Ray of sunlight, draw closer, burn brighter, blaze stronger still.
Penetrate the dawn’s sky and shine forth on seven-gated Thebes.
Dazzle the river Dirce, arrogantly, proudly admiring the reflection of your beauty,
your majesty in its streams.
Casting the messenger, deliverance herself,
striving forth from the plains of Argos in the reflected glory of the skies.
aod are seeking up to 12 actor participants to take part in an exciting pilot training project supported by Arts Council England, exploring ancient Greek tragedy with particular reference to the play Antigone.
Having evidenced a major gap in actor training in working on Greek Classics this project will provide an immersive and accessible experience for performers, offering 10 - 12 FREE places on a 8 day course (split over a period of 8 weeks) culminating in a performance experience at Brighton Fringe at the beginning of June. At this pilot stage we are able to offer this training experience (Valued at £1100 pp) at no cost to participants for free.
We are specifically looking to work with professional performers with no background in Greek theatre, and no real experience of studying classics. Our research shows that those who are state educated or trained outside of the top 6 drama schools are at a disadvantage as Greek Classics are not part of the curriculum.
OUR AIM in this training is to equip actors with a more in-depth knowledge and experience of this great canon of work while providing a benefit in terms of communications skills both within the industry and in the wider world.
12 participants on the pilot course will engage with our practitioners in a series of workshops, tutorials, mentoring sessions and rehearsals. They will work with 4 creative leaders incl a mentored Asst Dir and have exposure to 2 companies (aod and Fitzrovia Chapel). They will develop skills to work creatively with classic text, themes and styles.
We welcome applications from professional performers of all ages and backgrounds.
Applicants must be available for all sessions below and will be asked to provide feedback via anonymous survey at the end of the programme. Please note sessions take place in London and Brighton.
Thursday 20th April (Afternoon time TBC, London) Audition / casting confirmation
Tuesday 2nd or Friday 5th May (1/2 day TBC, London) AOD lead session (ancient Greek drama workshop)
Friday 12th May (AM ½ day, London) Communication in Performance Session
Saturday 20th May (Brighton) Movement in Classics Session / Rehearsal
Sunday 28th May (Brighton) Company Training Rehearsal incorporating chorus workshop
Monday 29th May (Brighton) Company Training Rehearsal
Friday 2nd June (Brighton) Company Training Rehearsal/industry showing
Saturday 3rd June (Brighton) PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY 4th June (Brighton) PERFORMANCE
To apply for a place on this pilot training programme:
- Send your CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by midday, Friday 7th April
- Confirm your availability for all dates.
- Include a ‘tweet length’ thought of the meaning of courage.
- If you use twitter follow @FayeCHughes @aodtheatre with your thoughts on the meaning of courage
- Record the Chorus text at the top of this page, either by audio or video and send with your application
- Recording can be done via mobile phone, web cam or whatever you have
- Please label your video file with your surname followed by your initials
NB The deadline for applications is Friday 7th April
