When you run away from a suspected terror incident in Oxford Street, and then jump in a cab with strangers to get away fast, and they all go back to yours and you end up playing Mortal Combat on your recently purchased PS4 till they wait to be picked up.
#BlackFriday
Friends, trying to put a little thing together-
Any mixed raced actors, not necessarily black/white, who can relate to; finding it hard to get seen or cast for their actual ethnic heritage, or feeling both not “white enough” or “brown/black enough” sometimes. Holla at me. Plz Rt
Something I’ve only just digested. Me & Sargon Yelda, also in Dead Pixels, are of Middle Eastern heritage.
Why this is significant is this may be 1 of the first ever TV shows in UK history to have up front TWO actors of ME heritage, in roles where their identity isn’t a focus.
‘No Return’ is coming soon to ITV.
My first major part/leading role in a big old TV drama.
It took me 12years since leaving drama school, but we got there 🎉😊
A thread I’d love you to read.
Why the representation of Middle Eastern, NA, & Muslim people in TV/Film/Theatre is so important is because at the moment we are dehumanised.
A dehumanisation in our media allows wars, invasions, genocides, colonisation & occupations to continue.
9 offers for
@guildhallschool
today. A 3rd of the year!
@opendoorpeople
has drop kicked the door open. Hopefully for more to come. That 9 is made up of Working class/Ethnic Minority & Regional/National voices. Practical solutions to diversifying our industry. So proud of them!
“the Police breaking into our studio building in Haggerston on Friday 25th June because there is a sculpture on the roof that Priti Patel doesn’t like.”
Guess Who’s Back Bebe?
New Hair Who Dis?
Series 3, Ep 2 of
#Stathletsflats
airs tonight on
@Channel4
at 10:15pm.
You can stream rest of the series now on the interweb. I think it has one of the funniest scenes King Jamie has written with Stath & Cem in it fo sho.
#Cem4life
Who’d of thought a year ago, a group I found through open auditions, mentored for a year, would be asked to work on the Olivier stage
@NationalTheatre
? And tomorrow they go back to the Drama Schools they just got into. Have’nt taken a moment to reflect but it’s lovely isn’t it?
Want to go to drama school and can’t afford the costs?
Receive FREE auditions/interviews, travel, 1-1 tutoring, workshops, theatre tickets &
more with
@opendoorpeople
See if you’re eligible and APPLY NOW by heading
Today at recall auditions for
@opendoorpeople
I listened to young people tell me they could only afford 1or2 auditions, or “I’m not sure these places want me”. I get upset & angry. This is what something like this does. It says we are here and we want to hear from you. I❤️Sarah!
Sarah Frankcom has marked the start of her tenure at
@lamdadrama
by reducing initial audition fees by 75%. First-round applicants will pay £12, instead of the previous flat rate of £54
I know I’ve been sharing a lot of stuff about the ethic cleansing and oppression of Palestine but... yeah I’m going to keep doing that for a bit.
It’s the ethic cleansing of a whole country and people so I think we can put up with a few tweets on our feeds like, lads.
Open Door was invited to the
@bifa_film
awards because we won this years Special Jury Prize that recognises outstanding contributions by individuals or orgs to the British independent film industry.
Can’t blooming believe it! 💜
Amanda would only need do some basic research to find that our industry is the 4th biggest in the UK. Young people that want to train in say, production arts, have high employment prospects with 75% in work or managerial roles after 6months of graduating. Feels pretty real to me.
Do you agree with Ofsted's chief inspector Amanda Spielman that arts courses promote unrealistic career prospects to potential students? Vote in this week's poll here
‘Those that have the loudest voices, let us not shut up, but perhaps work towards being more responsible with them.’
A challenge! I don’t do these sorts of posts often, but I’d love you all to please read and share. As well as set us all a challenge!
#positivepostofchange
I couldn’t fit it all in a tweet.
I’m really sad to hear about Helen McCrory. She really was one of my favourite actors and I learnt a lot from her. She was one of the country’s best actors and craftswomen.
Actor colleagues, we don’t need anymore songs or poems to camera. People are worried about loved ones & income, it’s more than a bit of isolation for them. If you want to use your name for good do it to raise funds. If you already are then please ignore & keep up the great work!
