Fundraiser for 'GRACE' at Jacksons Lane

Hello, we are Jo, Richard, and Elina, and we are fundraising £3,500, which will allow us to put on a short run at Jacksons Lane theatre, London, in July 2022.

 

Our raised funds of £3,500 will go firstly to paying our cast and crew, and secondly, will allow us to buy set and technical equipment for our production. We have 7 actors in the play, and we plan to use professional art work as the make-up of our set, which we hope we will have the funding to allow for.

 

We are asking with humility and respect for any financial investment to help make this happen. Any amount will be hugely appreciated and we hope to see you there in July!

For any donations over £500, the big spender will receive 2 free tickets to our show (13th-17th July). 

 

What is GRACE all about?

Single parent Grace Adams struggles to keep a roof over her and her daughter’s heads, working every shift she can as a waitress for a high-quality mobile catering company. But when they go to serve at the penthouse home of charity highflier Holly Honeyman, things go rapidly downhill. Honeyman makes quite a few extra demands of the waitresses she’s hired for the night, and Grace, more than a little stressed (she’s facing eviction from her one-bedroom flat after an unreasonable rent-hike), ends up punching Honeyman in the face. The police are called, and Grace is arrested, but it sets her on an exhausting path to put things right. Unfortunately, Honeyman is as vindictive as she is demanding. If Grace doesn’t get her to accept her apology, she’ll find that it’s not only impossible to find another job, but the firm she works for and all her colleagues will be hit hard too.

 

Meet our Team!

 

Writer/Director

Richard Vincent studied acting at Drama Centre, London. His first play, OFF THE BONE, was produced at The Courtyard Theatre in association with Soho Theatre, and he was later invited to join Paines Plough’s writing group under the mentorship of Sarah Kane. In 1999, Richard became The Warehouse Theatre’s writer-in-residence, who produced two of his plays, HAPPY AND GLORIOUS and SKIN DEEP. Various other theatre credits include; REAL ESTATE (Teatro Colosseo, Rome, which was also developed for the screen by Granada Film), RED TAP BLUE TIGER (Assembly Roxy), SPARKLING ASHES (Printers Playhouse), along with various other plays for young people including SHANK which was performed at Tate Britain and toured schools in South London. Richard has also written for film (FIZZLE, Cosgrove Hall, THE LAKE, Luc Besson) Radio (BBC Radio 4) and television (Casualty, Messiah, Shaun The Sheep Children’s BAFTA, writers-guild-award). He has also spent the last decade teaching and directing in some of the UK’s top drama schools, including Mountview, Arts Ed and East 15.

From our writer, where did the idea come from? 
The idea for Grace was triggered whilst I was watching Downton Abbey (which I was a big fan of at the time) but it did occur to me that this wave of nostalgia was more than a mere need to look back, but a symptom of the fundamental desire for societal change. Many people, a few of whom were at the top of the food chain, seemed to want to return to a time when servants served without question, instructions were followed without debate, and workers’ rights were practically unheard of. I also wanted to continue on my ongoing quest to offer up large cast plays for women, of which there are few. Having worked in drama schools for over a decade, I became aware that the same plays were being done time and time again, simply because young female actors needed to be given something to do. Thus, Grace came about, as an exploration of retrograde social change, and on a practical everyday need to supply the education sector with a thing that was desperately needed.  

Producer

Jo Walker is a Theatre Producer whose work explores marginalised identities and misrepresented narratives. She recently graduated with her MA in Producing Film and Television at Royal Holloway, University of London and is currently a Creative Associate at Jermyn Street Theatre, where she is producing the first UK adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Poison Belt'. She currently works at BBC Studios as an Executive Assistant and Production Management Assistant across London, Glasgow, Bristol, and the South West Regions. Previous Producer credits include; MASK (Netflix and Fully Focused Productions), Tap Twice (Met Film School), There’s Something About High Wycombe (Wycombe Cultural Association), History on the Road (Road Productions, Camden Fringe Festival), a profoundly affectionate passionate devotion to someone (WUDS x BAME Creatives, Warwick Arts Centre), The Improv Musical (Edinburgh Fringe Online).

 

Creative Producer/Actor

Elina Saleh is an English born, Egyptian, German and Dutch actress living in North London. She has a BA Hons in Acting from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, which she attended from 2014 to 2017. Elina’s acting portfolio consists of; ‘Georgia' in Black Dress Digital (a Zoom production) by Danielle Celeste in 2021; ‘Polly' in The Loss Adjuster alongside Guy Siner and Cathy Tyson in 2020; 'Esme' in 5-Star Amazon Prime feature film Lie Low (nominated for best supporting actress at Romford Film Festival), in 2019; 'Georgie' in the play Dokunu (Celeste Danielle, Mountview) in 2019; ‘Georgia' in Multifacial (best short film at the Los Angeles Film Festival) in 2018; and ‘Pinky’ in the original play Heroes at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. She is currently acting in two new theatre productions, one of which is at Peckham Theatre in association with the Young Vic, None Of The Clocks Work , playing the character of ‘Siobhan’. Elina is also putting on her own production as the Creative Producer of GRACE (Richard Vincent) at Jacksons Lane, where she is also playing the role of ‘Beata’. Elina is also developing films and productions, working hard to tell stories she is inspired by.

What does our Creative Producer have to say about the project?

I am beyond excited to launch our long-awaited production of the show ‘GRACE’! Having been part of the show back in 2016 has left a long-lasting, profound impact on me and the rest of the cast. The show tackles essential issues such as race, class, sexism, relationship pressures and the notion of hierarchy, which are even more relevant and poignant today than when we performed the show six years ago. We have a fantastic cast of young actors who are passionate and committed to this production. To get back into the theatre and perform in front of a live audience with this great play is life-affirming and crucial in providing hope and inspiration in these times of turmoil.

We are not only so thrilled to be putting on this show for ourselves as creatives but also to help support the creativity within our community. With everything that has happened in recent times, we believe that sharing each other's stories are more vital than ever. Supporting creativity that we all indulge into is necessary for it to keep going and therefore this is why we want to put on GRACE at Jacksons Lane. I believe that theatre is a dying art-form, so any way that we can keep it going, help everyone work towards a bigger end goal within our society and community.