If you or someone you love is suffering from playwright-itis, help is near! The 2009 Prague Post Playwriting Contest is now accepting submissions!
**** Entries need to be received by NOVEMBER 7th. ****
We have updated the rules for the contest and made the written format of the play stricter. Entries which do not conform to the format WILL NOT BE READ, so please, please follow the guidelines. Examples of proper format will be up at the www.praguepost.com/playcontest website (if they are not already). The formatting rules are as follows:
“Entries must be formatted using standard play formatting. The font should be 12pt Times New Roman. There is to be a title page and a page with a character and scene breakdown. There is to be a line break between lines of dialogue. The plays are to be 30 minutes long which corresponds to 10 – 20 pages. Plays received with less than 10 or more than 20 pages will not be considered. The authors name is not to appear within the play itself (ie. In the footer of the play). Plays should be submitted with numbered pages.”
We’re really looking forward to a great contest this year and I know a lot of you are already working hard on your entries.
If you would like to volunteer for the contest either to work backstage, on production or in any other capacity, please send me an email letting me know what you’d like to work on. We will be having auditions in early January, 2009.
Nancy is launching several types of new workshops to expand her “brand” if we can call it that. Marketing for Actors will cover how actors can get themselves out there in the world (through new media: youtube, facebook, search engines, blogging; as well as old: resume and showreel critique). There will be a special focus on “self casting” using the new website for actors to send their castings directly to producers. Presumably the workshop will also cover how casting directors view and use this marketing. Right now it looks like she’s only scheduled classes in the UK. Maybe we can persuede her to bring her class back home!
The TV Squad has an article today that a new NBC show “The Philanthropist” will be shooting in the UK and the Czech Republic along with South Africa. The series is supposed to star James Purfoy (who was recently here shooting “Solomon Kane“). There doesn’t seem to be any information about when the series would start filming: the pilot has yet to be shot, and there aren’t any more details about when the show would be coming to town to film.
Black Snow is a new Prague based English language theater company whose aim is to create international quality theater for a multi-cultural audience.
This company of international theater artists works in cooperation with New York University Prague, the international program at DAMU and theaters such as the renowned Divadlo Na Zabradli.
We are currently casting for by Edmond by David Mamet. Looking for men and women ages 20-50
If you are interested in auditioning please send the following information to blacksnow.elt@gmail.com and you will be contacted to arrange an audition time for Friday September 12th
Current photo
Resume
Contact information
Schedule conflicts between Oct. 1st and Dec. 14th (work, travel, etc.)
The Bear Educational Theatre is looking for new Teacher/ Actors for the next school year.
The Bear Educational Theatre plays educational English-teaching theatre shows for students in schools around the Czech Republic and Europe. The theatre has an excellent reputation in educational circles, the shows are fun to play and generally very successful and well-received by the students.
The shows require openess and communication as much as acting per se so everybody is welcome to apply. Czech speakers especially welcome. Pay - 600 Kc per show in or around Prague, 750 Kc outside Prague, 1200Kc in richer Western countries.
Usually two shows per day on playing days. This is a paid part-time position, but remember that it is a theatre and so a lot of time and commitment is involved. The real reward should come from the satisfaction of doing a worthwhile job from shows well-played.
Gil Bomber is organizing 2 workshops with English a natural voice and Alexander Technique teacher, Andrea Small. The workshops will be October 11th and 12th and space is limited, so you should sign up early. Each workshop costs 750 Kč and you should bring your own lunch (drinks are provided). The workshops are being held at Základní škole, Mohylova 1963, Prague 13, close to Metro Lužiny
On Saturday 11th October there will be a workshop (adults only) from 10.30 to 4.30 called “Singing for the Truly Terrified” which is mainly intended for those who feel they would like some extra help when singing, and for those who truly believe they cannot sing. But it is also suitable for anyone who would like to come along and sing (including those who came to it last year) – we will just be taking it a little more slowly than on Sunday.
On Sunday we will be “Singing for Joy”, also from 10.30 to 4.30, and the workshop is open to all adults – we will be singing different songs from those learned on Saturday so attendance at both workshops is fine.
To sign up or for more information, please contact Gil at gilbomber@cbox.cz phone: 608 233 310. Andrea will be teaching private lessons on Friday 10th October. Please book through Gil.
A lot of people talk about how “talented” an actor is, a lot of people starting out acting worry if they have enough “talent” to be successful. But what is talent? Talent seems to be a mixture of how emotionally available you are together with how open you are to showing it, together with a certain sense of vulnerablitiy. Brando talked about measuring talent by thinking about a piano keyboard of emotions. If an actor with no talent can only play a few keys on the keyboard, whereas a hugely talented actor has a large range of emotional range.
Setting talent aside to focus on the craft of acting, how does anyone find out what makes them emotional? When a student is starting out acting, how can they actively enlarge that range of button issues? Being opinionated is key to this. Not only is an actor’s opinion directly linked to how they feel about something (their emotional range), their opinion, or “take” on any given subject is what will set them apart from other actors that may have the same physical characteristics. So, to increase your emotional range, start by really tuning in to your opionions about things.
This isn’t easy to do at first as society rightly trains us all to not show our opinions and go with the flow. Political Corectness is death to an actor’s opinion (and therefor “talent”). As Meisner said: Fuck Polite. Everyone has likes and dislikes that are specific to them, that they really care about when given the freedom. And when given the freedom to really own those opinions, they can produce really strong emotions as they come up against someone who has a differing view of the subject. Apathy, indiference, irony, sarcasm, jadedness, going with the flow, not wanting to make waves, worrying about what other people think. All have a place in everyday life. They all have a reason for being. But for an actor who is just starting down the path of “living truthfully” they will kill that truth really fast.
Actors must seek out their own truthful opinions about things, everything. Those opinions will push them onto the path of emotional openness and fullness, which people view as “talent”. The more opinionated you are, the more varied your opinions are and the freer you are with those opinions, the more “talent” people will say you have. So work on your opinions. Often they’re the only thing that separates you from the thousands of actors who look just like you and have more experience and a better resume.
As always your thoughs and comments (ie. opinions about this post!) are welcome!
The Prague Playhouse is going to be having auditions for Jane Martin’s “Criminal Hearts” September 1st and 2nd at the E-Space (http://pragueplayhouse.com/meisner-acting-class/getting-to-the-space/) from 8pm. “Criminal Hearts” is a comedy about a woman who’s trapped by her phobias about a recent divorce and what happens when she comes into contact with a free spirit.
We’re looking for 2 women and 2 men. The women are aged 25-35 and the men 25-40. To schedule an audition, please contact Amy Huck (774 554 851) or a_huck(at)yahoo.com.
The production will be going up at the end of October.
Acting student James High spent the beginning of the summer at PCFE learning about film directing. The final product is below. There are quite a few acting students in the film. Have a gander! We’d love to get feedback on the short, so leave a comment!
Meisner acting class is back! The class runs every Monday and Wednesday at 18:30 and is open to all who are interested in working on their acting. We had our first class after the summer break last night and it went quite well.
We’re working on monologues this quarter, along with the standard Meisner exercises: What to choose, how to choose it, what to do when you walk into the room, how to rehearse the monologue.
If you’re interested in coming to the class, please call 608 577 012.