ABSTRACT
So how would you go about assembling said company of actors? You might be teamed up with a knowledgeable casting director to help and advise you, which is great, and good ones really are worth their weight in gold. However, on this occasion you have to cast it all
yourself, so where do you start? Well, before you go proclaiming the news in all the casting publications and getting besieged by hundreds of submissions, you would doubtless think of those you know – it’s human nature. Your actor friends, the people in your year and the years above and below at college or drama school, or from youth theatre would be your first thought, as would actors you have worked with and those whose work you have seen and admired. Out of those, you could create a wish list of one or two ideal actors for each character, as you see them. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know . . . and who knows you. While you may immediately know who you would love to give a break and employ in your Shakespearean epic, there would also be some people who you would not wish to have in your company. Perhaps these people might be lazy, unreliable or disruptive, would undermine your authority in the rehearsal room, as they think they know more than you, or simply, in your opinion, not be good actors – that’s fine, as you don’t have to employ them. So, once you have checked the availability of your wish list and put in offers (if you feel confident enough to do so without hearing them read for the role), you may be fully cast in a matter of days. If so, that’s great and word will soon go round, actors and agents bemoaning the fact that they heard absolutely nothing about such a big production. If, however, some or all of your wish list are busy, uninterested in your project or the role you are offering, cannot leave home or afford to accept the money on offer, you will have to cast the net wider.
