Events
and Auditions
You do not need to be a member of
the Sewell Barn to take part in our activities: we are a friendly Company
and always like to meet new people! However, If you would like to become
a member, and receive our regular Newsletter, our Membership Secretary
Jill Fuller will be pleased to send you a form. You can contact her on
01603 715346.
Auditions
are open to anyone potentially interested in being
cast in productions. Casting notes and contact details for each director
are given below.
Audition dates may be subject to change and where possible these will
be notified via the Newsletter or email list.
2011/2012 Programme
• The Long and the Short and the Tall
by Willis Hall, director Michelle Montague,
13-15 & 19-22 October 2011. Matinée 2.30pm 22
October Audition 13th June.
• Entertaining Angels by
Richard Everett, director Mike
Dunne,
1-3 & 7-10 December 2011. Matinée
2.30pm 10 December Audition 25th July.
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo adapted
by Tim Kelly (not a musical!), director Robert
Little,
12-14 & 18-21 January 2012. Matinée 2.30pm 21
January Audition 21st September. r.little@uea.ac.uk.
• Sons and Lovers by D H Lawrence adapted
and directed by Roger Parsley,
23-25 February and 29 February– 3rd March.
Matinée 2.30pm 3rd March Audition 30th October.
parsleyplays@googlemail.com.
• Company Along the Mile by
Tom Bidwell, directors Jon Hyde & Jonty Rea,
5-7 & 11-14 April. Matinée 2.30pm 14
April Audition 14th December. jon.hyde34@gmail.com.
• Brighton Beach Memoirs by
Neil Simon, director Jenny Hobson,
10-12 & 16-19 May. Matinée 2.30pm 19 May Audition
13th December. jenny.hobson@freeuk.com
• You Never Can Tell by
Bernard Shaw, director David Hare,
14-16 & 20-23 June. Matinée 2.30pm 23
June Audition 24th January. revvie@tesco.net.
• The Comedy of Errors by
William Shakespeare, director Carole Lovett,
19-21 & 25-28 July. Matinée 2.30pm 28
July carolelovett@btinternet.com
Casting Notes
The Long and the Short and the Tall by Willis
Hall,
director Michelle Montague,
Email:
michelle.montague1@ntlworld.com
13-15 &19-22 October 2011. Matinée
2.30pm 22 October
THE PLAY
Set during the Battle of Malaya in 1942, The Long and The Short and The
Tall graphically tells a tale of human spirit faced with impending doom
in a war-torn environment.
A patrol of 7 British soldiers take refuge in an abandoned hut. Tensions
rise as the radio malfunctions and a Japanese soldier stumbles upon them.
Willis Hall’s ear for language and eye for natural human behaviour
ignites a dramatic conflict of conscience among the men in a bid to survive.
This action packed, often humorous, suspense-laden play is a delight for
any actor to work on.
CASTING a play for 8 men
465 Sgt Mitchem, R
Strong, humane, flawed by weakness – a victim of contradictory impulses
839 Cpl Johnstone, E
A vicious, brutal soldier, with no compassion – uneasy with hierarchy
594 L/Cpl Macleish, A
Scottish. Humourless - inflexible regard for principle
632 Pte Whitaker, S
Least experienced - constantly whining
777 Pte Evans, T E
Welsh. Entirely honest - extremely impressionable
877 Pte Bamforth, C
Londoner. Resentful of authority - covers emotions by being the joker
611 Pte Smith, P
Northerner. Older than others – reserved & kindly - responsibilities
back home
Japanese Soldier
Prisoner - a family man
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will be initially on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Fridays
will be included during the latter stages and there will be two Sunday
rehearsals (first full run and tech).
AUDITIONS Monday 13 June 2011
- 7.30pm
I would hope that those auditioning had read the play. Auditions will
take the form of working from script and possible group improvisation.
Entertaining Angels by Richard
Everett
Director Mike Dunne
Email: mickjdunne@hotmail.com.
1-3 & 7-10 December 2011. Matinée 2.30pm 10 December
THE PLAY
A touching and thought-provoking comedy in which Grace, the widow of a
clergyman, makes the most of her new-found freedom to do and say as she
pleases, usually to the new female vicar. Her eccentric missionary
sister, Ruth, has returned from Africa to support her in her hour of need
but their sisterly bickering leads to shocking revelations. These
revelations force Grace to confront the truths of her past.
