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Glitter in the Dark Competition

FAQ

What is The Beast Will Rise?

When lockdown happened we were 2 weeks into rehearsals for The Beast of Blue Yonder, the World Premiere of an epic new play by Philip Ridley, which was due to have its World Premiere at Southwark Playhouse on 2nd April.

That show, like so many others, had to be postponed, but we promised people a world premiere on 2nd April - and that’s just what we gave them, in the form of GATORS, a monologue Philip wrote in lockdown, performed by one of the cast of The Beast of Blue Yonder, Rachel Bright.

Since then we’ve been doing one World Premiere a week, all performed by a cast member in their homes, filmed on their phones, and directed (remotely) by Wiebke Green, the show’s director.

You can watch the monologues here.

The new monologue, performed by the competition winner, will have its World Premiere as the final monologue in our The Beast Will Rise season.

Praise for The Beast Will Rise:

"I’m constantly on the edge of throwing my hands in the air & saying I never want to see another online monologue in my life. Then a show comes along to change my mind." ~ Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor

"An imaginative celebration of the glittering dark." ~ Aleks Sierz, The Arts Desk

"Leaves our hairs on end." ~ Arifa Akbar, The Guardian

The Scotsman - Five of the best plays to watch in lockdown

The Guardian - Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch online

How do I enter?

1 - Pick a monologue

The first thing you need to do is pick a monologue from The Beast Will Rise season.

They’re available on the homepage of the Tramp website and our YouTube channel.

They’re all written to be gender neutral, and can be performed by anyone. We want your take on them.

Pick a short section of the monologue (1-2 minutes).

The monologues all have closed captions, so you can get the exact text by turning closed captions on.

2 - Record your version

You can record the monologue on a phone or digital camera. See our technical tips.

3 - Send it to us

One you’ve recorded you need to send it to us.

Go to the submission form and submit your video.

That’s it!!

We’ll add closed captions (so everyone can enjoy your performance) and add your video to our YouTube and Twitter channels, so the world can see it!

Technical Tips

  1. Film it in landscape. Be close to the camera. (If you’re miles from the camera, it’s harder to pick up your brilliant acting).
  2. It’s not a self tape. It’s FINE to have your front room, kitchen, or bedroom in the background. It’s your set.
  3. Record it in one shot. (You can of course do as many takes as you want, but we’d rather see one continuous shot than jump cuts between different shots)
  4. Make sure we can see your face. If you want to do something fancy with the lighting then brilliant .. but make sure we can see your face. Otherwise it’s just radio acting!
  5. Relish the text. Philip Ridley’s writing is a gift for actors. Relish the language and the rhythm of it.
  6. Don’t slate it. We want to see you act, and so will the public and industry professionals watching it on Twitter. Just get straight to the acting .. don’t tell us your name, agent etc.
  7. Please don’t add titles. Your video should just be you acting.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for great actors and an original and engaging take on one of the monologues.

It’s not a filmmaking competition. If you want to tell part of the story visually that’s fine, but don’t worry too much if you’re not filming it on a state of the art camera, or the lighting is basic. We’re judging the acting, not anything else.

What file formats can you accept?

We’d ideally like videos sent to us in MP4, .M4V or MOV format, but if your phone or camera records in another format and you can’t convert it, we’ll do our best to open it!

Am I eligible?

Starting out as an actor has always been difficult. But starting in 2020 is uniquely difficult.

We are trying to provide a way for actors who were due to start their careers this year to showcase themselves.

The scheme is actors joining the industry at this uniquely difficult time. That means:

The opportunity is open to people of any age.

We welcome applications from d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse actors and we’ll do our best to make the process a level playing field for you. If there’s anything we can do better, please let us know. Please see our accessibility section for more details.

We've relaxed the entry criteria for d/Deaf actors who are BSL native, ASL native, or native speakers of any other sign language, because we know how few opportunities exist, because of the language barrier.

And, of course, we encourage applications from as diverse a range of actors as possible. If there’s ANYTHING that you think is stopping you being able to enter, or making things less than fair, please let us know and we’ll do what we can to resolve it.

What are the prizes?

First Prize

You'll get to to perform in the World Premiere of a Philip Ridley monologue, directed by Wiebke Green and produced by Tramp as part of The Beast Will Rise season, broadcast to an international audience on Tramp's website, YouTube and Twitter channels.

You'll receive a copy of your version of the monologue (professionally titled and colour graded) for your showreel, as well as being able to have this credit on Spotlight for 2020.

The opportunity to perform the monologue at a post show event of The Beast of Blue Yonder, or a future Tramp show, including 4 comp tickets for industry professionals.

A signed copy of Philip Ridley’s Plays 1 & 2, with a personal message from Philip Ridley.

A one-on-one Zoom careers advice session with Simon Marriott, the casting director on The Beast of Blue Yonder.

