Four Steps Back open auditions
New writing student company needs actors (unpaid)
Four Steps Back publicity image
By Thom Dibdin
New writing company Four Steps Back is holding open auditions this week for a quartet of short plays to be performed at Summerhall at the end of February.
Formed by four Edinburgh university students, the company is looking to cast a range of ages and roles. It welcomes actors of many nationalities and playing ages to audition on the evenings of Jan 15, 16 and 17 in Buccleuch Place.
The four short plays that will be staged at Summerhall as the English Literature Department Play for the University of Edinburgh.
Dale Neuringer, a student who also writes for the Bustle website, told Æ that she and the three other writers, Rebecca Leary, Maria Williamson and Michael Chakraverty, met during an introductory playwriting course.
“As we all developed our plays, the sense that our pieces fit well together, much like we did, only grew stronger and stronger,” Neuringer said. “Each step we’ve taken towards making these pieces a reality has been so exciting for us, and the idea that we will be able to see our plays being staged is what keeps us going during the hours of advertising and planning and endlessly checking the budget.”
Synopses of the plays.
Rekha: In grief, the biggest obstacle is the self. Rekha is based upon a true story; exploring the impact of a traumatic event in Rajesh’s childhood. The short play moves from the present into Rajesh’s memory of the past and his attempt to move on. Can we find closure in our past?Leaving Mary: Tells the story of Dezie and Mary, an Irish couple living in England. Due to the arrival of their son, who they have not seen in several months, Dezie is forced to accept the declining health of his wife. In doing so, he is no longer able to deny the reality of her illness and must come to terms with losing Mary.
A Fortiori: A reflection on grief, religion, relationships and personal growth. The journey back to oneself in the wake of death can be hard, but it can also be illuminating. Follow Laura on her personal journey through sitting shiva for a dead husband, and making a life all her own in the aftermath.
Blitzed: Explores the consequences of one woman’s inability to withstand the condemnation and rejection of her community when her desires venture too far from their expectations. Set during the nights when the city of Dundee was bombed in WW2, the conflict between self and society forms the centre of a tragedy from which there can be no recovery.
Neuringer singles out the university for praise for its support of the project, adding: “The fact that the English Literature Department at the University of Edinburgh has been so generous with new writing these past few years gives burgeoning playwrights like my colleagues and myself a chance to do something truly special, a fact we are constantly in awe of.”
Audition dates:
January 15th, 16th, and 17th from 6pm-9pm in Room 1.13 at 18 Buccleuch Place.
Auditioners are asked to prepare a short (one or two minute) piece in advance which shows off their skills as an actor.
Performance dates: February 27, 28 and March 1 (Run-through during the day and full dress February 26)
Four Steps Back is holding a fundraiser for the shows: Folkfest, on January 23, at the Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street from 8pm.
For further details contact fourstepsback2014@gmail.com
Four Steps Back on facebook: www.facebook.com
Four Steps Back on Twitter: @Four_Steps_Back
ENDS
