Aspiring young actors from the Toowoomba region have the chance to audition for a fully-funded scholarship to learn from some of Australia’s most respected actors, directors and educators at renowned theatre company Bell Shakespeare.
The John Bell Scholarship provides for three talented high school students from regional Australia the opportunity to travel to the national theatre company’s headquarters in Sydney in January 2020. Over an intensive week-long program, students will undertake acting masterclasses and backstage tours, observe rehearsals and watch live theatre performances.
Auditions will take place on Thursday 8 August at Empire Theatre, Toowoomba. Auditions take the form of 15-minute masterclasses with a Bell Shakespeare artist, workshopping text and receiving feedback on their performance. To be eligible to audition, students must be 16 years of age or older by 31 December 2019, and still be at high school full-time in 2019.
Bell Shakespeare’s Artistic Director Peter Evans said the program is central to Bell Shakespeare’s ongoing commitment to nurturing new talent and sharing Shakespeare as widely as possible. “This is a phenomenal opportunity that can help set the stage for a career in theatre. For example, one of our 2018 John Bell Scholarship recipients, Kuda Mapeza, is currently in the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Melbourne; and another previous recipient is the amazing Miranda Tapsell. It is such a pleasure to give regional students this life-changing opportunity to experience immersive Shakespeare instruction, and to be mentored in the engine room of Australia’s national theatre company,” he said.
The shortlist will be announced in November 2019 with the successful recipients announced in December 2019.
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