Hello, and welcome back to Week in Review, our roundup of industry-wide news. From stage to screens big and small, we’ve got you covered. It’s everything you need to know and all you can’t afford to miss.
Major London venues hand the keys over to young people
London’s Young Vic and Battersea Arts Centre are among six arts organisations across the city handing over control to young people in a pilot scheme aimed at empowering young talent. The theatres join the Tate, the BFI, legendary music venue the Roundhouse and Wired4Music at Rich Mix in giving their buildings over to young people for three days as part of the first London City Takeover. Those aged 16–25 are to be given space at each organisation to share their vision of the future and “empower [their] political and creative agency.”
Held the weekend after the UK is (currently) scheduled to leave the EU, the takeover includes free workshops, talks, performances and exhibitions. Led by Saad Eddine Said, an artistic director, as part of the Up Next scheme at BAC, the initiative will allow young people to run “a city-wide celebration encouraging young artists involvement and engagement in arts, culture and politics.”
The statement goes on to say: “The London City Takeover will be a platform to express our unity, and make a noise loud enough to re-engage with the wider conversation.”
Read: Why is the Young Vic Theatre So Influential?
Opera auditions turn to The Voice for inspiration
The Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Welsh National Opera have taken inspiration from reality show The Voice to create blind auditions as part of an effort to tackle unconscious bias in opera casting. A new audition competition, run by classical casting site Audition Oracle and called By Voice Alone, sees singers perform anonymously for representatives from several companies who will not have been briefed with names, CVs or headshots. Performers will first sing behind a screen in an open audition setting – or submit sound files if they’re not able to attend. Panel auditions will showcase talent to conductors, directors and agents before a live final sees eight to ten singers perform in a concert.
Unconscious bias is the concept that those selecting performers for roles will cast with a range of class, ethnic and ability stereotypes in mind. Organisers hope that by removing this effect, contestants will be represented by their talent alone. Applications open at the end of January and auditions take place from March.
Read: Sony, Film4 and Others Aim to Increase Diversity in UK Entertainment
Manchester’s Arden becomes second drama school to scraps audition fees
Manchester’s Arden School of Theatre has become the second drama school to scrap audition fees for prospective students in an effort to make courses more accessible to young people from all backgrounds. Industry figures have warned that audition fees are the first barrier for young people from lower-income backgrounds, discouraging or blocking them from applying for training. By removing fees for auditions, the Arden joins the Liverpool Theatre School who moved to a free audition system last year in an effort to attract working class applicants.
Last year, actor Julie Hesmondhalgh urged schools to rethink fees. She told the Observer: “There are many obstacles to pursuing higher education when you come from a low-income family [...] but the prohibitive fees imposed on budding drama students, for the privilege of auditioning for a place, seem uniquely skewed towards those who can afford it.”
Read: Is This the Death of Audition Fees?
Rape scenes no longer allowed in films for under 15s
Scenes depicting rape and other forms of sexual violence are no longer to be allowed in films classified for under-15s. British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has published a shake-up of film ratings which include new guidance on strong sexual violence as a result of a “shift in public opinion” over the last five years. A representative said: “The feedback we have had from the public during the current consultation is that they don’t think there is any place for depictions of sexual violence at 12A at all.”
They added: “Although we operate very strict standards around sexual violence there was an appetite on the part of the public for us to be even more cautious than we are at the moment.”
More than 10,000 people were interviewed in the consultation, which takes place every five years. As well as stricter guidelines on sexual violence, the BBFC said the public wanted greater age-rating consistency across online channels where companies such as Netflix and Amazon voluntarily submit content. The BBFC said that ratings coverage on some of these platforms was “mixed.” Read more here.
Stage production news
The internationally-acclaimed touring production of War Horse is to return to London with a run at a new venue: Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. From the producers behind the pop-up King’s Cross Theatre, the Troubadour opens this summer, following an as yet unannounced inaugural production. The theatre is part of a development complex in Wembley Park, northwest London, at the centre of one of Europe’s largest regeneration areas. War Horse, directed by Marion Elliot and Tom Morris, will run from 18 October as part of its UK tour. Read more here.
Screen production news
Actor and theatre director Femi Elufowoju Jr is to make his feature film debut this year with a UK and South African co-production. Called Incensed, the film follows a woman who is dragged into a world of crime and corruption after her husband is accused of multi-million-dollar fraud. The British-Nigerian theatre director – who has worked at the National Theatre and the Royal Court – is to direct a screenplay by Dapo Oshiyemi. Filming begins this year in the UK, Nigeria and South Africa.