Grads fly in Sky Arts’ Stagestruck
Voting open to get Grads through to next round of Stagestruck
A scene from the Grads' video, directed by David Grimes
By Thom Dibdin
The Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group, known as the Grads, has made it into the qualifying round of Sky Arts’ amateur theatre company competition, Stagestruck.
The final prize of the competition is to stage a production in London’s West End.
In the qualifying round members of the public have until Tuesday 30 August to vote (here) on which of twenty entries they wish to see progress to the first knock-out round of the competition.
The company had a number of set texts to choose from to submit a five minute video. Their five minute scene is from Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (Act 1 Scene 4) with Matt Davies as Edward II, Ross Hope as Gaveston, Rhiannon King as Isabella and Jo Butt as Mortimer. Of the videos submitted by amateur groups from all round the UK, twenty have been chosen to be voted on by the public. Seven of the twenty groups will be chosen by the judges to go through to the first round proper, with the eighth being decided by public support.
Voting is through the Sky Arts Website at http://www.skyarts.co.uk/theatre-drama/stagestruck/ and there is no charge. To vote for the grads, click on their video – the clip is of two performers holding hands – which will open a pop-up window. Tick to accept the terms and conditions and then on the button to vote for the video.
Voting opened on Monday 22 August and continues to Tuesday 30 August at 6pm.
The final prize of the competition is to stage a play in London’s West End. In the next round, half the eight companies will stage a scene from a comedy, half from a tragedy. Four will go through to a Shakespeare round, with the final two going head-to-head with a scene of their choice. They will have five weeks to rehearse each round and a professional mentor to help.
ENDS
