Open Call: Tip of the Tongue Theatre Company

After a successful month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011, followed by a sell-out run in the Carriageworks earlier this year, Tip of the Tongue are beginning work on their next project, and looking for new members to join their cast and creative team!

As a young company based in Leeds we are focused on contributing to regional theatre through devising honest, universal and emotionally energetic work; incorporating real stories of our own and others around us. Our next project will explore the idea of memory and its documentation within the two worlds of reality and fantasy, through the telling of one story embedded amongst hundreds of others. A full brief of this project will be presented at the audition.

Seeing as we devise our own theatre, we have no limitations with regards to numbers, gender, or age of our cast.  We are therefore looking to hear from everyone including performers, musicians, designers, directors, managers, and, ultimately, real people with real stories!

If you think you have the creativity to contribute to our next project, we want to hear from you!

Key Dates

Audition: Saturday 16^th July at 6pm

Main devising period: 2^nd – 13^th July (Mon-Fri 9-5) *

Rehearsals: July-November (evenings and weekends to be agreed once cast is decided)

Production: early November (dates TBC)

There are also further plans for the project which will be discussed at the audition.

This is an unpaid opportunity.

Auditions will be held in the Carriageworks, Leeds Millenium Square (meeting room TBC). Please bring along clothes you are comfortable to move about in, personal stories you are willing to share, and any instruments (serious and silly!) you can play that are transportable.

To sign up for the audition, or if you have any questions about the project or the audition, please email us at tipofthetonguetheatre@gmail.com or give Alison a call on 0113 225 3393.

Thanks for your interest and we will look forward to seeing you there!

Tip of the Tongue Theatre Company

tipofthetonguetheatre@gmail.com

www.tipofthetonguetheatre.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/TipoftheTongue

@tipottongue

* From 2^nd – 13^th July we have been granted free rehearsal space as part of Stage@Leeds’ Professional Artist Development Programme. While we don’t expect the whole company and cast to be there all day every day (don’t worry, we have work commitments too!), we will appreciate as much time as you are willing or able to contribute during this period. This can be discussed further at the audition. 

33 Ways To Stay Creative

As Emma and I begin to plan for Tip of the Tongue's next project (due to commence in Autumn 2012), perhaps these 33 suggestions might give us some inspiration:

The Leeds Guide

Five young strangers sit in front of us, telling stories from their lives and punctuating each tale with a homemade musical segue. Household lamps, a chest of drawers, miscellaneous armchairs and a couple of stools make up the homely set from which the members of Tip of the Tongue recount their bitter and sweet anecdotes. And that’s it. That’s If Walls Could Talk in its entirety. And it’s just great.

Tom Black kicks things off with a story which blends a lingering obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine with the difficulty of having to ‘share’ his birthday with 9/11; Alison Ford explains why, sometimes, trusting strangers in risky situations can be a rewarding endeavour; Emma Lawson is haunted by a tenacious, hideous pair of jeggings. Each story is simple and each storyteller has their own, naturalistic sparkle.

The production tackles the ridiculously-specific as well as the poignantly-universal. Louisa Beadel in particular manages to find a way to blend her dry-as-a-bone wit with a lovable vulnerability – gliding adroitly from a comic obsession with tomato ketchup to an ever-present struggle with an eating disorder. Will Barwick, too, has a familiar, schlubby quality which belies the frank tenderness at the heart of his borrowed memories of his grandparents’ fated union.

Throughout the play there are small interactions with the audience and we are frequently reminded that we’re an important part of this cosy collection of sincere accounts. Whether by passing round a saucer of custard creams or by inviting a guest storyteller from the audience onto the stage, this company understand their business.

The storytelling is careful yet manages moments of apparent revelation and spontaneity. The makeshift musical ensemble is charming, giving the production a real sense of harmony and balance. 


Tip of the Tongue are certainly a company to watch for the future.


Adam Z Robinson

And another guest storyteller...

The Company just before our final show in Edinburgh:

Guest Storytellers

26 shows in a row can, at times, feel somewhat tasking. If Walls Could Talk featured a different Guest Storyteller every day of the run (almost). We had a whole host of fantastic, remarkable, horrifying, anecdotal, spectacular, embarrassing, and heart-warming stories.

From having the blood of a Viking God; sibling rivalry reconsidered; confronting fears; messy birthday parties; making the first move; pheasant chaos; acting on impulse (and saving a life); "Dad's in charge"; wise words of war; fondest Fringe memories; to the life-changing decision a Mother and Father had to make...our fantastic storytellers gave us a unique show every single day, and we found ourselves as awe-struck and inspired as anyone else listening.

So, a huge thanks to each and every one of our wonderful Guest Storytellers:

Henry, Jamie, Tom, Jobi, Alec, Janet, Craig, Louise, Alexa, Clint, Lauren, Sam, Oli, Patrick, David, Stephen, Anna, Christine, Devauna, Pete, and last but certainly not least, Ekow.

For giving every audience a different show, and allowing us a glimpse of someone we either know, knew, or may never meet again.