We’re thrilled to announce July 2023 Slackline Sleepover “Audience Choice” winner (the play our audience would like to see developed further):
It was a tie!
Esohe Uwadiae, playwright behind Sister, Sister
Congrats to Linda Jane Butler for wowing the audience with their plays Pasta Can’t Buy You Love and Esohe Uwadiae for Sister, Sister!!
Both are hilarious, but very different, family sagas with strong roles for a woman aged 35 +! Thank you, Linda and Esohe for helping Slackline to tell our stories!
Linda Jane Butler, playwright behind Pasta Can’t Buy You Love
Keep your eyes open- we’re planning to support our audience choice winners w/further R&D this autumn, so will bring you more news about these and our other recent Sleepover Audience Choice winners.
Seven playwrights, six directors, 12 actors and 24 hours to make six BRAND-NEW short new plays, all with at least one strong role for a women over 35! Let the adventure begin!
Play titles, details and running order are to be announced on the day (after the plays are written!)
Six playwrights, six directors, 12 actors and 24 hours to make six BRAND-NEW short new plays, all with at least one strong role for a women over 35! Let the adventure begin!
Since starting the company, one of the most frequently asked questions we’ve heard (tied with, “when can we see your next production?”) is, “Why Slackline?” Great question!
While we were debating a name for a theatre company that focuses on telling women’s stories, our first thoughts were of strong women- goddesses, such as Kali or Athena, or Iceni, the tribe of Boudicca. We discovered two things:
1.) Other cool theatremakers had paved the way before us and taken those names.
2.) They weren’t quite the right names for what we wanted to say.
Redressing the balance
“Redress the balance” kept coming up. What was this balance? And how did we want to change it? So we talked more about our mission, which went a little something like this… Yes, there are female-led theatre companies, strong female characters, women writing plays. But still the numbers are so skewed! If 60+% of theatre tickets are being bought by women, why are there still so few women writing, directing and starring in the shows that we buy tickets to see? And why is there this arbitrary age when women start to become invisible, both on stage and screen?
And then, our founder, Kristin, said it: “It’s like a slackline… you know the straps that you connect to trees and try to balance on, but they’re really wobbly? They’re this crazy challenge learning to stand up and stop wobbling and be strong and… Hey! What about Slackline?!”
And we realised that was it. A slackline. Just a simple little strap, really, but one that promotes balance and strength.
The connection to productions and events may be a bit tenuous, but we are proud to be called Slackline Productions. To join the ranks of female-led companies and add our stories, stand up, be strong and redress the balance.
And just like slacklining, we know that there may be wobbles along the way, to which we say, bring it on!
As part of our mission to tell the stories of women aged 35+, we’re looking for YOUR story. (Deadline 1st March 2021- submission form below!)
In honour of International Women’s Day 2021, we’re compiling some of our favourite stories of women 35+ who have inspired, challenged or uplifted you.
Some examples:
Are you female-identifying aged 35+ with an inspiring story of your own?
Do you come from a family with a strong matriarch you’d like to tell us about?
Is there a teacher, mentor or friend who deserves a shout? Tell us about them!
Does your culture have an uplifting story of women that we need to hear?
Requirements
We’re looking for videos of less than five minutes
We’re looking for stories– while we always love gratitude to our sisters, your video should involve a story about them that we need to know and love to hear
Stories should involve someone female-identifying who is aged 35+
Videos should be storytelling-style (we’re not looking for films, but you’re welcome to interpret creatively!)
For actors, writers, theatre makers or anyone who identifies as a storyteller.
When submitting a video, please ensure that it’s downloadable (a WeTransfer link is our preference)
By submitting a video, you agree to Slackline Productions using it in its entirety on our YouTube channel and using your name/handle on social media.
Early bird tickets for Slackline Sleepover on 14th January have now SOLD OUT… but don’t worry, there are still regular priced tickets (a bargain at £7.50)- if you hurry!
