Audition Notice for Calendar Girls
Performance dates:-
6th 7th 8th 9th. / 13th 14th 15th 16th March 2013 at The Norbury Theatre Droitwich.
20th 21st 22nd 23rd March at The Conquest Theatre Bromyard.
Audition dates Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th October 2012 at 7.30pm
Written by Tim Firth the play is based on the true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendear to raise money for the Lukaemia Research fund. The play has beome the fastest selling play in British theatre history and is being released to amateurs for one year only.
For this play more than any it is essential that the “girls” bond well together. The audtions are taking place early to ensure we get the right mix. We may not for a week or two.
The Characters:-
Chris 50 ish. You want Chris at your party. She will talk to people she doesn’t know, find things to say to fill silences and generate laughter. She is at home in crowds loves being the centre of attention. Without Chris in her life Annie would be better behaved. The two of them are like naughty school girls. Ideal car?... who cares as long as it’s a cabriolet.
Ideal holiday- Algarve
Annie 50ish. Annie will join in mischief but is at heart more conformist and less confrontational than Chris. The mischeivousness Chris elicits saves Annie from being a saint. She has enough edge to be interesting and enough salt not to be too sweet. Ideal car? Who cares as long as it’s reliable. Ideal holiday- walking in the English countryside.
Cora 40ish. Cora’s past is the most eclectic, having been to college!. This caused a tectonic shift with her more parochial parents. She came back to them pregnant; she is resilient and not at all downtrodden.She is the joker in the pack but never the fool. Her wit is deadpan. Her relationship with her daughter is more akin to that between Annie and Chris. She needs to sing well enough to start the show singing Jerusalem, a piano player would be an advantage but not necessary. Ideal car? who cares as long as the sound system is loud. Ideal holiday- New York
Jessie 60s/70s. Get on the right side of Jessie as a teacher and she’ll be the teacher you’ll remember for life. Get on the wrong side and you will regret every waking hour! Her elixir of life is bravery, she goes on rollercoasters. Her husband is rarely surprised by her actions, she cares about grammar and the use of the apostrophe. Ideal car? Strange looking European thing long since manufactured. Holidays- Walking in Switzerland or Angkor Wat.
Celia age 35-50ish. The fact that Celia is in the WI is the greatest justification to its existence. More at home in the best department store than a church hall she always feels as if she has drifted in from a different world. She has a rebelliousness about her which endears her to Jessie. Ideal car? A Porche, which she has. Ideal Holiday- Maldives, where she often goes.
Ruth 40ish Ruth’s journey is from the false self-confidence of the emotionally abused to the genuine self-confidence of the woman happy in her own skin. Eager to please but not a rag doll she wants to keep everyone happy, she is protected by the group, they sense there is something better in Ruth than she is letting out. Ideal car? At the start anything that Eddie wants at the end whatever she wants. Ideal holiday-at the start wherever Eddie is, at the end wherever he isn’t.
Marie 50ish.Marie has gradually built the current “Marie” around her as a defence mechanism. She went to Cheshire and found Cheshire didn’t want her! She came back scorched. The WI is a trophy which justifies her entire existence. There is a lingering part of Marie that would love to be on that calendar (she never is). Ideal car? Something German and well-valeted. Ideal holiday-a quasi-academic tour of Persia advertised in the Sunday Supplement.
John Annie’s Husband 50ish. John is a human sunflower. Not a saint. Not a hero. When he dies it feels like someone has turned off a light.
Rod Chris’s husband 50ish. He gives as good as he gets from Chris, he has a deadpan sense of humour. Likes a drink, works hard.
Lawrence, late 20ish. Shy, hesitant but not nerdy! Had the courage to turn up in the first place. The photographer.
Lady Cavendish, 60ish.The president of the WI She doesn’t mean to be patronizing…but she is. Not a tweed wearer she dresses elegantly and glides like a galleon.
Elaine, 20ish. The beautician. Another patronizing woman who thinks beauty just for the young.
Liam, Late 20’s ish!! Would rather be directing other things than photoshoots for washing powder! There is a resigned patience to his actions.
You notice the ages are all “ish” these are real people and the age is almost immaterial.
The team:
Director Anne Lane 01905 775083 07885626958
Stage Manager Kathryn Hooper.
Prompt Jen Cox
The set build will be in the capable hands of Brian Hooper.
There will another chance to read through the play on Friday 14th September 7.30 in the Green Room. Although this will not be an audition, please let Anne know if there is a part you would particularly like to read.
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