CHARACTERS
Grace: an ageless fifty/sixty
something
Ruth: Grace's sister, of similar
age
Bardolph: Grace's deceased husband,
aged sixty something
Jo: Grace's daughter, aged early
thirties
Sarah: new vicar, aged early thirties.
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will begin in October and will be set
according to the availability of the cast. But commitment,
a sense of fun and an ensembly approach is essential from the cast and
the whole production team.
AUDITIONS
These will take the form of group improvisation
working from the script and will take place at the Barn on Monday 25th
July at 7.30pm.
Les Miserables by Victor
Hugo adapted by Tim Kelly
Director Robert Little
Contact 01603 586245 or 07554 522428 or r.little@uea.ac.uk
12-14 & 18-21 January 2012. Matinée
2.30pm 21 January
PRODUCTION
This is very much an ensemble type production and
I could see actors play several roles, which will demand energy and commitment. There
will be a multi-purpose set which will be changed by the actors in character.
REHEARSALS
Mon, Wed, and Thur @ 7.30pm - 10.00pm.
Sundays @ 2.00pm - 7.30pm.
Early rehearsals actors will only be called to work
on the scenes that they are involved in. Later on we will be
rehearsing ACTS. This is a big production so it will need a BIG
commitment. The results will be rewarding.
CASTING
Victor Hugo narrator male 50
yrs upwards
Jean Val Jean ex-convict male 30
yrs upwards
Inspector Javert Policeman
of conviction male 30
yrs upwards
Thenardier opportunist
(innkeeper)
male 40
yrs upwards
Mme Thenardier
his unpleasant wife
female
40 yrs upwards
Eponine their
daughter female 20s
Azelma their
younger daughter female teens
Fantine a
young mother female 20s
Cosette
Monseigneur Myriel kindly
priest male mature
Mlle Baptistine his
talkative sister female mature
Policemen (x2) male age
not important
Mme Victurien in
charge of the factory girls female 40s
Factory girls (x2) female age
not important
Fauchelevert townsman
once saved by Val Jean male mature
Marguerite Fantine's
friend (a flower girl) female 20s
Bamatabois unpleasant
/ wealthy male
20s - 30s
Judge male mature
Prosecutor determined
to convict male 40s
upwards
Champmathier a
simpleton being accused male
same as Val Jean
Mme Rondeau a
witness
female 40s
upwards
Mme Gribier gossip
of the town female age
not important
Sister Simplicity Hospital
Nun
female age
not important
Marius
student / in love with Cosette male 20s
Mlle Gillenormand his
Aunt / an elderly Aristocrat female mature
Adele young
student female
20s
Henri young
student male
20s
Charlotte housekeeper
to Val Jean female age
not important
Some can be changed from male to female. There
are many other parts to fill:
Young couple, prisoner, Bibolet, wedding guests, citizens etc.
Please join me and fill the stage with great characters. There
will be plenty to do, and it will evolve as rehearsals continue.
AUDITION Wed 21st September 2011 @ 7.30pm.
These will be workshop based, may be some script work.
Sons and Lovers by D H
Lawrence adapted by Roger Parsley
Director Roger Parsley
Contact 01603 633931 or 07940 417705 or parsleyplays@googlemail.com.
23-25 February and 29 February– 3rd March. Matinée 2.30pm 3rd
March
Set in 1913 in a mining village near Nottingham.
The original novel was very much a semi-autographical work, exploring
the early manhood experiences of the central character, Paul Morel. It
carries a strong emotional undertow throughout, as we see Paul’s
fraught relationship with his coal-miner father, his close emotional bond
with his mother, and his failure to love two women – one older,
one younger, as well as exploring his battle with Baxter Dawes, towards
the end of the play.
CHARACTERS:
Paul Morel 20-30
years old
Gertrude Morel (Paul’s
mother) 50’s
Walter Morel (His
father) 50’s
Miriam Leivers (One
of Paul’s “loves”) 20’s
Clara Dawes (The
other one!) 30’s
Baxter Dawes (Clara’s
– separated - husband) 30’s-40’s
AUDITIONS: Sun 30th Oct
@ 7.30 pm 2011
REHEARSALS: Sun , Mon
and Thurs @ 7.30 pm
Start
rehearsals on Jan 5th 2012
Company
Along the Mile by Tom Bidwell
Directors: Jon Hyde & Jonty Rea.
