News: New Wolsey Theatre seeks cast to tread the boards with The Bard

The New Wolsey Theatre has joined forces with the RSC Open Stages and is holding open auditions for an ambitious production of Romeo And Juliet to be performed at Ipswich Town Hall in September.

Open Stages is a project that embraces, develops and celebrates amateur theatre. Over 260 amateur companies have signed up to produce RSC Open Stages productions across the UK from the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Wight, with over 7200 people taking part. Productions are due to be performed everywhere from castles to village halls, from beaches to ball rooms, with many being performed in the hundreds of successful amateur run theatres around the country.

In Ipswich, The New Wolsey Theatre plans to produce a large-scale community Romeo And Juliet at Ipswich Town Hall from 11 to 15 September as part of the project.

New Wolsey Associate Director Rob Salmon explains; “In our production, Romeo has been brought up to be a fighter. One fateful night he drunkenly stumbles into a party held by the family of his own father’s sworn enemy, searching for the girl he came in for, he encounters another girl altogether, Juliet. The story that follows may be the one we all know, but reimagined in the modern world with a cast of characters drawn from cultures and communities where men still use violence to defend their honour, and strong women still have a defined role in the home.”

This is a professionally produced production that uses an amateur cast of actors from Suffolk and the wider region.  Salmon will direct a cast of 40 in this unique production for which open auditions take place on Sunday 17th June at New Wolsey Studio in Ipswich from 10:30 – 1:00 for 16 – 25s, and 3:00 – 5:30 for 25 and overs.

“We are looking for cast of adults with a passion for theatre, aged 16+ and available to rehearse the play on Sunday’s in July and for a 10 day rehearsal period in late August, the production will then run from 11 to 15 September. Auditionees don’t need to prepare anything; it’s a workshop audition where they will work mainly as a group, then they’ll be given a short speech to work on that they will perform to the audition panel. It’s going to be a really exciting day” says Salmon.

Budding actors can sign up to audition by emailing creativelearning@wolseytheatre.co.uk  by Wednesday 13th June.