Dinner Lady to Dramatist Remember the moment in The Full Monty when Robert Carlisle is walking his son to school? Of course you do. But maybe you don't remember the mum in the background, with the little girl clinging to each hand. That's Julie Townend, then a dinner lady in a Sheffield primary school. When they wanted children for the scene, the producers of The Full Monty headed straight for Made in Sheffield Theatre Company. MISTCO didn't just provide talented children: they provided Julie to look after them. Julie became involved with MISTCO because her two daughters knew when they were still quite young that they wanted to work in the theatre. MISTCO made the dream a reality. Julie's older daughter, aged 18, starts an acting course at the Mountview Theatre School this year. Younger daughter Emma has just finished work experience in the casting department at the National Theatre and is doing A-levels in art and design, English literature and theatre studies. Meanwhile MISTCO has changed Julie's life even more dramatically. She found its atmosphere liberating. "No one said, 'you can't do that'. They said: 'now we'll show you how to do that'. My whole life became bigger." She is the key figure in a new MISTCO project designed to make a career in theatre available to people who are unemployed or in a low -paid work. Julie knows, better than most, that they cannot afford to go to drama school, even if they have the confidence to apply for it. A new project builds on MISTCO's training and its annual productions. MISTCO trains future theatre professionals who cannot afford the conventional drama school route. It has a show every year, and a highly intensive three-week theatre course every summer. It also had limitations. They could send people out into the world with the right skills and talents, but they still lacked the contacts and experience to work in the profession. PROMIS is a networking organisation, built on the firm belief that acting must not belief that acting must not be allowed to degenerate into a rich person's profession. PROMIS helps people find agents, contracts and work. It shows them how to present a CV and handle auditions, and it subsidises their travel to London for auditions. From MISTCO people can get an Open College-accredited NVQ. From PROMIS they get the skills, and the confidence and contacts to use it. NAME: Acting PROMIS BRIEF: To support unemployed or low paid workers in becoming professional performers TARGET GROUP: Unemployed and low paid workers in London and South Yorkshire FOCUS: To provide learning opportunities to acquire verbal and written self-presentation skills GRANT: Major MANAGED BY: NIACE

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