THE HOME CASTING CALL

THE HOME by Gill Parsons, Created by Open Sky

Role: UMA: female-identifying, dual heritage (South Asian/white-British working class) actor
Playing age 20-35 (ability to play 7 year-old Uma and multiple roles)
Contract dates: 11 Jan–15 Feb 2026 = 3.5 weeks rehearsals &1.5 week local tour
Fee: £650/week (£3,250 total) PLUS per diems + accommodation + return travel at start and end of employment dates.
Location: Rehearsals in Hereford
Limited tour of theatres and community venues in Herefordshire.
Possibility of future performances and touring.

Submission deadline: 12 noon, Monday 27th October

Please submit the following:

• CV highlighting relevant experience / Spotlight link with headshot

• One-page cover letter/email outlining:

  • How you meet the essential and desirable criteria listed in this brief

  • Why this project appeals to you

  • Showreel (where available)

by email to: kama@openskyahead.co.uk

Application Timeline
Deadline for applications: noon, Monday 27 October 2025
Shortlisting decisions communicated by: Monday 3 November 2025
First round auditions: Online, between 3–6 November 2025
Notification of second round auditions: Following first round auditions
Second round auditions: In-person, 18/19 November, location in London TBC

Essential Criteria

• female-identifying, dual heritage (South Asian/white-British working class) actor
  (playing age 20-35, ability to play 7 year-old Uma and multiple other roles)

• Experienced deviser, confident contributing to collaborative creation processes

• Confident with multi-roleing (playing multiple characters)

• Confident working with text (both scripted and self-generated)

• Strong physical theatre skills

• Proven experience in puppetry and/or object manipulation

• Comfortable working on a solo show and holding audience engagement alone on stage

• Strong storytelling ability, with emotional range and depth

• Ability to work intensively over a short rehearsal period and adapt during the process

• Professionalism in rehearsal and on tour, including punctuality and preparedness

• Willingness to work closely with students from Hereford College of Arts in a mentoring/collaborative capacity

Desirable Criteria

• Experience performing autobiographical or verbatim-inspired work

• Experience touring to community and non-traditional theatre venues

• Awareness of, or personal connection to, themes of class, race, identity, and social injustice

• Skills in integrating multiple performance forms 

• Strong devising skills in creating work from personal histories and archival material

• Ability to drive (for ease of travel during the Herefordshire tour)

• Experience working with directors and dramaturgs in new writing or devised theatre

About the Show

THE HOME

In the impoverished, post-war London of the 1950s, seven-year-old Uma lives with her brothers and her working-class parents; Ronnie and Shahine. When Uma is removed from the family home by the state and placed indefinitely in a rural, convalescent home, a personal odyssey begins. Uma must contend with the formidable Sister, racist bullying and a hostile environment. Cut off from her family; armed only with her trusty teddy bear; Uma will learn a new meaning for the word home.

Writer Gill Parsons is a retired lecturer and magistrate. The Home was developed from her own lived experience as a child. Co-created by Claire Coaché and Lisle Turner, the artistic directors of ACE NPO Open Sky, the work combines new writing with physicalised performance, object manipulation, sound design and music, from both past and present. 

Through a mix of physical theatre, puppetry, and object manipulation, the piece explores themes of identity, trauma, prejudice, and resilience. It connects deeply personal experience to broader social issues, opening dialogue on inequality and compassion in the UK today. 

Project funded by Shared Prosperity Funding, Arts Council England and Individual Giving.