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 afternoon of the final will each perform one audition speech and the duologue with one of their fellow finalists. They'll meet a very high level panel of industrial professionals who will make the ultimate decision. It's a lot of work and so the rewards are appropriately high. The package of prizes is worth approximately just over £3000 to the winner. Not only does it include Actors Centre membership, Spotlight membership, Equity membership, but it also provides the winner with an accountant, a showreel, a voice reel, a huge selection of theatre books (which this year will include my new book "The Working Actor") as well as a £1000 makeover from the iconic fashion brand Ted Baker. The runners up to, of which there are two, also get a good package including actor centre membership, some books, and this year £250 each from the fabulous designers Claudio Lugli. All in all prizes to be fought for. 

I don't see any problem in holding an acting competition.  I know that acting isn't something that can be marked, and ultimately the result will be down to the personal preferences of the judges. Hoever the graduates ability to engage with people, to listen, to interpret, and to be able to throw themselves into what is asked of them in a professional manner, will all make their mark and create a good impression on the judges. The Alan Bates award is the tip of the iceberg of what the Actors Centre is able to do in mentoring young graduates making their way out into the profession. That's also what my new book is about. Having mentored the winner for the last four years, which has been an incredibly positive experience, this year, for the second year running, I will be one of six actors who will mentor all the finalists. That's why my publishers are choosing to release my new book on the same day as the final. The book is basically a great deal of mentoring in print and I am hoping that all the finalists will find it incredibly useful as they step out into the profession. 

Of course the jobs that we go for are not competitions. I went for a casting at the BBC on Monday and I knew the actor who went in before me and the actor who was going in after me. Both of them up for the same role as me, and yet both of them incredibly different. If either of them got the job, and not having heard yet I rather suspect that one of them has, then I was obviously not right for it. It doesn't make me any less as an actor. It just means that on that day and for that director and producer, I was not the most appropriate choice. And that is fine. I went in and I gave it my best shot. I showed them what I would do if I given a chance to play the role and that's all you can do. Do your best. I'm absolutely sure that that's what 300 or so young graduates will do when they come into the Actors Centre building for their initial interview for this year's Alan Bates award. I wish them all the very best of luck. And I look forward to meeting the 25 semifinalists and the six finalists in May.

Go for it