Casting Call: R&D for new Kit Green show about Sheffield’s Marti Caine
Kit Green Productions are delighted to be casting an ensemble for a two-week R&D. We will be developing a new production about the life and death of working class superstar and Sheffield legend, Marti Caine. The process will be led by experiential theatre-maker Kit Green, supported by Sheffield Theatres.
Left to right: Marti in 1981, Kit in 2001
About the show
The production will be a mainstream show about marginalised voices; the latest in Green’s practice of creating innovative Experiential Entertainments.
This show is for those that remember with Marti with love, and just as much for those who have never heard of her. This provocative production will not be a biopic, but instead a springboard for grappling with working class heritage, reinvention, being an outsider and the darker side of the entertainment industry. Using Marti’s book A Coward’s Chronicles as source material, we will celebrate glorious entertainment, while also exploring life and legacy, death and illness, fear and fragility.
About Marti Caine
Marti Caine was a Sheffield-born comedienne, actress, dancer, presenter, singer, and writer. At 19, unable to pay the £150 cost of her mother's funeral expenses, she auditioned at the Working Men's Club in Chapeltown. After working for many years on the club circuit in Yorkshire as a stand-up comic and cabaret singer, Caine gained national prominence when she appeared on the ATV talent show New Faces in 1975. She made many more TV appearances throughout her career, including a self-titled BBC show, and released 5 albums.
Fun fact: her stage name 'Marta Cane' was chosen from a gardening book (tomato cane) but was mis-spelled at an early gig and 'Marti Caine' remained with her.
Marti Caine's life was cut short by cancer in 1995. She was ground-breaking and underrated. A survivor. A force of nature. But also - like us all - naive, and complicated.
About Kit Green and Linda Bloomfield
Kit Green is a gender non-conforming, award-winning artist, making work across theatre, music, broadcast, and academia. Their recent work includes City of London commission 1133, critically acclaimed 48-hour immersive production The Home, and outdoor touring performance installation FeelPlay. Kit is from Sheffield, and grew up loving Marti. They are excited to be making this diverse, queer, Sheffield entertainment.
Kit will be working alongside Sheffield-based Producer Linda Bloomfield. Linda is an independent cultural producer and community arts practitioner, who has led projects with the National Theatre, the British Library, the Albany, Future Arts Centres, the Roundhouse and others. She is also the Founding Director of RivelinCo, a neighbourhood arts centre ‘without walls’ based in Hillsborough, Sheffield.
Kit and Linda are delighted to be working together again after their collaboration making and touring The Home across the UK and in Japan, 2019-2021.
About the R&D
The R&D will take place in a rehearsal room at the Crucible Theatre, Monday - Friday from 26 Feb - 1 March and from 4 March - 8 March 2024. Rehearsal times will be between 10am and latest 6pm each day, with a break for lunch.
The rehearsal room is wheelchair accessible, and there is an accessible toilet on the same floor. There will be a separate space for breaks, and a small fully quiet space can also be made available.
The fee is £750 per performer, per week - so £1500 per performer in total for the R&D. We will be casting up to 6 performers.
For clarity, this will not be a co-devised piece. Kit will hold the vision and direct the piece, providing a strong framework for the creative process. Within that framework, there will be plenty of scope to bring yourself, and your experience and skills, to the work.
Who is this opportunity for?
We are interested in hearing from actors, dancers, club singers, comedians and cabaret performers. Confident singers and strong improvising skills would be a bonus.
Due to the nature of this project, we would prefer to work with LGBTQIA+ and/or queer performers.
We would prefer to work with performers that are Sheffield, or Northern, based - though we won't rule out working with people from further away if they are a good fit.
Applicants must be over 18 to apply. There is no upper age limit for performers. We are keen to build an ensemble of people from different generations.
We are not defining any other must-have characteristics for the roles such as gender, ethnicity, body shape or look. We feel an ensemble is stronger if it is diverse, and welcome anyone who fits the other criteria to apply.
Disabled performers are very welcome to apply. The rehearsal space is wheelchair accessible, and detailed access information about the venue can be found on AccessAble here. We have a small access budget available, and will be able to support individuals with Access To Work paperwork where necessary. To arrange a discussion regarding access requirements or support, please contact Producer Linda Bloomfield: lindajbloomfield@gmail.com
How to Apply
We are inviting short self tapes that respond to two questions:
1) Please tell us about something funny that happened to you this week (1min)
2) What does 'light entertainment' mean to you? (1 min)
Please upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo as 'unlisted' and send us the link, via email. Please do not send the video as an attachment. Please note this opportunity is not currently available via Spotlight.
Send your completed video to lindajbloomfield@gmail.com (Producer) no later than 10am on Monday 18 December. Please include the following information in your email:
Your full name
Your video link
Your home address
Your phone number
Any access requirements for the audition
IMPORTANT: The audition will take place on Tuesday 16 January in Sheffield and alternative dates will not be offered, so please only apply if you will be able to make this date. It will be a group workshop style audition, and will take place in the afternoon.