Email: jon.hyde34@gmail.com
Tel: 01603 615415 or 07896657236
Performance Dates: April 5,6,7,11,12,13,14 Matinée
2.30pm 3rd April
The Play
Set in a hotel room along the Golden Mile in present-day Blackpool, Stella
and George are no ordinary couple. For starters they’re not a couple.
They just meet in a hotel room in Blackpool every Wednesday where Stella,
a transvestite, likes to eat sandwiches cut into triangles. A quiet afternoon
in bed looking over the obituaries is interrupted by a mysterious phone
call and a volley of stones at the window. Is this one of Stella’s
wind–ups, or is George right when he suspects someone is out to
get them?
With Blackpool lapping at the windowpane and a
dead body discovered in the en suite, the odd couple are panicked into
action. Will this be the end of their story or the beginning of a beautiful
friendship?
An hilarious mixture of Joe Orton, Alan Bennett
and Morecambe and Wise, Tom Bidwell’s first professionally produced
stage play toured the UK in 2009.
Casting: a play for three men.
Stella:
a male cross-dresser, early thirties. Flamboyant, effeminate voice, slightly
made-up.
George: also
early thirties. Likes football. A good sort. A bit of a worrier.
The Bellboy: mid – late
twenties. Seen it all (or likes to think so).
Please note that the playing age can be flexible, but must be balanced
Rehearsals: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 7:30pm, Sundays 2-6:00pm.
Auditions: Wed 14th December 2011 7:30pm.
The play is unpublished. Copies will be available at the audition. Those
attending will be asked to bring an audition piece from another play and
to read scenes from Company Along the Mile.
Brighton
Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon
Director: Jenny Hobson
Contact: 01263 822908 or jenny.hobson@freeuk.com
Dates: May 10th -12th and 16th -19th 2012 (Matinee Saturday 19th May)
The Play
Brighton Beach Memoirs is part one of Neil Simon’s autobiographical
trilogy, and is a portrait of the writer as Brooklyn teenager in 1937
post depression America, living with his family in crowded and impoverished
circumstances.
Eugene Jerome (The young Neil Simon) is the narrator and central character,
who is fanatical about baseball, and fantasises over girls, taking the
audience into his confidence, and seeking advice on the matter from his
vastly more experienced elder brother Stanley.
The subject matter might on first glance sound sombre and serious, however
in typical style, Neil Simon is able to bring his colourful and sophisticated
humour to the piece, making it an appealing play that deftly mixes drama
with comedy.
Eugene Jerome, Almost 15.
Blanche Morton, Eugene’s
widowed Aunt. 38
Kate Jerome, Eugene’s mother,
a strong Jewish matriarch About 40.
Laurie Morton Eugene’s younger
cousin 13
Nora Morton Eugene’s beautiful
older cousin 16
Stanley Jerome Eugene’s
older brother 18
Jack Jerome Eugene’s father
About 40
Please note , Although the above ages are
suggested in the script , I am prepared to be flexible within reason,
and am happy to consider slightly older actors for the various roles if
they wish to audition.
Rehearsals
These will commence with a read through at the end of February (Date TBA)
I also hope to build in a voice workshop, as we need to acquaint ourselves
with New York Jewish speech patterns.
Main rehearsals will be held as from March 5th on Mondays and Thursdays
at 7 pm, and Sundays (daytime)
Casting
Tuesday 13th Dec 2011 at The Barn 7.30pm
It would be helpful if actors could have read the
play before the audition which will be mainly text based. Please ask Jenny
Hobson at the launch of the season on May 15th about obtaining copies
of the script.
YOU NEVER CAN TELL by
Bernard Shaw
Director : David Hare
Email : revvie@tesco.net
Tel: 01953 607080
Performance Dates 14-16 & 20-23 June. Matinée 2.30pm 23
June
THE PLAY
An early work by Bernard Shaw, one of his "Plays Pleasant",
the play takes us to the Torbay coast of Devon in the year 1896. Mrs Lanfrey
Clandon, an authoress, has recently returned to England from Madeira with
her family, Gloria and twins Dolly and Phil, and is holidaying at a fashionable
hotel on the seafront of a Torbay resort. The action turns very much on
the theme of women's suffrage, and the desire, still prevalent in those
twilight years of the Victorian age, to raise a family respectably and
with decorum. The family is accompanied by an assortment of male characters
including the new dentist, a landlord, an old family friend who is a dubious
solicitor, and a Queen's Counsellor whose legal knowledge and expertise
helps the family to sort out its affairs. Much of the action is presided
over by the affable and exquisitely mannered Waiter, William.
