SignUp

Please make sure you understand these instructions, and follow them when you bid for a part in the Shakespeare Marathon.

Key Points

• Timetable

• Marathon Starts: 7:00, Monday 18 June 2012
• Ends: 16:23, Friday 22 June 2012
• Continues non-stop, night and day for 4 days 9½ hours, encompassing the Complete Works of Shakespeare: 40 plays and around 160+ poems.
• See Marathon: Schedule for details of running order

• Acting in the Marathon
• 1,200 parts available. No auditions.

• Acting ANY part in ANY play....

• You can email request to act in ANY of the plays – that means the producers can call on you to fill parts that haven't already been taken, or where the original person cast has dropped out. You can decline a part offered if, for example, you anticipate that you will not be available to perform on certain days or particular times.
• To signup to play ANY part, email spr@le.ac.uk with the Subject line:

Shakespeare Marathon - Actor: Any

• There's currently no closing date to sign up for ANY.

• Acting in ALL the plays.....
• You can email a request to act in ALL of the plays –that means you are giving a commitment to be available to act throughout the week. Producers have a commitment to cast you in the plays for which they are responsible. 
• To signup to be in ALL the plays, email spr@le.ac.uk with the Subject line:

Shakespeare Marathon - Actor: All

• NB: There is a notional limit on the number of people who can be in ALL of the plays, because there are only 18 parts in Twelfth Night. Once all the parts in one of the plays have been taken, no more requests to act in ALL the plays can be accepted.
• Actors appearing in ALL plays will be cast in parts which allow them a few hours sleep each day.

• "I want to play Hamlet…"

• Even if you've requested casting in ALL the plays, or ANY of the plays,  you can still make requests ["bids"] for particular named parts that you want to play.
• Bidding will be by email, opening at 12 Noon, Sunday 25 March 2012. – See "Bid procedures" below.
• Parts will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The first person to send an email after 12 Noon, 25 March will normally get the part(s) requested - but note exceptions listed below:
• We may close bidding for parts in plays when the parts bid for to date + the number actors committed to be in ALL plays = the number of characters in the play. An announcement will be made on Facebook when a play's parts have all been taken. 
• Preference may be given to actors who are prepared to raise sponsorship by acting a part off-book, i.e. from memory. If you plan on doing a part from memory, indicate this in the body of your email bid.
• LUTheatre Committee reserves the right to moderate casting in the interests of maintaining fair play for members as a whole.

• Bid procedures


• Bidding opens at 12 Noon, Sunday 25 March. Clocks change on the night of 24/25 March. Make sure you know the right time. Check it on http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com

• There are two ways of preparing your email bids for parts. Choose whichever suits you best.

• Hand crafted

Create and send an email to Roger Scoppie,  spr@le.ac.uk, giving your email the subject line:

Shakespeare Marathon - Actor: <Play>, <Character>

e.g. Shakespeare Marathon - Actor: As You Like It, Rosalind.

• Don't rely on typing the Subject line by hand. If necessary Copy it from above and paste it into the Subject line of your email program and amend it to suit your needs.
• Don't send one email with lots of parts in the Subject line. Each part needs to have a separate email.

OR

• "Automatic" email for rôles

Go to the spreadsheet at Shakespeare's Rôles which lists all the parts in Shakespeare's plays. Search or Filter for the part(s) you want to play and click on the "Bid by email" entry (Column F) for the ones you want to bid for.




This will automatically create a new email in your email client which should be correctly addressed and with the right Subject line for each part you're bidding for.




You will still need to click the "Send" button in your email client - the links on Shakespeare's Roles only create emails, they don't send them !




You can test the links at Shakespeare's Roles before bidding opens to make sure that it works and to practice the procedure. Emails generated before the opening of bids will have the word "TEST" in the Subject line. This will be changed shortly before bidding opens.

• Cast lists and after....
• You will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt of your email bids. This is simply a confirmation of receipt, it is NOT a confirmation that you have been cast in the rôle you bid for.
• You will subsequently (hopefully, within 24 hours) be sent an email telling you whether you were the first person to bid for that rôle. If your bid was first, that will usually mean that you will play that part in the Marathon.
• All casting will be subject to final confirmation by the Shakespeare Marathon Exec team, in consultation with producers. The SM Exec will seek to ensure that casting reflects the order in which bids were received, but reserves the right to amend default casting where, in its judgement, changes are appropriate to ensure fair play for participants generally.
• A list of parts taken will be maintained at Shakespeare Marathon: Characters . This will not initially indicate who has been cast - it is merely a checklist of the parts for which bidding is closed.
• Bidding for parts will continue for at least a week - i.e. until the end of Monday 2nd April. Bidding will only be closed when, in the judgement of the SM Exec, it becomes necessary for producers, for practical purposes, to complete their cast lists. 
• Producers may then seek to allocate remaining parts amongst actors who have indicated that they available to play ANY part in any or ALL plays.

Any questions? 

Go to Shakespeare Marathon on Facebook and share your problem – lots of friendly advice available.