New Talent Week: Call for Applications

New Talent Week

Call for Applications

After a successful New Talent Weekend this year, The Masque Theatre in Muizenberg is calling for production applications for the New Talent Week that will be happening at the theatre on the 25–28 January 2017. The New Talent Week is a new and exciting festival, aiming to give a platform to young, experimental and cutting-edge theatre makers from the Western Cape. All productions must be original works and ‘out of the box’ is highly encouraged. There is no application fee for this festival but the production and the theatre will work on a profit split basis.

Applicants are to submit the following documentation:

• A full curriculum vitae, with contactable references
• A pitch document for the proposed production that is not longer than 5 pages
• Images from the production or resource images to give us an understanding of the aesthetic

Please send this information to manager@masquetheatre.co.za, by no later than 18 November 2016. A panel will review these applications and select and schedule a range of diverse and interesting works. All productions will be notified of the results before the 9^th of December 2016.

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AUDITION NOTICE: Equus

AUDITION NOTICE

EQUUS

by

PETER SHAFFER

Staging at the Masque Theatre from 23 April–6 May 2017

Rehearsals from 16 January at the Hok

Audition date: Saturday 5 November, 14h00, the Hok

Based on true events, this classic play by Peter Shaffer takes place in Rokesby Psychiatric Hospital in southern England, where a young man has been remanded after blinding several horses in a crazed fit of psychotic rage. The play is a “Whydunnit” and seeks to understand what could have caused him to do this. The play requires some nudity during an attempted seduction scene at the end of the play, which is the catalyst that tips Alan into temporary madness. The play is set in the early seventies.

Characters:

• MARTIN DYSART (40–50, male) Lead role – Psychiatrist at a provincial hospital. A deep and complex man.
• ALAN STRANG (+-17, male) Lead role – Alan has blinded six horses with a metal spike. This role is one of the great roles in theatre. It calls for strong acting ability plus the willingness to appear naked towards the end of the play.
• FRANK STRANG, his father (50–60, male) – A printer by trade, respectable, he is a kind but strict father. An atheist, and disapproving of his wife’s religious tendencies.
• DORA STRANG, his mother (50–60, female) – A nervous, sexually repressed woman, “excessively” religious, thinks she has married beneath her.
• HESTER SALOMON, a magistrate (40–50, female) – Close friend and confidant of the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart. She is the motivator in trying to help Alan.
• JILL MASON (20–25, female) – A natural, horsey, self-confident girl. She later attempts to seduce Alan. A small but juicy role requiring some semi nudity. This will be handled sensitively.
• HARRY DALTON (40–65, male) – Owner of the stable at which Alan worked and blinded the horses.
• A YOUNG HORSEMAN (20–30, male) – Upper crust young man. This actor will also play Nugget, the horse with whom Alan falls “in love”. This calls for a strong, well-built actor as he needs to carry Alan on his shoulders. He will need to convey “horsiness” through his body and movements when he plays Nugget.
• A NURSE (30–55, female) – A small but juicy role. A no-nonsense competent woman and a crucial role.
• FIVE ACTORS as horses and who also function as a “Greek Chorus” (male or female) – These are not pantomime horses. Actors stand upright but need to convey the essence of horsiness through their movements. These actors also provide atmospheric background sound from time to time throughout the play, to heighten dramatic tension.

For more info please contact Bernie Jacobs on 083 632 0429 or at bernie@berniejacobs.com

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Claremont Chat – October 2016

Claremont Chat

Claremont Dramatic Society Newsletter

The Hok, Thicket Street, Claremont, 7708

PostNet Suite 345, Private Bag X1005, Claremont, 7735

email: claremontdramatic@gmail.com

www.claremontdramatic.wordpress.com

October 2016 – Number 161

Hi everyone!

Members evening report back

We had another very successful and well-attended members evening on 7 October. The entertainment started with a short play directed by Matt Roy, Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. Willie Blignaut, despite having multiple injuries from a motorcycle accident the night before, performed admirably as the lead, backed up by Trad Nogueira-Godsey, Santie du Toit and Bryan Look.

This was followed by a short extract from Silly Cow, which is CDS’s next show and opens at the Masque on Friday 21 October. The feedback for both plays was very positive.

The rest of the evening was supposed to be theatre games but the organiser had to cancel at the last minute. So Roy Oldfield stepped in with an always-reliable quiz. Due to the impromptu nature of the quiz, it was run rather informally with three loose groups giving oral answers to the questions. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of good-natured ribbing.

Members evening 2016

Our year-end members evening, so you can diarise the date now, will be on 4 December.

