Category: The Essentials
-
Returning to Your Performing Career After a Break
Seven steps to help restart your acting career after taking a break from performing. Whether planned or unplanned, chances are you’ll have a break in your performing career at some point. If you’re reading this, you’re likely in one right now and want to dive back into the fray. Coming back to acting, singing or…
-
An Actor’s Beginner Guide to Performing Shakespeare
Tips for Shakespearean acting from breaking down Shakespeare’s verse to acting techniques. For over 400 years, Shakespeare’s plays have allowed actors the opportunity to play out the greatest heights of tragedy and explore the joy of outlandish comedy. One of his most popular plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has been staged over 118 times. Others,…
-
How to Prepare for a Stage Performance
Top tips on how to prepare for a role on the stage, analyse a script and perform for a live audience. The theatre is a space that surges with energy that can feel both exciting and overwhelming. Acting for the stage requires a different approach than film or television and it isn’t necessarily about making…
-
6 Stage and Screen Picks for International Women’s Day 2025
Six stage and screen picks for International Women’s Day 2025, from dazzling musicals to ground-breaking films, that put women’s voices front and centre. As International Women’s Day (IWD) approaches, we’re celebrating the extraordinary stories of women across film and theatre. Each of these productions showcases the power, resilience and complexity of women’s experiences in their…
-
Is Your Audio-visual Work Shown Overseas? Get Additional Payments from BECS
How the British Equity Collection Society (BECS) helps performers get additional payments when their film and TV work is shown overseas. If your work is being shown anywhere in the world, you may have the right to receive additional payment (additional to what is provided for in your contract with the producer) – and that’s…
-
A Performer’s Guide to Getting Organised in 2025
A how-to guide on setting and achieving goals for the year ahead, plus tips and tools to progress your performing career. At the start of a new year, many of us feel a mounting pressure to reinvent, whether through a ‘New Year, New Me’ mindset or by setting unrealistic goals all while fighting against a…
-
How to Start Your Acting Career in Australia
How to become an actor in Australia, find auditions and acting jobs, and how UK performers can apply to live in Australia. If you’ve ever dreamed of stepping into the spotlight Down Under, you’re in for a treat. Australia’s artistic landscape is as diverse as its geographical landscape. With renowned drama schools, thriving theatre scenes…
-
What Agents and Casting Directors Look for in New Performers
Industry professionals explain the things they look out for in up-and-coming actors, from special qualities to new and unique takes on well-known characters. The acting world can be extremely competitive, so understanding exactly what agents and casting directors are looking for in new talent is key to standing out from the crowd and getting yourself…
-
5 Top Tips for Getting Auditions
Advice from casting directors and other industry professionals on how to get more acting auditions. Auditions are an unavoidable step on the road to success in the entertainment industry, with the potential to provide you with valuable new connections and launch your career as an actor. However, they can also leave you feeling frustrated and…
-
How to Get Work in Commercials: A Beginner’s Guide
Tips for actors looking to break into commercial work, including what to expect at the audition, how much you’ll get paid and what to look for in breakdowns. On average, around 60% of the auditions you do as an actor in the UK are for commercials. Brands are producing television advertisements all year round for…