CASTING (7M, 4F)
Valentine a
classically handsome man of about 30 years, a dentist. He has designs
on Gloria and she (who knows?) on him.
Dorothea Clandon (Dolly), a bright,
vivacious, confident young woman in her late teens. Twin sister to
Philip Clandon (Phil), a
similarly lively youth, a bit of a show off, but not unattractive as a
character.
Parlourmaid to
Valentine (Act One only)
Mrs Lanfrey Clandon, mother
of the three children, somewhat imperious but no Lady Bracknell. After
twenty years or so in the cultural desert, she is anxious to ascertain
a civilised future for her children in England, which probably includes
their making a good match at the altar. 50 ish.
Gloria Clandon. the
elder daughter, very much her own person and very fond of her mother.
Mid twenties.
Fergus Crampton, Valentine's
landlord, and considerably more, but that would be telling. 60 ish.
William,
the Waiter (real name Walter). A delightful character, an oiler
of wheels and guarantor of smooth action. A major role. Ageless.
Finch M'Comas,
family friend and solicitor. Integral to the action but something of a
bore socially, and one who does not invite complete confidence in him.
60
ish.
Mr Bohun (pronounced
Boon), appears as a rough and ready creature, but there are hidden depths.
See comment above on Crampton. 35-45 years.
Assistant waiter (non-speaking
role)
REHEARSALS:
Mondays to Thursdays until nearer the performance. (7pm –
10pm)
AUDITION: Tuesday
24th Jan 2012 @ 7.30pm This will be text related. It is Shaw after all.
The Comedy of Errors by
William Shakespeare
Director Carole Lovett
Contact: 01603 – 453809 or carolelovett@btinternet.com
Dates: July 19th -21st and 25th -28th (Matinee on Saturday 28th )
The Play
One of Shakespeare's earliest comedies, it is set within a small
community where everyone knows everyone else. What nobody knows, however,
is that two sets of identical twins have entered into the social mix;
indeed, even the twins do not know! The plot uses every twist and turn
that can be generated from such a situation and is fast-moving and very
funny.
Casting details
Antipholus of Ephasus and Antipholus of Syracuse. Twin
brothers that need to be as similar as possible in age, build and colouring.
They are said to be twenty-three years old but, for purposes of casting,
could be up to mid-thirties.
Dromio of Ephasus and Dromio of Syracuse. Servants to
the first pair of twins and the same age. Again they need to be similar
in appearance.
Solinus, Duke of Ephasus. Mid-forties
to mid-sixties.
Aegian, a merchant of Syracuse.
Mid-forties to mid-fifties.
Aemilia, Abbess at Ephasus. Mid-thirties
to mid-fifties.
Adriana, wife to Antipholus of
Ephesus. Twenties to thirties.
Luciana, Adriana's sister. Twenties
to thirties.
Luce, kitchenmaid to Adriana.
Youngish and generously proportioned.
Angelo, a goldsmith. Mid-thirties
onwards.
Balthazar, a merchant. Mid-thirties
onwards.
Courtesan. A lady whose age is
not mentioned but who is probably older than thirty rather than younger.
Pinch, a school master. Rather
wierd and probably quite elderly.
First merchant, friend to Antipholus
of Syracuse. Mid-thirties onwards.
Second merchant, to whom Angelo
owes money. Mid-thirties onwards.
Various servants and town officials.
I will do my best to ensure that these are not just 'walk-on' parts.
Rehearsals;
Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays @ 7.00 pm, Sunday @ 2.00 pm.
Auditions:
Tues 6th Mar 2012 @ 7.30 pm
These will generally consist of reading an extract from one of Shakespeare's
plays. You do not have to have worked with Shakespearian text before so
this is not some sort of 'test' but I do need to know how you will work
with his material. I am, in fact, very keen to have some parts played
by people who have not worked with Shakespeare before as this is not only
rewarding for the individual but it, also, enriches the scope and experience
of the Company as a whole.
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