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Comment by Jane Fox on February 16, 2012 at 13:01

BUTCHER

Call for three actors for a shortened one-off performance of Butcher (approx 20 mins) planned for Sunday March 18th at The Gate in celebration of International Womens Day. Male or female but one must be female, strong singers and able to learn songs and score quickly. Able to improvise and comfortable with contentious material. Live musicians on board for the performance.

Please see Asking4It Productions group for more information and contact info@janefoxartist.com

Small amount of funding available

Comment by Beth House on February 15, 2012 at 8:45

On posh people being more successful.. depends if you judge success as being famous. There a gazilions of happy, working actors out there successfully making exciting work and sometimes even getting paid, but not in the limelight... who didn't necessarily go to private schools

Comment by Holly Fry on February 14, 2012 at 23:26

Hey everyone :)

If anyone is London-based, or will be around London at the end of this month and the start of March, I'd love to invite you all to a play I'm in at the moment. Tickets are on sale now-it would be great to have some Welsh support there (I'm the only Welshie at my school!) 

http://taraarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/126522237/events

"Welcome to Thebes" by Moira Buffini at ALRA Theatre, Wandsworth SW18 3SX. 29th Feb-3rd March. Tickets are £7.50 (industry professionals go free)

Looking forward to seeing some friendly faces :)

Holly xx

Comment by Jennifer Shakesby on February 13, 2012 at 0:35

In these uncertain financial times, I wonder whether we are eager to blame the privileged and rich. Surely there are sucessful actors from all walks of life and unless we take a poll of 'successful' actors and their backgrounds we can't really judge whether this is a worrying trend or just coincidence that a handful of Etonians happen to be blossoming at this point in time.

If it is a case of actors from privileged backgrounds being able to access opportunities that others cannot, shouldn't we focus attention to fostering talent regardless of situation? The NYT, for example, clearly needs to find a way for talented youngsters to attend its (very expensive) courses before it becomes an institute for those fortunate to have those sorts of funds available to them at such a young age. I am only relieved that I was able to save and afford the few hundred pounds needed to attend five weeks with the NYTW - which appears to have a far more inclusive policy. To echo John Norton - is there a discrepancy between England and Wales and the support they offer emerging talent here too? Although I am very disheartened to hear that the excellent West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company has had funding pulled - just as youngsters need support, encouragement and inspiration, it is seized from them. How can we expect theatre to excel and develop in this country if we are limiting the opportunities of future talent to flourish. Send them to Eton?

Comment by john norton on February 13, 2012 at 0:09

On Poshness... I don't have any evidence, but whenever I see stuff in London it feels like much more of a class monoculture than here in Cardiff...

Comment by Andrew Macbean on February 11, 2012 at 7:11

Productions by the major private schools are regularly attended by agents and performers are being signed up before they go to University or drama school. Mind you this goes for sport as well. As in USA, public schools are offering substantial scholarships for talented kids to join their 6th forms and bolster their sports teams. We all have to compete as best we can. I don't blame anyone who is offered an opportunity for taking it. Every path is different but no less rocky in my book.

Comment by Hasan Dixon on February 10, 2012 at 8:56

Hi John. Very interesting blog. I don't think most drama schools are any more elitist in a financial sense than universities. I think the bigger issue is after graduation. Unless you're doing a load of TV and film you probably need to get a day job between acting jobs. It's hard work balancing day job work with giving yourself enough time to prepare for auditions etc, so if you're lucky to have rich parents that are willing to give you money then it's got to make life that bit easier! I think it's a more difficult issue for directors in the early stages of their careers, however, as raising money is a bigger consideration for them in being able to practice their craft. I do agree with Nadia's point though- private schools do seem to instill a real sense of confidence and self-belief in their students and that's extremely useful for this industry! However, I've convinced myself that when my career really hits the big time I will appreciate it much more for having had a bit of struggle and hardship- and very few old Etonians will experience that pleasure!

Comment by Phil Croskin on February 10, 2012 at 7:52

I consider myself a very posh actor. I drink tea out of a teapot,talk down to people at every opportunity and never fart in public.

Comment by Nadia Kamil on February 10, 2012 at 7:07

Personally, John, I think the success of people who go to private schools is significantly down to the level of confidence they gain from such places. I did my BA at Cambridge but came from Gorseinon College in Swansea (a far cry from Eton) and it was stark to me how so many of the students who came from private schools believed they deserved to be there, maybe even going so far as to say they had a right to be there.

I was enormously intimidated. This occurred in the theatre scene, too. The self-belief of private school students was impressive. They expected themselves to do well, be at the top, get the best parts, be listened to, taken seriously. It took me 2 weeks to leave my college I was so intimidated by it all!

I also think that in Wales the issue is possibly a bit different. Welsh students are helped out more in paying tuition fees than English ones. And I imagine there's prejudice against RWCMD in the London theatre scene, compared to RADA and LAMDA.

It's a pretty complex thing but my main point is that the confidence, belief and sense of self-worth that private school seems to give people is a great advantage.

Comment by National Theatre Wales on February 10, 2012 at 6:45

Hi Actors - what do you think of this blog in the Guardian - it's talking about the fact that a lot of actors these days are from private schools - and asking whether this is because it's now too expensive for ordinary people to get trained.  Or to put it in a headline - Are Actors Getting Too Posh??  What do you think?  How posh is the NTW Actors Group? 

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