Call for community cast to join pottery play

A theatre is calling for people to join a community cast as part of a new play being written by an Oscar-winning actor.

Rachel Shenton has adapted a version of her podcast, Gladstone Girls, to go on stage at the New Vic in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

"It sounds so cheesy but it is a bit of a dream come true," she said. "It's a bit surreal," she added, praising the "gorgeous" venue and "brilliant" team behind it.

The play follows a group of female pottery workers fighting to keep their factory traditions, and is set within Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry.

In order to authentically portray the lives of the pottery workers during the early 1960s era, the theatre is looking for adults for on-stage and off-stage opportunities to represent the many workers who shaped the city's ceramics industry.

The aim was to celebrate the craft and artistry of local working people, with Gladstone Girls described as a "joyful story about one group of women and a factory tradition that they hold dear."

Those wishing to get involved do not need to have previous experience of performing, but they do need to be comfortable on stage and up for the challenge.

Shenton, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent, said they were particularly hoping for people who had experience in the pottery industry to come forward.

"There's lots of opportunities for people to get on stage and be part of it. It's a celebration of the industry and the area, so as many people locally being involved is fantastic," she said.

Anyone wishing to express an interest should do so by 22 November by visiting the theatre's website.

Gladstone Girls opens on 6 February and runs until 27 February, with rehearsals beginning in January.

They were also keen to learn from those who could bring their real-life experiences with them, she said.

As the play is set in the decorating room of Gladstone during the working day, anyone with skills in slide-on lithography, banding, stippling and hand painting ceramics was urged to get in touch.

Shenton, who received an Academy award in 2018 for The Silent Child, a short film which dealt with issues surrounding deafness, previously said it was "incredibly important" to tell local stories that maybe wouldn't ordinarily get that spotlight.

"To be part of that, feels like a responsibility to get it right really," she said.

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