The trials and tribulations of teenagehood can be tough, a time where you’re trying to figure out who you are and where you stand with others and in the world. Whether you have fond memories of your teenage years, or not, this formative period in time has helped to shape who we are. Exploring teenagehood within her screenplay debut Americanized, Erica Eng delivers a short film delving into the life of Eng – a 16 year old teen of Asian descent based in Oakland and a member of her school’s basketball team. Tackling themes of cultural heritage, girlhood and sport – Erica tells us more about the film’s creative process and qualifying to be considered for an Academy Award®.
Hi Erica, your short film Americanized has qualified to be considered for a 2022 Academy Award®, how are you feeling?
Hearing it from you now kind of hit me, because today is when they’re opening up the voting (Friday 10thDecember). It’s such a surreal position to be in because I remember feeling discouraged after initially getting so many rejection letters from film festivals and being worried that no one would like the film. But being here today – Oscar Qualified after winning “Best Dramatic Short” at Cinequest – it’s just an amazing feeling. And it’s also great hearing from Catherine Lyn Scott (London Flair PR), on all the great feedback we’ve been receiving from people who have watched and enjoyed the film.
Celebrating a decade of raising the profile of 57 of London’s most iconic theatres, SeatPlan continue to create a shared space for theatre lovers to help shape the future theatre going experience of others, their USP of allowing users to upload their seat view tickets a great feature of the platform. As they head into the next decade of their journey, SeatPlan tell us more about encouraging interactivity and accessibility, their newly improved rewards element and what users can expect from the platform!
The Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship awards poets funding to help support their creative practice for the year. Awarded to talented practitioners who have been recognised as being able to open up poetry to new audiences, making the form a lot more accessible to all, the award concludes its five year run with its third and final round of recipients. One of three to receive the final round of awards, which also follows their Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund Award win in Directing/Theatre-Making earlier on this year, scriptwriter/screenwriter and essayist Jamie Hale continues to inspire and trailblaze. Having just hosted CRIPtic Pit Party at the Barbican, a culmination of a year long programme run by his CRIPtic Arts organisation supporting d/Deaf artists and having published his pamphlet Shield about disability, treatment prioritisation and the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Jamie looks forward to continuing exploring various pertinent within his practice. Jamie tells us more about what it means to have won the award!
One of the world’s instantly recognisable musicals, Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Misérables returns with a UK and Ireland tour, starting off at the Glasgow Theatre Royal from Tuesday 23rd November and concluding at Wales Millenium Stadium Cardiff on Saturday 14th January 2023. Taking on the role of the iconic Eponine, musical theatre talent Nathania Ong makes her theatrical debut! Ahead of the tour, Nathania tells us more about what to expect.
During what was an unpredictable time for creatives due to the impact of the pandemic, this left many professionals out of work in need of financial support. Inspired to help their fellow industry by curating a publication comprising of images and anecdotes from the industry’s broad spectrum of talent, Exeunt: The Stage Door Project documents the voices of some of the industry’s leading luminaries including Dame Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Michael Sheen, Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker amongst others. A hardback collector’s, Exeunt: The Stage Door Project is currently available to pre-order, with proceeds going to The Actor’s Benevolent Fund, ArtsMinds and the Theatre Artists Fund! Ahead of the release, Lloyd and Salvatore tell us more about the creation of the thoughtful book!
Having celebrated three decades of creating work championing the voices of South Asian creatives, Kali Theatre have marked the occasion with the publication of their latest project – 30 Monologues and Duologues for South Asian Actors. An innovative resource vital in ensuring representation within the arts, Kali have created a necessary body of work reflective of the South Asian diaspora’s experiences. Having recently launched the book, Kali’s current Artistic Director Helena Bell tells us more about the compiling of the book and what to expect
A crucial time period for the formation of new ideas, lockdown has seen with it many new creations – the importance of creating platforms for fellow creatives an important one that was already part of our theatrical tradition, but appreciated that much more post lockdown, with exciting work produced by emerging theatre talent. Having become the Little Lion Theatre Company’s Artistic Director during lockdown, Kay Brattan was inspired to curate the company’s very first scratch event showcasing the work of Canada based talent. Paired up with UK based creatives, the scratch event will showcase 15 new works at the early stages of development at the Drayton Arms Pub Theatre. Ahead of the event, Kay tells us more about what to expect!