English actor Robert Taylor Tayman will hold open auditions for his new company, the International Actors Theater (IAT) at New York's City Center Oct. 1-5 from 8-9 PM. Described by Tayman as "Fragments," the hour-long performance/auditions comprise passages from Shakespeare¹s plays performed by the auditioners along with IAT company members.

Admission is free for both auditioners and audience members.

Tayman says he is looking for American actors to fill in the ranks of his new company since he feels that they are "the best in the world." He will conduct a series of performance/auditions in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles over the next few months.

Tayman is the founder of IAT and has spent 25 years developing what he describes as "revolutionary acting methods and techniques all but unknown in the acting profession today." Called 'Audio Kinetics,' Tayman's method has been developed throughout his career, which began in London with Britain's National Theatre. The English actor has worked with Sir Laurence Olivier and director Peter Brook, and he has acted and directed in Russia, Europe, Scandinavia and the USA. Most recently, Tayman worked as a director with the Professional Theatre Program at the University of Delaware, and Carnegie Mellon University/Moscow Art Theatre's MFA program in the USA and Russia. His book, "Only When the Lie Is Gone," is due for publication in the fall of 2000.

Other members of IAT include Maria Machado, an acclaimed German-French actress who recently appeared in the blockbuster hit Titanic, Gerry Rafferty, the English singer and songwriter who wrote the hit songs "Stuck In The Middle With You" and "Baker Street," and Stephen Simmonds, a Royal Shakespeare Company veteran who appeared in many of Sir Peter Hall¹s productions at the National Theatre. The IAT "Fragments" will be presented at City Center's Studio 5, located at 130 West 56 Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Call (212)414 5443 for more information.

-- By Murdoch McBride