Director’s tickets

We need new directors for our CDS productions. If you are interested in directing, we’d love to have you! All you need to do is stage a short play or play extract at a members evening to get your director’s ticket. For more information or to propose a play, contact our members evening convenor Matt Roy (contact details at the end of this newsletter).

Silly Cow update

Opens on Friday night! Book your tickets now.

The cast of Silly Cow: from left to right, Santie du Toit as Peggy, Trad Nogueira Godsey as Sidney, Matt Roy as Douglas, Justin Wyatt-Smith as Eduardo. In front, Kim R² as Doris.

Front of house and box office

We have to provide volunteers for front of house and box office for the shows that we do at the Masque. So we need volunteers for the run of Silly Cow (21 October to 29 October). If you are available to help out, please contact the production secretary Melissa Marcus on melissa.marcus21@gmail.com or 082 539 9551.

Intersociety quiz

The annual intersociety quiz is coming up on 20 November, 18h30 at the Masque. It is hosted by Constantiaberg Theatre Players this year. CDS would like to field at least two teams so if you would like to be on a team, please contact one of the committee members.

Audition alert: The Full Monty

Pinelands Players will present the stage version of The Full Monty in November 2017, directed by Laura Bosman. Auditions will be held later this year or early next year, and this is a heads-up in case you would be interested in auditioning. Possible venues for the production are either the Roxy Revue Bar, GrandWest, or the Artscape Arena. If you are interested and would like to put your name down for consideration, please email Laura at bosman.ld@gmail.com.

Based on the 1997 British film of the same name, this musical version is set in Buffalo, USA. We’re sure you’re familiar with the movie and the storyline. Six unemployed, lower working class and out-of-shape men decide to do a one-time-only striptease to outdo a touring male strip show and make some desperately needed money. But The Full Monty is not about men taking off their pants; it’s about self-worth, dignity, honesty, authenticity and courage as these men confront their fears of inadequacy, their insecurities and their failure to provide for their families. And it’s about the women in their lives who love them and cheer them on.

You can be assured that any required nudity will be handled with the utmost sensitivity, respect and good taste. Also, please note that the show contains some strong language and adult themes.

• The cast requires 12 males, 8 females and 1 boy who can play a 12-year old.
• Working class American accents are essential.
• Cast members are expected to act, sing and move well, although there are some non-singing and non-dancing roles.
• Some actors may play more than one role.
• The principal men must be good actors who can find and express the underlying emotion in the script. They are ordinary, real guys to whom the audience can relate, and with a variety of body shapes and ages. They must be comfortable with dancing in their underwear on stage (even in a G-string) and be prepared to bare all if needs be. The other male roles do not require nudity.
• The principal women’s roles are critical and powerful, and they have some brilliant numbers. As with the men, they must be good actresses, singers and dancers.

See you at the theatre!

Calendar

5–22 Oct	A Steady Rain presented by Eric Abraham	Fugard Theatre
10–21 Oct	I Love You Sally Field written and directed by Wessel Pretorius	Alexander Bar
10–22 Oct	The Finkelsteins are Coming to Dinner directed by Adrian Collins	Alexander Bar
12–22 Oct	Ityala Lamawele presented by New Voices	Artscape
14–22 Oct	Outline presented by Outline Dance Studio	The Playhouse
18–19 Oct	Adapt or Fly created and performed by Pieter-Dirk Uys	Alexander Bar
19–29 Oct	In (s)kin/language and Syria?	Artscape
20–22 Oct	Second Language featuring Schalk Bezuidenhout	Baxter Theatre
21 Oct	Mike McCully and the Harmonix presented by Mike McCullagh	Milnerton Playhouse
21–29 Oct	Silly Cow presented by Claremont Dramatic Society	Masque Theatre
24–29 Oct	Die Ontelbare 48 featuring Wessel Pretorius	Baxter Theatre
27–29 Oct	Jack and Jane written and directed by Terence Makapan	Galloway Theatre
31 Oct–26 Nov	Dead Yellow Sands presented by Golden Arrow Studio	Baxter Theatre
3–12 Nov	As Die Broek Pas deur Manfred Karge	Baxter Theatre

Claremont Dramatic Society Committee 2016:

Simon Dutton (Chair) simon.d@mweb.co.za Home: 021 683 8630 Cell: 083 327 7350
Santie du Toit (Treasurer) santsbabe@gmail.com Cell: 074 608 2670
Jenny Brandt (Minutes Secretary and Member Relations Officer) jennybrandt74@gmail.com Cell: 082 492 5984
Matt Roy (Members Evenings) hapunkey83@gmail.com Cell: 062 485 8001
Kim R² (Communications) tzar42@gmail.com Home: 021 671 8687 Cell: 083 619 2441

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