Artists’ Pitches for the Chinese New Year Celebrations on Sunday 29th January 2012

2012 welcomes the auspicious Year of the Dragon and Sunday 29th January 2012 will see London celebrate in style with a one-day festival featuring a Dragon parade through the streets of Soho, performances on a spectacular stage in Trafalgar Square as well as the lion dances throughout the day in Chinatown.

GERBILS IN A GLASS CAGE

Gerbils in a Glass Cage, written by Rosaline Ting has been given a R&D grant by the Arts Council and had a rehearsed reading at Tara Arts in June 2011.

We are now bringing it to the next stage: a scratch production at The Space on 10th February.

Casting is open for the part of LEE AUN.

LEE AUN – female, 46 year old Chinese woman (possibility of actress being in early to late thirties). Flamboyantly dressed with lots of jewellery. Loud, brash, with a sense of humour but domineering. Speaks English with a Singaporean accent. She also uses gestures and the odd words of Hokkien dialect, in typical Singaporean fashion.


Rehearsal dates are from 30th of January to 10th of February 2012 (2 weeks full-time).

Pay: 300£ per week (this includes expenses)


Short synopsis of the play: Lee Sar harbours a secret desire of fulfilling a life-long dream. Now is the time to break free. But her sister Lee Aun arrives in London with disturbing news from Singapore and coerces her to return to her homeland. With it will come money, but will Lee Sar be forever bound to her past and never gain her freedom?
Laced with humour, this moving new play reveals fascinating aspects of Chinese culture with universal echoes.

If interested, please email Tanja at tanjapagnuco@yahoo.com with your CV or spotlight link.

Auditions are to take place on Wednesday 18th of January.

Devoted and Disgruntled 7- what are we doing about theatre and the performing arts

Do you love theatre?
Do you find it frustrating?
Do you wish it were different?
Do you feel like an outsider in your own profession?
Have you just started out and need support?
Have you been in the profession for years and feel jaded?
Is your sector always left out of the discussions?
Do you usually dread discussions and meetings?
Are you looking for a sense of: community, eldership, mentorship?
Are you looking to change things?

If so, D&D7; is for you.
click on the link to read the full invitation:

http://dandd7.tumblr.com/post/14507605051/improbables-invitation

D&D is for everyone- the more diverse the crowd the better the conversation. British East Asian artists were not very well represented last year- this is your chance to change this! We'd love there to be plenty of BEA voices at D&D7;- we'd love your voice to be at D&D7;.

The effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 were unparalleled, with thousands of people killed, communities washed away, and the ongoing general unease surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear crisis. Whilst the human cost of the disaster is undeniable, the impact has also greatly affected the performing arts, with established dramatists from across the generations, as well as rising new ones, all responding to the events of March 11th in their work.

Nobuko Tanaka, journalist for The Japan Times, and a widely-published specialist in the field of contemporary Japanese theatre and dance, has been invited by the Japan Foundation to explore how the cataclysmic events in March have shaped very recent Japanese contemporary theatre, and to examine some of the new questions which dramatists and playwrights are now tackling. Looking at works by playwrights such as Tomohiro Maekawa and Akio Miyazawa, she will consider the way contemporary theatre is responding to what is Japan's worst crisis since World War II, sharing with us a perspective on the disaster which we would otherwise never encounter.

This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email your name and the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk.