About the play

1979, Belgrave Sporting Academy, South-West London. The qualification season for the biggest sporting competition in the world is about to start. Join Irina, Will, Carl and Cristina for one hour of their life as they are about to embark on the quest of obtaining the most acclaimed and desired medal in the world of sports, the Olympic medal. Secrets and intentions are being revealed, friendships are broken, but more importantly this hour is one that could potentially shape the destinies of these four teenagers.

The piece follows four teenagers for one hour of their lives as they, both boys and girls, have to share a changing room at their Sports Academy. They are all professional athletes and at the same time they are just ordinary teenagers, who are now at a vulnerable or deciding moment in their lives. From the conversations they have with one another we learn of their everyday struggles.

This coming of age story looks at themes that are extremely relevant in today’s Britain, and we would even dare to say, in today’s world: xenophobia, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (touching on mental health) and racial issues. The whole story is seen through the eyes of one of the characters for whom this hour is a deciding moment as she herself says it in the show.

About the project

The play has been performed at the Rose Theatre studio in Kingston as part of the International Youth Arts Festival in 2016 after being premiered at the Arthur Cottrell Theatre studio, also in Kingston and also in 2016. However, the show has never been performed at a London venue, which is why we wanted this to be our new venture, our next step. So far we have confirmed one-off performances at two theatres, Tara Arts in Earlsfield and Kings Head in Angel. Our goals for these performances are: to gain interest from other fringe and off-West End venues or producers, to potentially be further produced by them; the other is to gain an audience and to bring a diverse range of young people to the theatre, as the play's target age group is 16 - 30, but especially addressing people between the ages of 16 to 24.

In an ever-growing Creative Industry we think that it is important for young creatives to make their own work in order to create employment for themselves and others. Also in this ever-growing industry, we believe that everybody should be represented and that we should make equal opportunities for everyone, which is why two thirds of our creative team are women and 90% comes from diverse backgrounds.

Who are we?

From the beginning our main goal has been to work and cater with and for a diverse range of people because we believe that theatre and the arts should be for and about everyone, not just the few.

The company was founded in June 2015 and ever since then we’ve been working on creating and developing our first original piece ‘The Olympians’ and also our second piece ‘Love (To)Bits’.We have been granted funding from O2 through their programme called O2ThinkBig in 2016 (part of the funds going to our current project) and most recently we have been been offered a partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute in London and Kingston College London and Sponsorship In-Kind from them.

Our Partners

So far we have been lucky enough to partner with two institutions who have agreed to help us with in-kind sponsorship by providing us with free rehearsal space. The two institutions are the Romanian Cultural Institute in London and Kingston College London.

We have also partnered with Clarkes Florist, an independent business in Furzedown - Tooting area, who will provide transport for our set and flowers as props for our shows.

How can you help?

And this is where you come in. Putting on a show in fringe venues means a number of different costs apart from the rehearsal space, which we luckily don’t have to worry about anymore, so you donations could help cover:

Venue Hire

Transport of Set

Promotional material

Insurance

and the list continues.

Your rewards

We know money doesn’t grow on trees - that’s why we are on here asking for support - so we decided to reward you all for your generosity, not just with the typical merchandise, but also but putting our skills forward.

Ioana Goga (FB @SurvivalRamblings, Insta @ioana.goga1) is not only an actor and a writer but also a spoken word poet and she is happy to help you with any text editing you need, may that be a play, poem, article, blog post; she is also available for advise and feedback for those who are new to the spoken word realms and she can do Skype sessions or feedback via email. For more details have a look below.

Jez Davess-Humphrey (Insta @jezdh95_ Twitter @jezdh95) is an actor and director in our company but he has also recently taken up private tutoring for acting so if you are preparing (or have a child/sibling/cousin/etc who is prepping) for GCSE, A Level Drama or LAMDA Exams for next year, for Drama School exams or just want someone to help you brush over your repertoire, he is your guy. Jez is also a part time party entertainer and is happy to lend these skills as well to help with fundraising, so if you have your son’s party coming up soon look no further. Skype or in person sessions available. For more details have a look below.

Beatrice Ragea (FB, Insta & Twitter @beatriceragea) is an actor and writer as well but she has also been teaching piano lessons privately for the past 5 years and is happy to offer discounted rates to help with fundraising.

She has thought children and adults alike, so if you (or your child) are prepping for a Grade exams (ABRSM or Trinity) or just wanna brush up on your repertoire, you are in the right place. Skype or in person sessions available. Like Jez she is also a party entertainer, so if you are looking for a female entertainer we have that covered as well. For more details have a look below.

Rewards:

£5 - Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

£10 - A signed flyer/ One of Ioana’s poems printed on hard paper (framable) & Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

£20 - An A3 signed poster & Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

£21 - £35 - A signed ‘The Olympians’ T-shirt/Tote Bag (using the artwork above) & Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

OR

A 30 min session of poetry feedback/ piano lesson/acting

OR

A 30 page long (max.) piece of text edited

& Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

£36 - £50 - A free ticket to the venue of your choice & An A3 signed poster & Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

OR

A 1 H session of poetry feedback/ piano lesson/acting

OR

A 60 page long (max.) piece of text edited

& Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

£51 - £75 - You can pick any 2 of the rewards mentioned above - for example: 1 piano lesson (1H) & 1 acting lesson (1H), 1 text edited (max. 60 page long)& 1 free ticket , 1 A3 poster & 1 Printed Poem; you can also pick 2 of the same skill rewards for example 2 x 1 H piano lesson, 2 x 1H acting lesson, a text that is 120 pages long.

OR

A party entertainer for 1 H

& Your name mentioned in the Thanks section of the programme

*** Everybody who donates £100 or more will be credited as a private sponsor on our programmes & social media

£76 - £119 - You can pick any 3 of the rewards above - same rules as above apply

OR

A party entertainer for 1.5 H

& Your name mentioned as private sponsor in the Thanks section of the programme

£120 and over - You can pick 5 of the rewards above - same rules as above apply

OR

A party entertainer for 2H

& Your name mentioned as private sponsor in the Thanks section of the programme

To pick your reward email us at eyeopeningtheatreco@gmail.com