I’m directing a final year graduating show at Drama Centre and we have an actor who is no longer able to do it.
Can anyone help?
I’m in need of a lovely, brilliant, actor ASAP.
Take a look below at the deets as we’d love to welcome you in our rehearsal as soon as possible!
Today we're excited to announce Laura Hanna and David Mumeni have been cast alongside musician Kareem Samara and Sabrina Mahfouz in the world premiere of her new play A History of Water in the Middle East directed by Stef O’Driscoll.
#AHistoryOfWater
Find out who was included in The Stage 100 2019, with
@Spektrix
(91-100), including Sheila Atim, Open Door's David Mumeni, the team at Hope Mill Theatre, Tobi Kyeremateng, producer Jamie Wilson and more.
Read more at:
#TheStage100
The thinking is dangerous and simply false. We’re hearing it in the industry too with some agents telling friends I can’t get you in rooms because people are only looking for POC now. Year groups are still majoritively white middle-class & most pro stage and screen casts are too.
Open Door has been nominated for SCHOOL OF THE YEAR at The Stage Awards 2019!
COME ON!!!!!! Can’t bloomin’n believe it! Thank you to all that nominated us! And once again everyone that’s got us here!
@TheStage
#TheStageAwards
One of my favourite bits of television this week was on
#RapGameUK
so wanted to share it. I keep watching this performance on repeat! Beautiful business.
#RapGameUK
#Graft
Great article
@lyngardner
. Just had a moment of reflection. When I entered the industry 10yrs ago I never thought I’d have any influence. Was told to change my accent. I needed to be this, or that. Too brown, too white. Patronized. A lot. Told
@opendoorpeople
would never work...
If you scroll past the familiar names to the end of The Stage 100 with
@Spektrix
you'll find the real future of British theatre, says
@lyngardner
#TheStage100
This one was a big deal for me. I was scared of doing it because I thought/or was taught, I couldn’t do a period show. Well, I did and had the best time working on it.
More importantly the sideburns are not stick-ons.
S3 of ‘Bridgerton’ airs on
@netflix
May 16th!
#bridgerton
Glad people found the story as funny and as lovely as we did. Details missed; Our cab driver Dave who refused to charge us the fare, the mango vodka we drank to calm our nerves (all I had in the house), my mum making us tea, and my Dad offering our guests Iranian sweets and nuts!
2years of negotiating we got there!
With ACT we’ve developed a new ’quality mark’ that schools have signed up to. It assesses policies & procedures & awards them a kitemark.
“We hope this will influence other areas of the sector in order to cement final long-lasting change”
Drama school audition scheme Open Door (
@opendoorpeople
) is resuming its partnership with leading drama schools, after a two-year hiatus prompted by allegations of racism at top institutions.
Happy Saturday! Government and offstead policy have created an education system that makes it hard for teachers as well as many of their students to flourish. It may look like just a dance but this represents more. Here’s a teacher caring about his students and wanting to inspire
We need to ensure drama schools are a safe, progressive space for our participants to further their learning & opportunities. We look forward to supporting, consulting & seeing the change necessary in these institutions to achieve this ahead of the next academic year.
Drama school audition scheme Open Door has said it will not be supporting a cohort of young people over the next academic year as a result of the recent racism allegations made against top training institutions
Students at
#pimlicoacademy
walked out today, refusing to go to class after headteacher banned afros & colourful hijabs.
Down the road Etonians decided there is no institutional racism in the UK. Bleak.
But the students were successful. Within hours.
Don’t give up hope. Heroes!
In regards to me being kindly mentioned in the
#Stage100
. I want to give a special mention and shout out to the queen that is
@Ruth_Milne
. Her hard work for
@opendoorpeople
is unmatched! Not forgetting to mention all the hard work of our tutors & trustees! Kings & Queens 👑 💜
Drama Drama Drama
It’s been announced -
‘No Return’ for ITV!
So excited to get started on this. I get to work alongside brilliant actors such as Sian Brooke, who plays my wife, and Sheridan Smith, who plays my sister in law!
