“The quality is always high”
The legendary Union Shorts, the talk of fringe theatre for many years after its 1998 induction under the erudite guidance of Sasha Regan, the Union Theatre’s founder and Artistic Director, has been making a welcome return in recent months, writes Michael Holland.
Since those intoxicating days when anything and everything seemed possible in the small theatre under the railway a proud mother of two, one of whom, Nellie, will be co-producing Union Shorts#4 with her mother and Cameron Corcoran, who kindly took time out from the important work of selecting the plays as well as producing them.
Cameron became involved with theatre by accident: ‘After studying Law at university I was feeling quite adrift with no real expressive outlet,’ he surprises me with. ‘I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter so I attended a drama class to understand writing, but I realised I much prefer playwriting and theatre as a medium. Since then, I’ve had eleven plays on in London and did a Masters in Acting at Rose Bruford College.’
I asked about his role at the Union: ‘I have, with Sasha’s overview, selected the plays as well as selecting the directors and actors who perform. The intention is to make sure it’s new writers, actors and directors every time as we want the Union to be a hub for creatives who sometimes are work-starved; it’s a place for them to flex their muscles.’
In its new incarnation The Shorts has already had over thirty directors and writers involved, and eighty actors, which sounds like a lot of people to be dealing with but Cameron is very much on top of it: ‘There are some actors who applied for the first round of shorts and still haven’t had the opportunity to perform; it’s a genuine motivation to find them a play that suits their talents, so that all the actors who apply get the opportunity to be a part of Union Shorts.’
But being motivated does not make it an easy task: ‘It is quite complicated at times. Sometimes we’ll really like a play, but may struggle casting it, so we cannot select it at this time. The same goes for actors; there have been some terrific actors still waiting to be selected, as we want to make sure casting is as appropriate as possible. These are nights of theatre the audience pay to see, so it’s important the quality is always high, and so far we’ve maintained high standards.’
What can the audience expect from Union Shorts #4? ‘An eclectic mix of theatre. There are two-handers, monologues, casts as large as eight, with plays ranging from 10-20 minutes. Some plays have dealt with relationships, some have been dystopian, some have been comedies and some have been heightened dramas; it’s fantastic to watch these nuggets of amazing plays as you see just how much talent is out there.’
What can people do to get involved? ‘We have an open submission policy, so if you have a script or you’re a director or actor and would like to be considered, email of**********@***il.com and we’ll do our best to find something that works for you in our bi-monthly event.’
Union Shorts #4 will consist of eight new plays, featuring 20 actors. Along with co-producing the new plays, Sasha Regan will also direct one, which will be a marvellous boost to the writer and cast.
Union Theatre, Old Union Arches, 229 Union Street, SE1 0LR from 26th – 28th August. 7.30pm.
Admission: £12, £10. Two hours including interval.