Applications for actors and directors are now closed and we will announce the amazing talent that’s on board for the show very soon.
What is Slackline Sleepover- Overnight and Online ?
Eight playwrights, eight directors, sixteen actors. Eight new short plays written, rehearsed and performed within 24 hours.
Slackline Stories is back… with a twist!
This time it’s overnight and online. We’ll still showcase the best new short plays, written by female playwrights, directed by female directors and featuring at least one strong female character aged 35+, but this time, they will be written, rehearsed and ready to perform online in 24 hours!
The audience gets to sleep- the creative team? Not so much 🙂
We’re looking for actors and directors for Slackline Sleepover, Overnight and Online!
PLEASE NOTE: this blog is for a past edition of Slackline Sleepover. We will be publishing an actor/director callout for our current edition, happening 12th November at the Pleasance Theatre, London, very soon!
What is Slackline Sleepovers? Six playwrights, six directors, twelve (or so) actors… Six new short plays written, rehearsed and performed within 24 hours. And we’re looking for the actors and directors to help make it great (and great fun!)
Slackline Stories is back… with yet another twist!
Slackline Productions is now casting for Slackline Sleepovers, our latest Slackline Stories event.
This time it’s overnight and online. We’ll still showcase the best new short plays, written by female playwrights, directed by female directors and featuring at least one strong female character aged 35+, but this time, they will be written, rehearsed and ready to perform online in 24 hours! (The good news for actors and directors? You get to sleep!)
Are we looking for you?
We’re looking for:
Directors:
Directors who identify as female
All actors who love a fun challenge with female-identifying actors aged 35+ particularly welcome
You like to work on the fly and has a sense of adventure!
You can bring scripts to life for an online audience- and you’re excited about doing this in unique ways
You MUST be available the evening of 13th January and all day 14th January to be eligible.*
To express interest, please email Kristin at Slackline here. Actors please include a Spotlight link or similar, directors, please include your CV and let us know a bit about you/your directing style!
Slackline Sleepover is unpaid, but will work on a profit-share basis. We’re committed to a fair, friendly and fun experience.
For more about Slackline Productions, see our home page!
The world is in crisis. Everyone seems to be pushing the extremes – either completely melting down or pumping out so much online creative content that you almost wonder if they hadn’t predicted the future several months ago. So why submit to Slackline Cyberstories, an unpaid opportunity, run by a tiny theatre and production company?
We have five good reasons (and could probably come up with many more!) Read on…
1.) Slackline Cyberstories is not just another “put a monologue online” contest
Wait! Before anyone takes that the wrong way… We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with all of the monologues and other creative content that people are putting online at the moment. Actors need to act. Playwrights need to write. And thank you to anyone and everyone who has picked up their guitars and sung us a cracking parody coronavirus song. Our own founder, Kristin, is plank- and squat-challenging daily on Instagram to channel some of the energy she normally spends coaching triathlon in her side job. We get it!
But Slackline wanted something different for Slackline Cyberstories. We’re carefully reading and re-reading (and re-reading!) submissions. Our chosen weekly script is being assigned to (fanatastic) actors and directors, who are rehearsing them and working together to ensure that the script comes together in a way that the playwright can be proud of, virus or no.
2.) Building a community
One of Slackline’s filters when it comes to developing projects is: will it build community? At the moment, despite all of the Zoom calls, it feels like we’ve lost something when it comes to the theatre and film community. We strive for every project to connect theatre makers who might not otherwise connect and Slackline Cyberstories is no exception. We want to meet playwrights who we haven’t met and stay in touch with those we have. And we promise to promote their work like crazy.
3.) Championing female playwrights
Despite promises for gender parity, female playwrights still aren’t being programmed to the degree that their male counterparts are.
Though having a piece on stage or online with Slackline doesn’t quite add up to being staged at the National, we are committed to doing our part to get female playwrights’ work seen. Working with us leads to connections with other strong women in the industry and had led to exciting connections beyond a Slackline production.
