MEMBERS

Information for Membership

Benefits of Membership

AWL is a well established, formally constituted, non-profit making organisation of professional actors, writers, directors and enthusiasts. 

It is run for and by members on a purely voluntary basis. Members are actively encouraged to participate in the work of AWL in as many ways as possible, for example as writers, directors, actors, discussion chairs, readers and administrators. Many members find that active participation brings rewards in terms of experience, professional contacts and friendship.  

ership of AWL, costing £10 per year, except for those actors and writers under 27, is open to all who are interested in developing and enhancing their particular skills and abilities as actors, writers and directors. 

Non-members/visitors are welcome to attend our rehearsed readings. However, scripts for appraisal are only accepted from current members. You must also be a member if you wish to be cast in or to direct AWL rehearsed readings, or if you wish to assist our script appraisal process.

In return for your subscription, you will also receive:

  • Admission to meetings at a reduced charge (£3 or £2 under 27);
  • A free, personal page on this web-site (or a link to your own website if you have one) (click here or scroll down for further details).   For the under 27s, you have to be come at least three times before you are entitled to a web page;
  • Announcements of your forthcoming productions in the Backstage section of the website and at meetings.

Brief Summary of our Activities

Writers submit their work for consideration by the group for performance in a rehearsed reading.  The readings are performed during one of the group’s fortnightly meetings.  There is a short rehearsal period for actors and directors.  There is no remuneration for this work or for any work carried out by members on behalf of AWL. 

In order to maintain high standards, the AWL Committee, elected by the membership, have drawn up guidelines to clarify the criteria by which writing is selected, actors cast, and directors nominated to take charge of productions.
AWL continues to develop to meet the changing needs of its growing membership.  Accordingly the AWL Committee regularly review the rules governing AWL to ensure that the membership have equal opportunities to practise their skills. 

Guidelines

To clarify the guidelines and to announce the latest developments, the AWL Committee have produced guidance notes for members wishing to participate in the activities of
AWL.  Click on any of the following links below for the relevant set of guidelines:

Personal Web Pages

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As a paid-up member of AWL, you are entitled to

  • a personal web page on this site, or
  • a link from this site to your own website

These facilities are free of charge as long as you maintain your membership.

There will be links to your page:

  • in the Biographies section of this site
  • at the head of the Cast List for each of your plays read by AWL
  • in the Cast List for every AWL reading in which you participate

Personal pages are also directly accessible without having to navigate the AWL site. Personal addresses consist of AWL's site address followed by the member's name, e.g. www.actorsandwriters.org/your.name.

You are encourged to use your AWL page address on letterheads, correspondence, etc. This enables professional contacts such as casting directors and producers to review your details easily and quickly.

Casting

Please note that casting is done via our Biographies page by our AWL's Casting Co-ordinators.

Accordingly, materials for inclusion in this website should be submitted via email if possible to Stephanie Connell (to reduce the number of drafting errors and the effort required to build the page). Stephanie Connell will also accept printed text (if you must) and photos for scanning. 

The materials required are as follows: 

  • biography (as short or as long as you like)
  • photograph (optional for writers)
  • agent and/or personal contact details as you would like them to appear on your page.

Alternatively, if you have a Spotlight page, simply give your Spotlight View PIN to Stephanie Connell and she will copy your details from Spotlight.

If scanning your own photographs, please note that 150 pixels per inch is sufficient for our needs. Higher resolutions are counter productive for the internet since they take up significantly more memory, are slow to download to visitors' screens and don't look any better on screen than the low resolution equivalent.