ASSISTANT DIRECTOR x2 Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR x2 Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre

CALL FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTORS Chester Performs is offering two Assistant Director Opportunities to emerging theatre directors one working with Artistic Director Alex Clifton on Romeo & Juliet and The Wind in the Willows. The other to work alongside Rebecca Gatward on The Merry Wives of Windsor. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain first-hand experience working on the UK s pre-eminent open air theatre season, with two of the country s leading theatre directors. Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre is run by Chester Performs, a leading producer of arts projects in and around Chester. Launched in 2010, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre is the only full time professional open air theatre company outside of London. This year the season of three productions will include, Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet and a new family adaptation, by Glyn Maxwell of The Wind in the Willows directed by Alex Clifton. Rebecca Gatward will direct The Merry Wives of Windsor. In 2014 we staged Shakespeare s Macbeth and The Comedy of Errors, directed by Alex Clifton and a new adaptation of The Secret Garden, adapted by Jessica Swale and directed by Kate Saxon. 20,500 people attended the 8-week season, which was performed in rep by a talented cast of 15 professional actors and musicians. Twelfth Night Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2012.

Macbeth, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2014

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre is a unique, temporary amphitheatre structure with 500 seats. The stage is at ground level and this year will go fully into the round, creating an intimate theatre setting for both Company and audience. Produced by Chester Performs back in 2010 the theatre is built in Chester s Grosvenor Park for each season. The backstage area including green room, dressing rooms, wardrobe, production and site offices as well as all front of house facilities are made up of a mix of marquees, porta cabins and temporary structures. The theatre is in the open air, light on technology but heavy on costume design and artistic quality. It s a great opportunity to work in close collaboration with a highly talented cast and crew on a well-respected and resourced project. Rehearsals take place in London for 5 weeks from Monday 11th May Friday 12th June, a further two weeks of rehearsals will take place in Chester from Monday 15th June. Romeo and Juliet will open on Friday 3rd July, The Wind in the Willows on Saturday 11th July and The Merry Wives of Windsor on Friday 24th July. The Merry Wives of Windsor is a madcap tale of mischief and misbehaving, cuckoldry and humiliating revenge. Romeo and Juliet, the greatest love story of all time, is arguably Shakespeare s most famous play. Glyn Maxwell has written for Grosvenor Park several times in the past most recently, 2013 s incredible adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac and returns this year to adapt Kenneth Grahame s The Wind in the Willows. The season will be performed in rep by a talented cast of 15 actors and musicians. Artistic Director Alex Clifton is back for a sixth season: This is a hugely ambitious and exciting programme for our 2015 season. I adored seeing our theatre so full of families last year, and hope they will want to come back and see The Wind in the Willows and the brilliant, and very silly, Merry Wives of Windsor. These, plus the unsurpassable Romeo and Juliet, will create a season of great storytelling, high humour, and fiery passion. Our beautiful park is set to transform into the hot-headed streets of Verona, a sunny English riverbank and the parlour of a very English Shakespearean sitcom. A perfect wooden O. It s the most congenial place to while away the time, even before you get to the Shakespeare and that isn t bad either. Alfred Hickling on Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre The Guardian, 2011.

Cyrano de Bergerac Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2013

ABOUT CHESTER PERFORMS Chester Performs is a highly diverse producer of theatre, music, festivals and site-specific art. We are a unique arts organisation in that we directly produce most of our own work. That includes running in-house companies such as Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre (the only full-time professional open-air theatre company outside London) and Ensemble Deva (a new international-class chamber ensemble), the latter forming the backbone of the MBNA Chester Music Festival. In 2010 we founded Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, widely acclaimed as the finest of its kind outside London and described as the the northern alternative to Shakespeare s Globe and Regent s Park by The Guardian. We have continued to develop our home-designed theatre since its debut and, in 2014 we welcomed over 20,500 theatregoers to the intimate 400 seat wooden O. Seating capacity will rise to 500 in 2015, with 27,500 seats on sale. Our other projects include the Essar Chester Literature Festival, live art spectacular Up the Wall, the delightful outdoor cinema Moonlight Flicks, the free, fun and informal Family Saturdays, newly acclaimed pop-up empty shop programme Rogues Galleries and new festival of reading, writing and sharing WayWord. We are building a ground breaking, 37m cultural centre for the city, in partnership with Cheshire West & Chester Council, and in late 2016 Chester Performs will take over the management of the newly opened centre, which will feature proscenium, thrust and studio theatres along with an integrated library and a cinema programme. The vast majority of our programme will move to the new centre in 2016. One of the most exciting projects in England at the moment... A powerful, modern, forwardthinking vision Sir Peter Bazalgette Chairman, Arts Council Enlgand

Right:800-seat proscenium and 500-seat thrust theatre stages Below: Exterior of the new building

SKILLS NEEDED A Midsummer Night s Dream, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2013. Previous experience of theatre directing A flexible, collaborative approach to work Excellent communication and negotiation skills The ability to uphold confidentiality REHEARSAL DATES London Rehearsals Chester Rehearsals (R&J and Willows) Romeo and Juliet - Tech Romeo and Juliet - Open Wind in the Willows - Tech Wind in the Willows - Open Merry Wives Production recap Merry Wives - Tech Merry Wives - Open Season ends Monday 11th May - Friday 12th June Monday 15th June - Saturday 27th June Monday 29th June - Friday 3rd July Friday 3rd July Tuesday 7th July - Friday 10th July Saturday 11th July - 2.30pm Tuesday 15th Thursday 17th July Tuesday 21st July - Friday 24th July Friday 24th July Sunday 23rd August The venue for London rehearsals is The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton: www.thecourtyard.org.uk. Rehearsals will be scheduled Monday to Saturday 9.30am 6pm.

TERMS & CONDITIONS Expenses Both Assistant Director roles are voluntary opportunities. However, Chester Performs will cover the following expenses: Assistant Director - Romeo & Juliet and The Wind in the Willows: London rehearsals, Monday 11th May Friday 12th June 2015 - The cost of a weekly London travel card Chester rehearsals / Romeo & Juliet Tech / The Wind in the Willows Tech, Monday 15th June Saturday 11th July - travel and accommodation expenses (where applicable) to cover time in Chester Assistant Director - The Merry Wives of Windsor: London Rehearsals, Monday 11th May Friday 12th June 2015 - The cost of a weekly London travel card Chester, The Merry Wives of Windsor Tech, Tuesday 21st Friday 24th July travel and accommodation expenses (where applicable) to cover time in Chester If required, Chester Performs will arrange accommodation for the time you spend in Chester. Complimentary Tickets Each assistant will also be entitled to two complimentary tickets per production.

TO APPLY Please send a CV and supporting letter of application by email to recruitment@chesterperforms.com. All applicants must also complete an Equal Opportunities monitoring form, which can be completed online at www.chesterperforms.com/opportunities. Application deadline: Monday 13th April 2015 Equal opportunities We actively encourage and will consider all qualified applicants regardless of marital status, gender, sexuality, disability, age, colour, race, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origins. If you have any questions please email amber@chesterperforms.com or call 01244 409113. www.chesterperforms.com www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk

Chester Perfoms 55-57 Watergate Row South Chester, CH1 2LE 01244 409113 info@chesterperforms.com @ChesterPerforms #ChesterPerforms www.chesterperforms.com www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk www.renewchester.co.uk