@UnitedAgents
@KittyLaing
Extraordinary achievement!
@opendoorpeople
alum
@mwatsonallpress
gets a 5 star review
@guardianstage
for the writing of her debut play!
Couldn’t be prouder! Clear example of “working class” talent being able to thrive when given equity of opportunity.
Proud of this guy. Sheyi was in the first ever
@opendoorpeople
group. I’m proud of all of the 1st group and it’s been exciting seeing them in their grading shows.
Here comes the first wave of Open Door! Thank you all for your support with what we’re trying to do.
Go
@ColeSheyi
!
We’ve a number of young people & their families
@opendoorpeople
on zero hour contracts concerned about income for food over the next few months. If you run a youth arts provision where you’re able to identify those who are in possible need of food allowances please DM me. Plz RT!
London recalls done! Exhausted, and now sick as a dog, but the talent level that’s come through the doors has been OFF THE CHARTS! Excited for
@opendoorpeople
, the drama schools, and especially the industry! This isn’t just a hype tweet,all true and can’t wait for y’all to see!😊
Super happy
@channel4
just posted about ‘I Am Hannah’ again. Had such a great time filming this, and improvising this scene with
@gemma_chan
.The show was directed by Dominic Savage, cast by
@sbaigcasting
, and produced by
@KrishMajumdar
.
You can catch it on ALL4 now!
It’s press night tonight of
#historyofwater
@royalcourt
and what beautiful, f-ing talented people I got to work with as part of this process. About something that is really important to me. Come see this beautiful thing
@sabrinamahfouz
and
@stefodriscoll
have created. Love🧡
What I know, understand, sympathise with is the white working class feeling they don’t have a voice. What I’m confused about is why I’m only hearing about what they want, feel, are angry about from privately educated upper-middle class media outlets & folk like Farage,Boris &Fox.
There’s another episode of
#DeadPixels
on tonight kidz.
@E4Tweets
at 10pm.
Be there or be...eaten by some sort of troll monster that lives in a land of other troll monsters, that live in the land Kingdom Scrolls. 🕹
Super proud of this one last night at her press night, making her stage debut
@_bridgetheatre
with a big role in ‘Alys, Always’. Met Leah and her sister years ago, and they were wanting help with Drama school auditions. They were part inspiration of setting up
@opendoorpeople
! 😊
And we
@opendoorpeople
have the stats to prove that, yes, this is major part of the barrier. We've 30young people from low income backgrounds who couldn't afford the audition fees. We've had over 110 recalls, 48 final rounds, and 9 offers and only half way through.
@tom_watson
📣Really excited to announce that
@opendoorpeople
have now opened applications in the East Mids & London for budding Stage Managers, Prop Makers, Set Builders & Designers, lighting, sound, & video designers. Want to work in costume for Theatre, TV or Film? Maybe we can help! 📣
Delighted to be recognised in
#TheStage100
this year. 2020 was absolutely exhausting for both me and the team
@opendoorpeople
. It took its toll. I want the extraordinary work of our Exec
@Ruth_Milne
to be recognised. And thank our outstanding associates, tutors and board.
Figures recognised for providing critical support and development opportunities in
#TheStage100
include therapist Mary Burch, Inc Arts' Amanda Parker, producer Ellie Keel, Open Door's David Mumeni, teams at Young Vic, Project Exchange, MENA Arts and more
‘The Girl Before’ premieres Sunday 19th Dec on the BBC across 4nights, and as a boxset on iplayer for you to binge. Coming soon to HBOMax in February.
I play an estate agent. Not Cem. He’s not from ‘American Lets’ or ‘Live Love Lets’. It’s a drama, so serous estate agent acting.
That’s a wrap! It’s been odd making a comedy when the plague is happening outside but I’ve felt so fortunate & privileged to be working, & around such lovely humans. Things are going to get better. For all of us. We’ll all be laughing & hugging & being together soon. I knows it.
PLEASE HELP! I want to make sure we help people who need our support
@opendoorpeople
. This’ll be the last one of these tweets I share for a while, so I’m going to ask one last time - PLEASE RETWEET & SHARE!
