UPDATE. December DNA. We have also run workshops at NODA and DAW summer schools at the and at the NDFA festival on Guernsey.

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1 UPDATE December 2011 Welcome...1 Feedback...2 Open Stages Productions...3 Open Stages Facts...4 Notable Pitches...5 RSC Website & Facebook...6 What s Next?...7 Collaborations...8 Pericles Announcement...9 The first stage of the project is nearly completed with the Open Stages Skills Exchanges element of the project coming to a close. The RSC s Open Stages team have travelled between April and September running, delivering, meeting and working with almost in London, Belfast, Ipswich, Newcastle, Truro, Cardiff, Manchester, Southampton, Glasgow and Stratford- Upon- Avon. Each Open Stages Skills Exchange has included workshops on voice, text, movement, acting, directing and design as well as workshops on stage management, and lighting. These workshops ensure that not only does Open Stages leave a legacy of skills development for amateur theatre, but that each Open Stages production carries an element of genuine RSC DNA. We have also run workshops at NODA and DAW summer schools at the and at the NDFA festival on Guernsey. We always expected to find a lot of talented individuals but it has been the genuine openness to new ideas, and the quality of work achieved in the workshops in response to the exercise and techniques that has been truly impressive. We have also enjoyed the honesty, warmth and good humour which seem to characterise the amateur sector. Most rewardingly the workshops have triggered small epiphanies on both sides, with Michael Corbidge (a particular favourite with participants) discovering a wealth of mature female voice talent and many amateur theatre makers making transformative leaps in their approach to Shakespeare and theatre in general.

2 2 Feedback Participants gave us some incredibly generous and encouraging feedback: To be fair there was also lots for us to learn - smaller groups, longer sessions, more subjects covered including Theatre Costume being one popular request. Also people were keen to go further beyond these first introductory sessions and open up the process to more than just the few places available to each group, as well as more opportunities to discuss as well as workshop. All this and more we have taken onboard for future planning.

3 We ve also had a fantastic summer of Open Stages productions with performing everywhere from castles to community centres. For some companies this was their latest Shakespeare production in a distinguished history, now with the recognition and input of the RSC, for others this was their first Shakespeare daring to take it on with the support and encouragement of the RSC. Productions will continue to reach performance right through to the end of 2012 when over 7200 people from all walks of life will have performed in their own RSC Open Stages Shakespeare production. Open Stages Productions Our lasting regret is we (the RSC) cannot see all the productions. Our thanks to those companies who we have seen, for giving us some truly memorable evenings and some magical moments. To those companies we haven t seen congratulations on your productions we continue to receive press cuttings, DVD s and photos attesting to some incredible productions. Please do keep sending us DVD s etc of your productions. When we issued our challenge/invitation to amateur groups to produce their own RSC Open Stages production we set a cautious target of 50 amateur companies, as it was we received over 300 pitches of which 263 fitted our criteria of being a genuine amateur company run and participated in by volunteers and the production being a Shakespeare or Shakespeare themed production.

4 The Open Stages Productions, included: works by, or excerpts of, Shakespeare including: 19 Macbeths 18 Midsummer Night s Dreams, 13 Tempests, 12 Romeo and Juliets, 12 Twelfth Nights, 8 Hamlets, 8 Much Ado About Nothings, 8 Merry Wives of Windsor, 6 Taming of the Shrews 6 As You Like Its. 6 Winters Tales 6 Measure for Measures 4 King Lears 4 Richard IIIs 4 Pericles 4 Titus Andronicus 3 Antony and Cleopatras 3 Comedy of Errors 3 Coriolanus 3 Cymbelines 3 Julius Caesars 3 Merchant of Venices 2 All s Well That Ends Well 2 Love s Labour s Lost 1 Henry IV Part 1 1 Henry V 1 King John 1 Troilus and Cressida 2 complete works Marathons 10 collections of various extracts Newly written plays and musicals (30 plays, 6 musicals) Devised works Shakespeare related existing works (27 plays, 9 musicals) This gave us an approximate total number of participants of With the oldest participant listed as and the youngest participant being Newly written plays and musicals (30 plays, 6 musicals) Devised works Shakespeare related existing works (27 plays, 9 musicals) This gave us an approximate total number of participants of With the oldest participant listed as and the youngest participant being The amateur groups participating in Open Stages include: General Amateur dramatic groups with mixed age range Adult specific groups Youth/student groups University groups Village- or communityspecific groups Musical theatre groups Groups that own theatre space Registered charities Religious groups The Oldest group (as far as we know) was formed in and groups where created specifically for Open Stages. Only groups belong to umbrella organisations. The venues for performance of Open Stages productions include: Theatres (of which are owned by the company) Parks or gardens Community or church halls Schools or universities Arts centres Churches or abbeys Castles Beaches Pubs Amphitheatres or outdoor theatres Stately homes or hotels Festivals Forests Warehouses are other or yet to be decided Overall we were surprised and impressed with the ambition, energy and imagination of pitched productions, from the company in the midlands producing an English/Polish dividing English Montague s and Polish Capulet s, to the all female in Milton Keynes, a cheerleader version of, and meets Star Wars in a new interpretation of the play in Huddersfield. Open Stages Facts

