AUDITIONS: Victoria Park Through The Ages

A community theatre project

This summer we are planning a weekend of theatre celebrating the contribution that wonderful Victoria Park, Cardiff has made in the lives of those who have used it and to whom the Park is life-affirming. Its history is crammed full of characters.

Victoria Park Through the Ages will be an interactive promenade theatre experience to be held in Bank Holiday weekend in August (Fri 26 to Sun 28). There will be five performances: Friday teatime, Saturday afternoon and early evening and the same on Sunday.

It’s an exciting project and will use the whole of the park focusing on themes including the bandstand, war, nature, the zoo, Victoria Park as a place of wellbeing and sanctuary, and of course Billy the Seal.

The whole process is being community-led from script writing to performance.

Some Everyman members are already involved having answered an open call for people to come forward to mentor, work and perform alongside those less experienced earlier in the year. Most of the roles will be performed by volunteers from the community. There are however, some roles that will require a range of skills that experienced Everyman members may be able to bring.

And that’s where you come in!

The Role

The production will need five “narrators”. These will perform a short interactive semi-scripted scene to open the promenade (broadly re-enacting the opening of the Park in 1897) and then each to lead a group of “promenaders” around the Park between staging areas.

As they lead their group, each narrator will be expected to lead interactive songs, including a call and response army style cadence, to tell stories and keep the group engaged. They will act in a manner that the most engaging tour guide / street entertainer you have ever met would interact. It will be helpful but not essential if at least one narrator can speak Welsh and English.

There may be a requirement to interact with other scenes at each of the staging areas (these will be set at different positions in the Park). Most of this will be semi-structured and improvised.

Much of the narrator’s role will be performed and improvised around a core short script / structure / briefing. They will need to react to prevailing circumstances which will be great fun and require skill and experience.

Humour, pace, projection and energy will all be hugely important as these roles are the key to making this experience a success. The style we are looking for is very much a combination of street theatre, panto, music hall, spoof tour guide.

The rehearsal commitment will be such that anyone involved in the Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival: Everyman 22 should be able to be involved.

This audition process will be used to fill any other significant roles that require filling which require similar skills and experience.

This is an Everyman Theatre Cardiff production. The auditions offered within this notice are for Everyman members.

Auditions will be held in the Everyman Clubroom at Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton, Cardiff:

Sunday 17 July 10.00 to 16.00

Sunday 24 July 10.00 to 16.00

Auditions will be in person. However, a Zoom option can be offered if required.

Please contact Wayne Vincent to book an audition slot: wayne.vincent1@ntlworld.com / 07817 368466

Please indicate preferred date and time (am or pm) when registering your request for audition. You will be sent an audition briefing when you book your audition slot.

Other roles

There are numerous other opportunities to be involved in this exciting production for which you will not need to audition and the rehearsal commitment would be very light. It would be great to have as many people involved as possible in bringing the Park to life. If this is of interest please contact Wayne.

Similarly, if you know of anybody, Everyman member or not, that would like to be involved, please let me know or ask them to contact me. No experience is required. Inclusivity and diversity are at the heart of what we are aiming for.

Many thanks

Wayne Vincent, Artistic Director, Victoria Park Through the Ages, Everyman Theatre Cardiff