Kevin Spacey Foundation launches theatre education project in Australia

Oscar Award winning actor Kevin Spacey’s company, the Kevin Spacey Foundation, has today launched a creative learning project to run alongside the international production ofRichard III, giving Australian actors and students a chance to participate in workshops at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre this December. 


 Oscar Award winning actor Kevin Spacey’s company, the Kevin Spacey Foundation, has today launched a creative learning project to run alongside the international production ofRichard III, giving Australian actors and students a chance to participate in workshops at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre this December.  Spacey (pictured) will be performing the title role of Richard III in the Bridge Project’s Richard III opening in Sydney on December 1 this year. Alongside this production, a creative learning project called Richard’s Rampage will run in order to connect with young Australians and inject what Spacey calls “a sense of excitement about the living theatre”. The initiative will be reaching out to students between the ages of 13-17 for the IN SCHOOL component and young actors between the ages of 18-25 for the ON STAGE workshops across the globe, enabling over 1,000 students and 200 emerging actors from nine countries and across three continents to connect with one another, experience extraordinary workshops, and see a world-class theatre production. Spacey said that this initiative is his way of giving back to the theatrical community:  “Over the course of my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to have success as a stage and screen actor, running the film production company, Triggerstreet, and as Artistic Director of one of the world’s best-loved theatres – London’s Old Vic. This might not have been the case had I not had the support of some incredible teachers and mentors along the way, particularly in my formative years”, he said.  “One such mentor was Jack Lemmon who had a phrase that he used all the time that I’ve now adopted as my own and that of my Foundation. He believed that if you’ve been successful in your chosen path, then ‘sending the elevator back down’ is your obligation.”
Richard’s Rampage is the first ‘elevator’ project, allowing the foundation to reach hundreds of young people, using theatrical tools and artists as an education medium.  “The idea is to leave each destination with a sense of how to continue the work on their own long after we have gone”, Spacey said. 
The Foundation is particularly interested in reaching students from schools who, in spite of facing economic, social or geographic challenges, can demonstrate a rigorous commitment to the arts, and in particular drama.  Over 25 drama colleges have been selected to apply for the ON STAGE (for young actors aged 18-25 years) component of the program, and over 180 schools for the IN SCHOOL (for students aged 13-17 years) component. Both projects combined, there are 140 places on offer for the opportunity to take part in a workshop at The Lyric Theatre. 

RICHARD’S RAMPAGE

 Richard’s Rampage is a bespoke creative learning project that will follow Kevin Spacey around the world as he takes on the title role of Richard III. It is a project that has the exchange of ideas, talent and creativity at the heart of the process. It will enable over 1,000 students and 200 emerging actors from nine countries and across three continents to connect with one another, experience extraordinary workshops, see a world-class theatre production.
It is the first initiative to be supported entirely by the newly formed Kevin Spacey Foundation whose aim is to build on the long-standing commitment of its namesake to arts education and the nurturing of emerging talent.

RICHARD’S RAMPAGE IN AUSTRALIA

The Kevin Spacey Foundation, is seeking exceptional actors across Australia aged 18 – 25 to participate in Richard’s Rampage. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified no later than Friday, October 28 and those that are not selected to participate will be offered access to purchase PREMIUM tickets to see the production at an exclusive Richard’s Rampage price of just $29.
In addition to the Richard’s Rampage initiative, students under the age of 25 are able to purchase tickets to Richard III in Sydney at $39.   Photo by A.Muir