EdFringe casting call
Healthcare professionals casting call.
The producers of new musical: The Mould that Changed the World, have put out a casting call for “passionate amateur singers” to join its amateur chorus for the Edinburgh fringe 2018.
The musical, produced by Charades Musicals, is based on the work of Alexander Fleming who discovered antibiotics – the death-defying drugs which have saved lives for the last 90 years. But bacterial resistance is growing and, doomsday approaches, the fight-back starts with a musical of epic proportions…
The hour-long show will run for the full three weeks of the Edinburgh fringe 2018 at theSpace@Surgeon’s Hall. Each performance will feature an eight-strong, SATB, amateur chorus to support the six professional performers and band.
The company is looking for a pool of chorus members who can each take part in six to nine performances. The original callout was exclusively for those who work or study in healthcare, but the producers have now widened their net a little.
A spokesman for Charades told Æ: “While we would love for healthcare professionals to be as well represented as possible, we understand that their schedules might make it difficult to do a three-week run. Therefore we’ve opened it up to all competent amateur singers – with involvement in healthcare being a bonus.”
Auditions will be held on the weekend of May 12 and 13 at Surgeon’s Hall. Auditionees will be asked to prepare a song from any musical (lasting up to three minutes) together with an extract from The Mould that Saved the World, which they will be sent to learn when they sign up for an audition slot. There will be an initial chorus rehearsal on May 27, with more intensive rehearsals at the end of July.
The Mould that Saved the World is written by Robin Hiley, the director of Edinburgh-based Charades Theatre who has an extensive experience of writing and taking musicals into primary schools. Direction will be by Thomas Henderson with musical direction from Neil Metcalfe.
educational too
Besides this professional premiere, the musical is designed for performance in schools as an educational tool: “Alexander Fleming’s death-defying worldly-wonder antibiotic drugs have saved us for the last 90 years. But bacterial resistance is growing and doomsday approaches. A United Nations conference is held to confront the very real public health threat of a developing, worldwide resistance to antibiotics.
“A flashback takes us back 90 years to the discovery of the wonder drug, Penicillin, which changed the world. But nobody has heeded Fleming’s message of caution. The world has devoured this miracle cure – but it has gone too far. Bacteria are fighting back…”
Charades Musicals add: “The important message of the rise of antibiotic resistance and the fragile future of antibiotics needs to rapidly reach all corners of society. This project brings together many high profile organisations who are currently working to do just this.
“Chief funders, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC), have been working closely with Charades Musicals and the University of Edinburgh over the past year to bring this project to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018.
“Along with a growing-list of other project partners, the production has recently been endorsed by Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies and the UK Department for Health. Theatre has previously been used widely as an effective medium to spread the urgent message of HIV, and now The Mould That Changed The World seeks to do the same about this new global public heath threat.
Listings and links
Auditions for The Mould that Saved the World
Quincentenary Building, Surgeon’s Hall, Nicolson Street, EH8 9DW
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 May, 2018. 11am – 5pm.
All auditions will be given a specific time-slot. Email thatmould@charadesmusicals.com to arrange a time, audition pack and further information.
All auditionees should be working or studying in healthcare.
Casting call information (pdf): Click here to open in new tab.
The Mould That Saved the World performances.
theSpace@Surgeon’s Hall, Nicolson Street, EH8 9DW (Venue 53)
Friday 3 – Saturday 25 August 2018 (not Suns)
Fri 3 – Sat 18: 17.25 (1 hr); Mon 20 – Sat 25: 12.25 (1 hr).
Tickets and details: https://tickets.edfringe.com
Website: www.mouldthatchangedtheworld.com
Facebook: @mouldchangedtheworld
Twitter: @ThatMould
ENDS
