DEBUTANT Shakespeare director Jeremy Muldowney will hold auditions for York Shakespeare Project's (YSP) venture into the unknown mad world of King John this month.

Regulars and newcomers alike are welcome to attend the sessions at St Luke's Church Hall, Burton Stone Lane, York, on Sunday, September 10, from noon to 6pm and Saturday, September 16, from 9am to 1pm.

In theatre tradition, Jeremy has worked his way up the YSP ranks, as chairman Ali Borthwick charts: "He was in our inaugural Richard III; did props for Taming Of The Shrew and Titus Andronicus, when he had to deal with dead pigeons, and last year he played Prince Escalus in Romeo And Juliet.

"He's been supporting YSP for ages, and he's always wanted to direct King John. However, we had two other applicants who thought likewise, so we went for Jeremy because he was the only one who wanted to take a risk with the play - and his concept sounded rather intriguing. He's looking at the religious paintings circa the 14th century."

Jeremy, who is said to bear a striking resemblance to Shakespeare and Charles I, was born in Berkshire of Liverpudlian-Irish extraction and has been a "Yorkshireman by adoption" since 1972. Essentially a teacher, his career has taken in radio journalism, traditional seamanship and forensic linguistics too.

At present, he is the assistant secretary of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, the world's biggest and oldest language research body of its kind, and since 1991 he has worked at York Minster's Centre for School Visits.

"This led, logically enough, to involvement with the Millennium Mystery Plays in 2000, and in turn this linked me into the birth of the York Shakespeare Project, and now King John will be my first attempt at directing Shakespeare," Jeremy says.


King John will run at Friargate Theatre, York, from December 3 to 9. For more information on the auditions, phone Jeremy Muldowney on 01904 421588, evenings only.