4.) Committed to working with female directors and highlighting strong roles for women aged 35+.
Additionally, Slackline is committed to working with fantastic up-and-coming female-identifying directors and actresses aged 35+. These are further areas where we have identified that the balance needs to be redressed.
Women’s stories don’t become less interesting when they become 35, but sometimes it feels like the world thinks they do. Slackline looks for strong roles for women over 35 – roles that are funny or flawed or fierce or all of the above… just like the real women who write, direct and play them.
5.) Slackline will not always be tiny
Slackline may be tiny now, but look out! As our community builds, so do our plans, our stories and so does our reach. When you submit to Slackline Cyberstories, you’re becoming a part of our growing community of female-led theatre and it’s going to be awesome.
Words have power… we’d love to read yours! #wildwomenunite #femaleledtheatre #redressthebalance
For more about working on a Slackline project, read the brilliant Rebekah King’s blog about being a playwright on our recent Slackline Stories (Part Deux).
Call for submissions! We’re looking for submissions again… This time, we’re seeking your best monologues or two-handers…
Send us either:
– a short monologue (2-3 minutes), featuring a strong female-identifying character aged 35+
or
– a short two-hander (5 minutes) which will be filmed virtually and embraces that (two actors will not be in the same room, so use that in your storytelling), also featuring a strong female-identifying character aged 35+
We’re looking for:
Playwrights who identify as female
At least one character aged 35+ who identifies as female
Work that sticks to the above time constraints!
Great stories- the plays don’t have to be political, nor do they have to be female-only. We love an uplifting story, even if the content is sad/dramatic/difficult. We also love things a bit quirky!
What happens next:
If your monologue or play is chosen, we will match it up with an actor to perform it. Slackline will virtually rehearse the work with the actor, record it, then feature it on our YouTube channel.
These plays will be promoted with the same gusto that we promote our live productions- Slackline Productions will do our best to get your name out there and encourage as many people as possible to see your work.
Call for Submissions Deadline:
We will choose one play every Wednesday, starting 25th March to be aired the next Wednesday. Please note that submissions will roll over to the next week, so no need to re-submit!
Our first piece will hit YouTube on 1st April. We plan to air a minimum of six monologues/plays (our typical Slackline Stories programme), but will keep going if amazing work comes our way (especially if we stay stuck inside)!
Send submissions to: submissions@slacklineproductions.co.uk
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Slackline Productions is committed to highlighting and celebrating female-identifying playwrights and directors, especially those writing strong roles for women 35+ (and we won’t let coronavirus stop us from doing that!!) We look forward to reading your work!
We did it! We were finally able to choose the final playwrights for Slackline Stories (Part Deux), though we couldn’t manage to get down to only six…
So without further adieu, here are the six seven playwrights that will be participating in our 24-hour play writing challenge!!
You can find more information and buy tickets here!
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Slackline Stories is back… with a twist!
Slackline Stories (Part Deux) will still showcase the best new short plays, written by female playwrights, directed by female directors, and featuring at least one strong female character aged 35+, but this time they will be written, rehearsed and ready to perform in just 24 hours!
Join us for the adventure and see what happens when six new plays come together featuring a group of brilliant playwrights, directors, actors… and very little sleep.
Slackline Stories is being held this year on 8th March, International Women’s Day 2020, to celebrate the amazing women that Slackline has worked with thus far, and to highlight their ongoing quest to redress the gender balance in the theatre.
Slackline Productions is a female-led company, championing the work of female actors, playwrights and directors and interested in work with strong roles for women aged 35+. In their first year as a company, they received an OffFest nomination for Best Short Run for their work at Camden Fringe festival and produced the highly-regarded first edition of Slackline Stories, featuring six female-driven short plays.
Since starting the company, one of the most frequently asked questions we’ve heard (tied with, “when can we see your next production?”) is, “Why Slackline?” 
Send us either: