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.

Jack Lemmon had a phrase that he used all the time, that I've now adopted as my own.
He believed that if you've been successful in your chosen path, then 'sending the elevator back down' is your obligation.

That's why I've set up The Kevin Spacey Foundation to support young actors, writers, directors and producers with the passion and potential to succeed in the competitive worlds of film and theatre. We'll be offering a range of creative opportunities to help emerging artists reach their full potential, including workshops, masterclasses and special events led by industry professionals.

I'd love you to help me keep the elevator moving, and in good working order, so that we can bring along as many passengers as possible.

Kevin Spacey

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Registered charity number
1126407

The Initiative

Richard's Rampage is a hugely ambitious creative learning initiative spanning eleven countries and three continents connecting young people and emerging artists ON STAGE, IN SCHOOL and ONLINE.

It will link to The Bridge Project an unprecedented series of world class theatre productions resulting from a unique partnership between The Old Vic Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and Neal Street Productions where every year Sam Mendes, (Laurence Olivier Award - The Glass Menagerie; Academy Award: Best Director - American Beauty), directs a transatlantic company of actors in a tour of a classic work.

The Bridge Project 2011 will see Kevin Spacey take the lead role of Richard III in a production that will place the exchange of ideas, talent and creativity at the heart of the process; Richard's Rampage is the counterpart to that process.

www.richardsrampage.com

The Process

ON STAGE

Kevin Spacey will facilitate a Richard III workshop for emerging acting talent ON STAGE in every venue visited. Participants will be selected via an online audition process or through recommendation by 'on the ground' project partners. This will enable us to find the most dedicated young actors, focusing in particular on those that might not ordinarily access such provision. The inspiring setting and host will instill a sense of aspiration in all those that take part, reinforced by the provision of tickets to Richard III.

IN SCHOOL

Experienced arts educators will facilitate bespoke workshops for hundreds of school children in every country visited. The workshop will consist of an abridged version of Richard III that will introduce the play in an engaging, highly physical and accessible way. It will be a mixture of tightly choreographed action and multi role playing that will deliver key lines, moments of pathos and cliff hangers from the production.

The children taking part will then be challenged to learn sections of the performance to aid their understanding of theme and character before seeing the actual production as guests of the Foundation.

ONLINE

A Richard's Rampage micro site will be created acknowledging the fact that ONLINE is now seen as the world's global language and the most common way for young people to communicate with one another. Project participants and will be encouraged to blog, chat and comment about their experience, using the many interactive features and forums made available to them. Multilingual learning resources will be created and the whole site linked to Facebook and Twitter ensuring the widest possible reach. A digital diary will also be developed by the participants and added to by Kevin Spacey and the production team and edited together at a later stage into a Richard's Rampage documentary. All of which will ensure the project has genuine sustainability.

www.richardsrampage.com

Facts and Figures

1
specially commissioned play

2
trained facilitators

3
movement specialists

11
international theatres

22
teachers

24
workshops

38
schools

200
emerging actors

1000
school children

1200
free tickets

The Creative Team

Steve Winter

Richard's Rampage
Programme Director

Steve oversees and creates the entire education programme for the Kevin Spacey Foundation, including Richard's Rampage. As Director of Old Vic New Voices for The Old Vic he manages a department that regularly works with thirty-five thousand people. As a producer he has commissioned six productions and won a national award. He is the casting director and co creator of The 24 Hour Plays: OVNV and devised The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange, the hugely successful transatlantic networking project.

He is on the editorial board of IdeasTap, a cutting edge website for emerging artists, and as an actor/director/dramaturge/script has worked with some of the most respected theatres and television companies in the UK.

Anne Langford

Richard's Rampage
Project Manger

Anne is a highly experienced producer, performer and creative learning practitioner. Anne has worked for a range of organisations, from tiny touring companies to large theatres including The Old Vic and The Almeida. Anne is a founder member of Likely Story theatre and a governor of William Davis Primary School in Tower Hamlets.

Jonny Dixon

Richard's Rampage
Actor/Facilitator

Jonny is a Lecoq trained physical performer with sixteen years performance experience. He has worked in a wide range of styles and settings with new writing, physical theatre, and devised work and with classical text. He has most recently worked for the RSC in collaboration with the Little Angel Theatre as well as the Traverse, Welsh National Opera and several European Theatres.

John Nicholson

Richard's Rampage
Playwright/Director

John forms one third of the award-winning comedy theatre trio Peepolykus. He is currently on a writing attachment with the National Theatre. He is also writing shows/commissions for The Lyric Hammersmith, Radio 4, The Severn Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse. He co-wrote Hound of the Baskervilles at Duchess Theatre and West End. His adaptation of A Christmas Carol, commissioned for Radio 4, was a highlight of the 2010 BBC Christmas radio programme.

Joseph Alford

Richard's Rampage
Movement Director

Joseph is founder and co-artistic director of theatre O. He is a freelance director, performer and movement director and has been working for Katie Mitchell a lot lately on A Woman Killed with Kindness - National Theatre; Clemency - Royal Opera House 2; Beauty and the Beast - National Theatre; The Cat in the Hat - National Theatre/Young Vic. He's also worked for National Youth Theatre; English Touring Opera and Beijing Living Dance Studio.

Jennifer Fordham

Richard's Rampage
Project Consultant

Jennifer is former Director, Young People & Emerging Artists at the Lyric Hammersmith where she oversaw the Lyric's work with young people and emerging artists. Prior to that Jennifer was the Youth Programme Manager at the Royal National Theatre managing their youth programmes and the strategic/creative development of the Discover Programme as well as the New Connections national and international work.