A one-on-one Zoom careers advice session with John Byrne, the careers advisor for The Stage.

A £150 cash prize.

A shout out on Twitter and name check in the official press release.

A “Winner: Glitter in the Dark Prize” graphic to display on social media.

2 comp tickets to press night for The Beast of Blue Yonder, or a future Tramp show.

Finalists

A Zoom careers advice session with Simon Marriott, the casting director on The Beast of Blue Yonder.

A Zoom careers advice session with John Byrne, the careers advisor for The Stage.

A signed copy of Philip Ridley’s Plays 1 & 2, with a personal message from Philip Ridley.

A shout out on Twitter and name check in the official press release.

2 comp tickets to press night for The Beast of Blue Yonder, or a future Tramp show.

The opportunity to perform a Philip Ridley monologue as at a post show event of The Beast of Blue Yonder, or a future Tramp show.

A “Finalist: Glitter in the Dark Prize” graphic to display on social media.

Shortlist

A Zoom careers advice session with Simon Marriott, the casting director on The Beast of Blue Yonder.

A Zoom careers advice session with John Byrne, the careers advisor for The Stage.

A shout out on Twitter and name check in the official press release.

2 comp tickets to press night for The Beast of Blue Yonder, or a future Tramp show.

A “Shortlisted: Glitter in the Dark Prize” graphic to display on social media.

Honorable Mentions

A shout out on Twitter.

A graphic to display on social media.

Who is on your industry panel?

These amazing people!

Are the monologues gender neutral?

Yes, they’re all written to be gender neutral, and can be performed by anyone. We want your take on them.

Can I do more than one monologue?

If you like.

Can I do more than one take of my monologue?

Please just show us your best take.

I live outside the UK. Can I still enter?

Yes. You can enter if you’re based anywhere in the world and you meet the entry requirements.

My drama training was outside the UK. Can I still enter?

Yes.

My course wasn't at a drama school. Can I still enter?

If you're an actor and you finished training this year, then we'd love you to apply. We recognise that there are lots of different routes into acting, so we're open with our definition of what training entails.

You might have gone to drama school, studied acting through a course of workshops, gone to university or college, or you might have studied Musical Theatre or even Dance.

The important things are that your course lasted at least 9 months or longer, that it had a performance element and that 2020 was the year you were planning to go into the industry.

I'm still at drama school. Does my course count?

The competition is open to anyone was due to leave acting training or have an industry showcase in 2020.

I had to leave training early. Can I still enter?

We understand that some people will have special circumstances that mean they were unable to complete their training, so we're flexible about this.

If you were on a course which meets all the other criteria and would have completed it in 2020 or had a showcase in 2020 then you're welcome to apply.

I don't quite meet the criteria but my circumstances are special. Can I still apply?

We know everyone's circumstances are different. If you don't quite meet the criteria, but you think you should be able to apply anyway, then please get in touch and we'll do our best.

I’ve been acting for 45 years and I’ve been nominated for 21 Oscars. Can I still enter?

No, Meryl. You can’t. This is for actors at the start of their careers. Sorry!

Can I perform the monologue in another language?

If you’re using spoken language, you should perform your monologue in English, as written.

Can I perform the monologue in sign language?

We welcome monologues from d/Deaf and hard of hearing actors performed in BSL (as well as ASL or any other sign languages such as Auslan and NZSL).

Where can I find the monologues?

All the monologues are available on the Tramp homepage.

We're releasing one a week, so currently there are lots to choose from (and there'll be 14 in total by the end).

Can I get a copy of the full script for my monologue?

Short answer: Yes, if you’re blind, partially sighted, or disabled. Otherwise, unfortunately not.

Long answer: Because Philip Ridley has written the monologues in lockdown and they haven’t been published yet, we’re not distributing them to everyone because of copyright issues. You can use the closed captions to check the script.

HOWEVER, we know that won't work for everyone, so if you’re blind, partially sighted or have another disability which would make doing this harder, please email access@wearetramp.com and let us know which section of the monologue you need, and we will send you a watermarked version.

How will you pick the winner?

The competition will take place over 6 weeks.

Open entries - Until 11.59pm Sunday 12th July 2020

Anyone can submit a monologue. We’ll look at them all and pick our weekly favourites.

13th July - 18th July 2020 - Selection process

Our industry panel will then help us create a shortlist of actors.

Shortlist Announced - Saturday 18th July 2020

We’ll announce the shortlisted actors.

Winner Announced - Monday 20th July 2020

We’ll announce the winner.

Philip Ridley will send the winner the World Premiere monologue, and will speak to them on the phone, or by email to answer any questions they have about it.

They will then then be directed by Wiebke Green, before recording their version of the monologue.

The monologue will receive its World Premiere on our website and YouTube channel at 7pm on 25th July.