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.
‘Job-shamed’ actor sparks conversation about actors’ survival jobs
Actor Katie Jarvis, best known for playing Hayley Slater in EastEnders, has described how she was “job-shamed” by the tabloid papers for working as a security guard between acting jobs. Jarvis told the BBC that she was made to feel “embarrassed and really ashamed” by waking up to a Daily Star headline reporting that the “axed EastEnders star” was currently working as a security guard at a Romford discount shop. Other tabloids quickly re-ran the story, but support for Jarvis from other actors began pouring in. Kathy Burke condemned “job shaming” performers for having survival jobs, rephrasing the story as: “Person gets job so her kids don’t starve. Good for her.” Actor Rufus Hound commented that “no job that supports you is beneath you.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Equity’s Matt Hood said that survival jobs were a normal part of life for actors, with a high number of performers out of work at any one time. He described the tabloid stories about Jarvis as “a shameful and unwarranted intrusion into the personal life of someone who’s just doing what many actors do in order to make a living.” Chris Rankin, the actor who played Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter series, also defended Jarvis, saying he worked at Wetherspoons after shooting the last Harry Potter film and “it was a job as much as any other.” Speaking to the BBC, Jarvis said she had come to realise “I had nothing to be ashamed about.” Read our guide to survival jobs in the UK.
Actors voice anger and upset over collapsed theatre company
Actors who worked for the now-defunct Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre have revealed they feel “angered and upset” after allegedly being left without wages. Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, the company behind pop-up theatres in York and Blenheim this summer, went into liquidation earlier this month after “unsustainable losses,” with producers blaming the “economic uncertainty created by Brexit.” Equity says they are supporting 76 members with claims, including unpaid wages for a cancelled tour to the Philippines.
Equity’s Dominic Bascombe described the closure as a “brutal blow” to actors owed wages for the work they have done alongside holiday pay and “less-than-expected” pension contributions. The Stage heard from actors affected who claim they were not contacted by the company and that discovering missing pay “has really angered and upset people.” One actor said: “There’s been absolutely no acknowledgement from the producers, they haven’t even bothered with an email to say ‘sorry’, it’s all been through the liquidators and through Equity.”
READ: What Is Equity + Why Should You Care?
BIFA Discovery Awards longlist revealed
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) have announced their longlist for the Raindance Discovery Awards, showcasing the best of British indie filmmakers. In the same week as an industry body revealed that the independent film sector is vital in supplying top talent to the boom in drama production, the award highlights those making big films on small budgets and the people screen-actors should keep an eye on. Of the 11 fiction titles in the running, there are two debut feature films written and directed by actors: Pink Wall by Tom Cullen, and Dolly Wells’ first feature Good Posture starring Emily Mortimer. The BIFA Awards take place on 1 December in London.
READ: 10 Film Schools in the UK You Need to Know
Whoopi Goldberg to take on West End Sister Act
The one and only Whoopi Goldberg will take a starring role alongside Jennifer Saunders in the London run of Sister Act next year. Goldberg previously appeared in the West End in 2010 as Mother Superior in the musical but now she plays Deloris, the role she created in the 1992 film, on stage for the first time. Saunders takes on the role of Mother Superior.
Earlier this year, it was announced the touring production of Sister Act would be reworked to feature older actor Brenda Edwards as Deloris, with Golberg saying at the time: “You can be much more irreverent when you’re older,” adding: “Time makes you funnier.” Edwards, who will continue to appear in the London production on Thursday matinees, said: “I’m honoured to share this role with her and can’t wait to watch her perform as the iconic character that she created.” Sister Act opens at London’s Eventim Apollo from 29 July.
North East arts organisations hope to keep actors in the region
Two major arts organisations in the North East have announced a partnership to boost training and employment opportunities for actors in the region. ARC, a large arts centre in Stockton-on-Tees, and the Northern School of Art in nearby Middlesbrough will be supporting local acting students and helping to stay in the region after graduating with professional development and employment opportunities. Read more here.
New LGBTQ+ festival in Manchester open for commissions
A new theatre festival is to run at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester early next year, hoping to showcase and support local LGBTQ+ artists. Turn On Fest will become the first arts festival at the Hope Mill and features a mix of theatre, cabaret and dance over three weeks in January 2020. Hope Mill are also offering three LGBTQ+ companies or artists £1,000 to develop new productions alongside Arts Council support and mentoring. Find out more here.
Screen production news
Details have emerged about British indie film Supernova, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci. By actor and director Harry Macqueen, whose 2014 effort Hinterland was nominated for a BIFA, the project has only just wrapped a six-week shoot in the Lake District, but according to Variety, international sales have already gone wild. Supernova centres on Firth and Tucci as Sam and Tusker, a couple with 20 years of history. The pair travel the country in a campervan visiting old friends and family and coming to terms with the diagnosis of Tusker’s early-onset dementia. But when secrets come out, their love is tested as never before. Macqueen, who also wrote the script, describes it as an “intimate, naked portrayal of a relationship facing a fissure that threatens to cut it to its very core.” With such excitement from distributors, it looks likely to be the sleeper hit of 2020.
Stage production news
Tarek Iskander has announced his first season as artistic director at Battersea Arts Centre (BAC), including London premieres by Lucy McCormick, Javaad Alipoor, and site-specific company Dreamthinkspeak. Iskander’s first season, Going Global, aims to throw open the doors of BAC to international theatre-makers and includes world premieres of new plays by Belgian performer Thibault Delférière and Misty director Omar Elerian as well as controversial one-man show Daughter by Canadian performer Adam Lazarus. Read more here.
More for UK actors? Check out the magazine.