Tramp Launches Competition To Help 2020 Acting Graduates

Actors finishing their training this year are being given the chance to perform the World Premiere of a new Philip Ridley monologue online, as part of Tramp's The Beast Will Rise season.

The competition is being organised to help actors starting their careers at this uniquely difficult time, and the never-before-seen monologue will premiere on Tramp's website and YouTube channels, as the final monologue in a collection of fifteen, which Ridley has written as a reaction to the COVID 19 lockdown.

The competition is open to anyone graduating from drama school or other acting training in 2020 and is offering the winner a package of career-boosting help including an online world premiere, mentoring from industry professionals, a professionally edited and colour graded copy of their monologue for their showreel and a cash prize.

To enter, actors are asked to pick a 1-2 minute section of any of the monologues from The Beast Will Rise season and perform it on camera in English or sign language. Entries should be submitted to the Tramp website by 5.00pm on 29th June 2020.

The company is encouraging entries from deaf and disabled actors at the start of their careers. All the monologues in the season are closed captioned, and deaf actors are welcomed to perform in British or American Sign Language.

Entrants will be shortlisted with the help of a panel of industry professionals and the winner will be announced on Monday, 13th July. The panel includes Bec Martin-Williams - Head of Theatre at Vault Festival, Charlotte Arrowsmith - the first BSL actor to perform at the RSC, Paul Henshall - the first disabled actor to be a regular character on a prime time drama, and Holby City actor Eleanor Fanyinka.

The winner will then work with director Wiebke Green before the finished monologue is premiered on Saturday, 18 th July on Tramp's website and YouTube channel to a worldwide audience.

Jack Silver, Artistic Director of Tramp said: "It's never easy starting your acting career, but the class of 2020 are facing unique challenges. So we wanted to shine some light on the glittering talent who are starting their careers while theatres are dark - and to provide them with a chance to showcase themselves."