Want to go to Drama School?
Can’t afford to audition?
APPLY👇👇👇❤️
These people are in charge of;
Defence
Health
Education
Economy
International Trade
Environment
A Pandemic
And you voted them in because you don’t like the look of Eastern European, Brown and Black people.
Rule Britannia, God save the Queen, and a partridge in a pair tree.
It’s Christmas!!!🎄🎅🏽
#LastChristmasMovie
It’s not Christmas but this movie is on and set then, and the trailers out. And Paul Fieg (Bridesmaids) directed it, Emma Thompson wrote it, and one of my bezzy mates Emilia stars in it. Oh and my mug makes an appearance too ☃️
I wrapped today on
#DeathOnTheTyne
. The loveliest of jobs with the loveliest of people. A bunch of comedy acting legends I grew up admiring. I never told’em that coz you don’t do you, and it would of made them feel old init, but it’s true. And that’s DJ Bobby signing out!
It can sometimes feel like there is little respect for acting anymore in TV because there is a lack of understanding from the powers that be (not CD’s) of what we do. Our job is often undermined by poor organisation by production. With time to prepare we will do a better job. 1/5
Tonight a special character I play called Cem enters the
#Stathletsflats
world. All the fun at the fair! Tune in to
@Channel4
10pm! I had a great time filming this one!😊
Find out who is included in
#TheStage100
2020 (91-100), including Unicorn Theatre’s Justin Audibert and Anneliese Davidsen, BH Live’s Chris Symons, Open Door’s David Mumeni, writer Jasmine Lee-Jones, the team at Underbelly and more.
Read more:
Favourite photo. A last meeting for those
@opendoorpeople
starting drama school in a couple of weeks. It’s been a pleasure working with them. I’m bloody proud of these warm, talented, funny people. All of them - whether they got in or not this year - they’re all brilliant humans!
The entitlement. Gained the same grades as the private schools kids. Oxford isn’t a private school you can pay for. 7% of the country go to private school. Till there’s below 7% of private school pupils at Oxford there really isn’t an issue here. Equality feeling like inequality.
What a 3 days! Won’t lie to you, these guys are bloomin’ exciting! And even more diverse than before, with voices from all over the country. Welcome to the Open Door family our new London Cohort! Thank you to all that have supported
@opendoorpeople
in making this happen again! 💜
Thank you for all your lovely tweets about the
@opendoorpeople
results. Big thank you to my team, and biggest congratulations to our OD participants. It’s been a pleasure working with them. They are the nicest people and I can’t wait for you to all work with them in the future!
Final episode of
#Coma
concludes tonight! Thanks everyone for watching.
It’s the third job I’ve done with an
@opendoorpeople
alumni and Joe Barber is fantastic in it!
The working-class get back to work with no precautionary or safety guidance, and the rest carry on working from home. Oh, and you lot can also now play frisbee in the park sucking on a Calippo, if you like?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says "anyone who can't work from home - for instance those in construction and manufacturing - should be actively encouraged to go to work"
Thank you if you’ve read this thread. If you have any questions just let me know. I’m aware that people may not even know this is an issue so sharing these thoughts in order to bring about further awareness would be much appreciated.
Oh and
#FreePalestine
Without meaning to use this as a therapeutic space, homophobia was a majority of my high school experience that I still think effects me somewhat today. “Faggot” and “homo” we’re terms I would hear daily, as well as physical aggression.
Thank you
@OwenJones84
for writing this💜
I think we can all agree these guys achieved something pretty special. None of us had to audition for drama school during a global pandemic. 72 young people who are currently studying across these institutions at the same time who went through the programme! Proud of all of them!
These headlines are important. Disheartening & true.
But enough talk. Support the people & organisations that are trying to tackle some part of this. In a real way.
With your money.
If not your time.
Below’s thread has a list of orgs you should know about and support👇
Yo, yo, yo, series 2 of
#Stathletsflats
by boss man
@JamieTonight
will be on your box August 19th
@Channel4
! I’m fortune enough to be joining the team as a new character in it. Sporting a very...very special haircut. You may catch said hair making its debut below. At Vol 63👇🏼