Bring On The Bates
I was absolutely thrilled to hear that this year we have had a record number of entries for the Alan Bates award at the Actors Centre. When my association with this competition first started about five years ago, we would have somewhere in the region of a hundred and forty entries. When you consider the number of students graduating from eligible courses that's no great deal. This year we've had well over 300 entrants and the competition promises to be exciting, and tough. It needs to be. The Alan Bates award is the premier graduate competition in existence, and most probably the toughest. After a first round where entrants perform two traditional audition speeches and have a quick chat, the competition is whittled down to around 25 semi finalists who spend a whole day at the Actors Centre And take part in workshops in movement, Shakespeare, TV technique, improvisation, and face an interview with the panel. At the end of this day six finalists will remain who on the after