions on Tuesday 23^rd and Thursday 25^th August 2011 where joint Artistic Directors George Perrin and James Grieve will be joined by a panel of directors and producers from Paines Plough’s core team and its Associate Companies all interested in meeting actors. Each day, the panel will see 192 actors (96 pairs), and these slots will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

*Please read carefully*

To apply, please do the following:

• Find yourself a partner – we are auditioning people in pairs.
• Apply by sending ONE email with BOTH of your names to auditions@painesplough.com.
• Please put EDINBURGH OPEN AUDITIONS @ C VENUES in the Subject line.
• Please do not send CVs, biogs or headshots as you can bring these with you on the day.
• If you are within the first 96 emails, we will email you back by Friday 12^th August with an audition time.
• If you weren’t in the first 96 to apply we will keep you on a waiting list and may offer you an audition if a slot becomes available.
• Once we have confirmed your time, please prepare a 3 minute piece of dialogue in your pair from a play written post 1995.

Please note:

• If you have auditioned at our previous Open Auditions, we will not be able to see you this time round.
• We do not accept applications from agents. If you have an agent, you must still apply yourself using your own email address.
• Places are all allocated in advance. You will not be able to request a different time, and we will be unable to see people on a walk-up basis.
• We will retain a waiting list and will notify you if you are on this waiting list.
• If you are allotted a time but for any reason cannot make the appointment please let us know asap by emailing intern@painesplough.com. If you fail to turn up to your allotted slot without letting us know in advance, you will not be able to audition at future Paines Plough Open Auditions.
• We will not accept any emails sent to any email address other than auditions@painesplough.com.
• Due to the large volume of people we are seeing, we will not be able to offer feedback.
• We are not casting for a particular show at the moment – we just want to meet some new actors so that we can have you in mind for future productions.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins next week, and we’re all very excited to be heading up to see what theatrical delights are in store.

We’ll be there from 22nd to 28th August, and while we’ll be whizzing around the city trying to see as much as we possibly can fit into our week, we’ll also be running various activities in association with the Edinburgh Festival and the National Student Drama Festival.

Open Auditions

Many actors we talk to find themselves in the frustrating position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. Our response is to commit to meeting more than 700 actors previously unknown to the company each year.

We’re holding open auditions at C Venues in Edinburgh on Tuesday 23rd and Thursday 25th August. If you are interested in applying, keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages, or please send an email to auditions@painesplough.com with ‘AUDITION MAILING LIST’ in the subject header and we’ll add your email address to our open auditions database to keep you in the loop.

Discussions and Special Events – Informal sharing of process

Quiz our team about touring, new writing or running a company in this informal Q&A.
Aug 24: 13:00 (1hr)
Free Ticketed
Click here for booking information.

Calling all students

We’ll also be at the NSDF’s Q&A session at 3pm on Friday 26th, and would love the chance to talk to any student drama groups or societies about WASTED the incredible debut play by performance poet and rapper, Kate Tempest, which we premiered at this year’s Latitude Festival.

We’re touring the show to Student Unions in 2012, so if anyone is interested in coming to have a chat about the play while we’re there, please do drop us an email to office@painesplough.com.

Suggestions

Lastly, we hope to see as much work as we can while we’re there, so if you have any recommendations or want to invite us along to see your show, please email invitations@painesplough.com and we’ll do our best to make it along.

Paines Plough Open Auditions:
Sunday 19 June 2011
The Actors Centre
1a Tower Street
London, WC2H 9NP
10am – 5pm

Paines Plough is delighted to announce our fourth Open Auditions Session in collaboration with The Actors Centre in London.

Many actors find themselves in the position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. In response to this often frustrating dilemma, Paines Plough has committed to meeting over 700 actors previously unknown to the company each year, 180 of whom we’ll be seeing on the 19th June.

If you would like to be seen, please do the following:

- Find yourself a partner – we are auditioning people in pairs

- Apply by sending ONE email with BOTH of your names to auditions@painesplough.com

- Please put OPEN AUDITIONS @ ACTORS CENTRE in the Subject line and do not send CVs, biogs or headshots

We will email you back by Friday 10th June with an audition time. Once we have confirmed your time, please prepare a 3 minute piece of dialogue in your pair from a play written post 1995. If you weren’t in the first 90 people to apply we’ll keep you on a waiting list and let you know if a slot becomes available.

Please read our Open Auditions FAQs before applying.

We had a brilliant day yesterday at The Actor’s Centre meeting 180 actors through our fourth open auditions.

We were split across three rooms with each room seeing 30 duologues during the day. Joining the Paines Plough contingent on the panels were Charlotte Bennett and Steph O’Driscoll, artistic directors of our associate companies Forward Theatre Project and Inner City Theatre, Joe Murphy, artistic director of nabokov and Titas Halder, resident assistant director at The Donmar Warehouse.

It was such a thrill to meet so many new people and witness the depth of talent out there, and above all the strength of passion for theatre. Even in these tough economic climes, and within the confines of a highly competitive and sometimes cut-throat industry, yesterday proved to us that brilliance and tenacity run deep in British theatre.

It was particularly inspiring to hear how many actors are involved in setting up and running their own companies, forcing work into existence rather than waiting for the phone to ring and expanding the infrastructure of the industry through entrepreneurialism. We’re thinking about how we can best continue to support emerging companies in the future.

We saw extracts from a huge range of plays with Mike Bartlett’s COCK, Penny Skinner’s EIGENGRAU, Laura Wade’s COLDER THAN HERE and SUCKER PUNCH by Roy Williams the most popular. Other playwrights represented read like a roll-call of contemporary new writing – Philip Ridley, Denis Kelly, Simon Stephens, Moira Buffini, Nina Raine, Marina Carr, Alexi Kaye-Campbell, Joe Penhall, Martin Crimp, Abi Morgan, Rona Munro, Patrick Marber…

Seeing the work of these outstanding playwrights evidenced how – even in three minute extracts – their plays have the ability to astound, move, and provoke.

So what happens next?

We run open auditions because we want to broaden our horizons when it comes to casting by meeting actors we might not otherwise get to know.

We’ve already invited a number of actors we met for the first time at open auditions to castings for specific shows, and we’ll continue to do so. We’ll also try to follow the careers of the people we meet and see them in shows.

In 2010, we employed 61 actors and with our Programme 2011 shaping up to be even bigger we very much hope we’ll have the chance to work with some of the people we met yesterday and at previous open auditions.

Meantime, huge thanks to everyone who came along and gave us such a fascinating, enlivening and inspiring day.

If you auditioned, please do leave a comment and let us know how it was for you.

We’ll be announcing more open auditions soon, in London and all around the country.

Paines Plough Open Auditions:
Sunday 6 February 2011
Actors Centre, London
10am – 5pm

After our 2010 Open Auditions in London and Manchester, the company is delighted to announce the fourth Open Auditions Session in collaboration with The Actors Centre.

Many actors find themselves in the position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. In response to this often frustrating dilemma, Paines Plough has committed to meeting over 700 actors previously unknown to the company each year.

If you would like to be seen please d the following:

- Find yourself a partner – we are auditioning people in pairs

- Apply by sending ONE email with BOTH of your names to auditions@painesplough.com

- Please put OPEN AUDITIONS @ ACTORS CENTRE in the Subject line
Do not send CVs, biogs or headshots

We will email you back before Friday 28th January with an audition time. Once we have confirmed your time, please prepare a 3 minute piece of dialogue in your pair from a play written post 1995. If you weren’t in the first 90 people to apply we’ll keep you on a waiting list and let you know if a slot becomes available.

Please read our open auditions FAQs before applying.