About casting
New Vic casting information should not be copied, interpreted or redistributed by any other organisation or individual.
> Future Casting
> Casting at the New Vic
> How you can help us with casting
> Please remember
> We’d like to offer you the part
Casting at the New Vic
| • | New Vic productions are cast by the director of the show. Theresa Heskins, the Artistic Director, directs three to four shows each year. The remainder are directed by free-lance directors. |
| • | We do not have a separate casting department or casting director. The organisational aspects of casting (availability checks, auditions etc) are handled by the Administration Assistant and contracts are negotiated and issued by the General Manager or Administration Manager. |
| • | We do not have a company or ‘through-cast’ a season of plays. Productions are cast separately, taking account of the specific demands of each role. |
| • | Because we work with a number of different directors throughout the year, we do not hold general auditions. |
| • | We sometimes programme plays (e.g. EAST IS EAST, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) that require actors with a specific racial or ethnic identity. Occasionally we cast plays (e.g. THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE) where a native accent or an understanding and knowledge of a particular culture are a bonus, but not a requirement for a role. In general, however, we operate what is commonly known as an integrated casting policy. |
| • | We employ actors who are resident all over the U.K. Auditions are usually held either in London or at our theatre. |
How you can help us with casting
The information posted on this website is likely to be the most up-to-date available. Using these routes to find out about casting is preferable to telephoning. If you have a query regarding casting please contact us by email on casting@newvictheatre.org.uk
| • | Letters making specific suggestions for particular roles are helpful. General letters, expressing a wish to work at the New Vic are not. |
| • | Hard copies of photographs and C.V.’s are more useful to us than e-mail submissions, C.D.’s and show reels. |
| • | Please believe us. If we say we need a fluent Punjabi speaker with an excellent mezzo-soprano voice, we mean it. Someone who can speak French and can ‘put a song across’ is not what we are looking for. |
| • | If you would like us to return your photos and show reels, please send an A4 S.A.E. |
| • | If you are offered an audition and can’t make it, let us know. We can then offer an opportunity to audition to someone else. |
| • | Some people try and ‘gatecrash’ auditions. Please don’t. |
Please remember
| • | There are a lot of you and not many of us. We have one director on staff and an Administration that is responsible for the organisation and welfare of a full-time staff of approximately eighty, over an hundred free-lance artists per year and 200,000 customers and participants annually. |
| • | We receive hundreds of submissions and invitations to shows each year. It is not possible to file or respond to all of them. |
| • | Although we will always try to be helpful, we are not a training organisation or advice centre. We cannot always respond to requests for career advice and help with auditions. |
| • | We are a modern, successful and vibrant company whose primary purpose is to create high quality theatre and drama for our audiences, participants, client groups and partners. We are proud of our work and our relationship with the communities we serve. We do not take kindly to letters that say, “I wish to complete my training in regional theatre before trying for work in London.” |
We’d like to offer you the part
| • | All actors at the New Vic are paid the same wage, regardless of age, experience or size of role. |
| • | Children and young people are central to the mission of the New Vic. Through our Education, Borderlines and main stage programmes, we work with over 60,000 young people a year. We take our responsibilities for child protection very seriously and contracts of employment, including those for free-lance artists, may be subject to the receipt of satisfactory checks by the Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure Service. |
| • | Email Address casting@newvictheatre.org.uk |
| • | Postal Address: The New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 0JG |