5 including a flash mob Romeo and Juliet and a Tempest performed on the beach in Whitely Bay on Tyneside performed by the Royal Navy s own theatre society with serving sailors, officers, and marines, many of whom recently returned from Afghanistan, performing at HMS Excellent the Naval base in Portsmouth harbour. The Forbidden Planet performed by the Royal Air forces Theatre Association Shakespeare performed in the Jubilee Pool an Art Deco listed Swimming Pool in Penzance Theatre piece inspired by Shakespeare performed in a theatre made entirely of living willow trees, and powered by green energy produced by solar panels and wind turbines Set at the local supermarket, a checkout assistant uses Shakespeare to persuade her colleagues, life is better lived as a player, not just watching from the side-lines. An Edwardian concert party set on the Titanic s voyage, using original writing combined with appropriate extracts from Shakespeare. exerts of Shakespeare performed in a village hall in Bridgnorth Brothers coffin works told by story tellers from Mosley, and performed in Newman performed in Coventry cathedral by torchlight in Shakespeare s plays a tribute to all the spear carriers, messengers and one line characters performed by the Royal Air Force theatrical association technically supported by an Army Officer. A modern musical retelling of Shakespeare s and performed in the great Hall at Leicester Guild Hall where Shakespeare himself is said to have performed as a young player...and many, many more Notable Pitches

6 RSC Website & Facebook The RSC Website was invaluable during the application process as a place perspective groups could learn about the project and down load an application form. The Home page also gave the project a profile beyond those targeted. However the second phase involved the establishment of a listing page, giving details of all productions involved and a map showing their location, took somewhat longer than we anticipated and fairly cumbersome to update. This proved frustrating to both us and some of the groups performing earlier in the project. The website now, however gives a comprehensive list of all productions though we still hope to do more work on this area. More successful has been the Open Stages Facebook where companies have been able to share photos, poster, video trailers, give casting calls, update on how rehearsals are going, ask questions and generally share the experience of Open Stages with each other. For the RSC it has allowed us to get a sense of what is going on at a grassroots level with the project. From the 263 amateur companies involved we have 854 individual members. Check it out on the Link below hp#!/pages/rsc-open- Stages/

7 The final Skills Exchange for Open Stages groups in the RSC s region will take place on the 11 th and 12 th February this event is for those Midlands groups performing in 2012 or those who weren t able to attend the first one back in May. The next stage of the project for each region across the country will consist of a series of showcase events at each of the 10 Open Stages Regional Partner Theatres. The format of these events will vary from region to region as some have large numbers of groups such as Contact Theatre in Manchester and Questors, whereas others have large geographical areas to cover and no permanent venue such as Scotland. You should already have heard from your Regional Partner Theatre regarding the arrangements for this. The RSC will be hosting two showcase weekends for those groups based in the Midlands on 17 th and 18 th March and 24 th and 25 th March in the Courtyard Theatre. The RSC will be inviting one company from each of the 10 regions to the World Shakespeare Festival to perform their production on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan, the Courtyard, or in the case of outdoor productions in our own outdoor space in the grounds of the theatre. This is not intended to feel like the finals of some great national competition rather to showcase the work of a diverse cross section of companies from across the UK, giving those attending the festival a genuine feel for the breadth, ambition, and exciting nature of amateur Shakespeare, as well as of course its quality. What s Next? using the Courtyard, Swan and Royal Shakespeare Theatres

8 Professional and Amateur Collaborations In 2012 the 10 Partner Theatres are each producing a collaborative performance project which will see amateur and professional theatre makers coming together. These are yet to be announced but the RSC can confirm its collaboration will be We look forward to seeing and hearing about more productions and working with more of you in the New Year. RSC Amateur Ensemble Pericles This is a new and exciting collaboration between amateur theatre makers and the RSC s professional creative and production teams. The RSC Amateur Ensemble will then produce a full RSC production Pericles. This will see a cast of amateur performers working with RSC directors, designers, stage managers, technicians to create an exhilarating new production of Shakespeare s tragic romance Pericles, for performance in the Courtyard Theatre from 5 th to 7 th October The artistic process will be led by the RSC s Artistic Director Michael Boyd and, given the large amateur cast, their availability, as well as the episodic nature of the play, a team of directors including Ian Wainwright as Community Director (RSC Open Stages), and Directors James Farrell and Jamie Rocha Allen (current RSC Assistant Directors). The Designer will be two of the RSC s current Assistant Designers. The production will also seek to draw on the expertise of other RSC resident practitioners such as the voice and movement departments in the RSC s tradition of artist development. Auditions will be held in late spring early summer 2012 for the Amateur Ensemble with rehearsals beginning on the 20 th August. There may also be opportunities for amateur technicians and stage managers to work alongside the RSC s own professionals during the process. Pro/Am Collaborations Ian Wainwright Producer RSC Open Stages The production process aims to share skills, practise and resources between amateur and professional theatre makers. The production itself looks to be a beacon of collaboration and to celebrate the idea that Shakespeare belongs to everyone to perform as well as to watch. Don t forget to follow Open Stages on facebook The production forms part of the RSC s Open Stages project which aims to-re engage professional and amateur theatre. It is also forms part of the RSC s What Country Friends is This? season. This production of will be sponsored by LOCOG as part of the world Shakespeare Festival.