New Casting call for the next Cogs project:

Following on from several successful productions of classics and modern work, Cogs Theatre areF looking for four actresses to join a small acting and creative team to work on research and development on a new play, with the working title Munitionettes.

The Brief

During the Great War women were employed by factories in their hundreds of thousands to fill the roles of men who headed to the front and to support the huge war effort. A little later in the war, just like the men they had replaced, the women began to use the factories for the creation of collective leisure pursuits and especially the formation of football teams. These games became increasingly popular in a nation starved of professional sport since 1914 and attracted huge crowds whilst raising vast sums of money for injured servicemen and other charities.

The most famous of these teams was the ‘Dick, Kerr Ladies’. After the War, far from settling back into their domestic roles, they carried on playing, toured France and hosted the French women’s team in various games in England. At the peak of their popularity they beat St.Helens 6-1 at Goodison Park, Liverpool, drawing a crowd of 53,000 – still the largest for any women’s game in this country.

Shortly after this game the Football Association banned the playing of women’s football on member grounds, effectively destroying the women’s game in England until the ban was lifted 50 years later. There are many theories about exactly why this decision was taken – that they were ‘protecting’ women was the official view, but it appears to many that they feared the popularity of women’s football could threaten the men’s game (and especially the money in it) and was a threat to gender stability. This is all set against the backdrop of the fight for women’s suffrage, the changing role of women in society and the massive upheaval of the First World War.

As a team we are fascinated with the dramatic possibilities inherent in the personal stories, the huge social change and great conflict that took place at this time for these women. We believe it’s replete with possibilities for staging and physicality – the changes of women’s work from the ‘domestic’ and ‘female’ to the male and the world of physical labour and then sport.

The changes these women underwent during this time were extraordinary – coping with intense manual labour as well as physically demanding domestic tasks. Being without their husbands and brothers added to the pressure –in terms of sex, managing the home and children, paying the bills and the fear of the telegram. The personal bonds they form in the workplace and via the sport – the internal conflicts as they’re brought together under great pressure – the sense of camaraderie, the dirty jokes and the support.

At the most fundamental level – we want to explore what they won and what they lost.

Our aim is to utilise different theatrical art forms to create a piece of work that can only be theatre, with a bold use of metaphor and dance, text, music, comedy to delight and entertain on a visceral as well as an intellectual level.

The Process

The purpose of the process is to use physical devising techniques, improvisation, character and text work to develop Munitionettes towards a rehearsal text for a full-scale production. We will be working with writer Catherine Webb throughout, providing new stimulus for her as well as playing with staging ideas using music and movement.

At the end of this short R&D process the creative team will use the work we have created to develop a full production brief, with design, draft script and staging ideas to attract funding, with the aim of mounting a full scale London Fringe production in early 2013 and then, ideally, a number 2 tour across the UK.

Ideally you will have experience of devising theatre and like any good actor be playful, fit and a strong ensemble member. Whilst a Lancashire accent is a bonus it is not necessary and you also need not be an athlete – these were not size 8 women.

Rehearsal Dates

Rehearsals will take place on

June 16th - 2-6pm 
June 17th - 12-6pm
June 24th - 12-6pm
June 30th - 2-6pm

YOU MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL REHEARSAL DATES.

 Rehearsal Venues

1 minute walk from Kew Gardens Station (Overground and District Line – zones 3/4). http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=519177&y=176720&z=1&sv=519177,176720&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf

Audition Details

Auditions will be held at the Rehearsal Venue above, on the 9^th and 10^th June, between 2pm and 6pm.

You will be notified if called to audition by Saturday 2^nd June and will be sent further details. These sessions will be of 20 minutes in duration, where we will play with some draft text from the play. I will be calling 20 candidates to audition.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 31^st May.

The Creative Team

Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author, Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. An acclaimed author of young adult books under her own name, Catherine’s amazing debut, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was only 14 years old. She read History at the London School of Economics, and studied Technical Theatre at RADA. She works regularly in theatre as a lighting designer, most recently on Jekyll and Hyde at The Union Theatre and West Side Story at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.

Designer Katie Lias has a Distinction in Set and Costume Design from RADA and, in 2010 completed a one year contract as a resident design assistant for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Design assistant work for the RSC includes As You Like It; The Drunks; and Arabian Nights. She has worked extensively in film and theatre since then.

Matt Beresford has recently graduated with an MA (Merit) in Theatre Directing from St.Mary’s University College under Sarah Esdaile and Chris White. He has previously directed critically acclaimed productions of The Lower Depths and Timon of Athens at Barons Court Theatre and The Ugly One at Battersea Arts Centre

Payment

This is currently an un-funded project so I am afraid we are unable to pay anyone during this research and development process.

Our aim is however, that this is will be a fully paid production and tour when developed and all candidates involved in this process will be offered roles in the final production.

 

 

 Please apply by contacting Matt on matt_beresford@hotmail.com