Aspiring young actors from regional Australia have the chance to audition for a fully-funded scholarship to train with and learn from some of the countryโ€™s most respected actors, directors and educators at award-winning theatre company Bell Shakespeare.

The John Bell Scholarship provides up to four talented high school students from regional Australia the opportunity to travel to the national theatre companyโ€™s headquarters in Sydney in January 2021 to take part in the intensive week-long program. Over the week theyโ€™ll undertake acting masterclasses and backstage tours, observe rehearsals and watch live theatre performances.

This year all auditions will take place over Zoom. Auditions take the form of 15-minute masterclasses with a Bell Shakespeare Teaching Artist, workshopping text and receiving feedback on their performance. Bell Shakespeareโ€™s Artistic Director Peter Evans said the program is at the heart of Bell Shakespeareโ€™s ongoing commitment to fostering emerging talent and sharing Shakespeare as widely as possible.

โ€œAustralia is an expansive country and opportunities for young performers from regional areas are in short supply. โ€œThis is an extraordinary opportunity that can help set the stage for a career in theatre. For example, last year one of our 2018 John Bell Scholarship recipients, Kuda Mapeza, was cast in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Melbourne; and another previous recipient is Miranda Tapsell.

โ€œIt is a privilege to give regional students this life-changing opportunity to experience immersive Shakespeare training, and to be mentored in the engine room of Australiaโ€™s national theatre company. “We thank our generous supporters, including theย Coca-Cola Australia Foundation, for making this scholarship possible,” he said.

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