Staged Reading and Auditions Information
Grinder Productions is kicking off our "Anchors and Sails" season with two events on Saturday, March 1st: a staged reading of a short play, Shackled to a Corpse, and a round of open auditions. This month I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk a little more about them both.
First, the reading. This is a chance to provide some feedback on a play in progress. We will begin with a staged reading of the text, and then follow it with a guided discussion. We will be using a process called "Critical Response Protocol" to help structure the feedback. It doesn't require people to make quick "I liked it/I didn't like it" responses, which are of little value on their own. Instead, the facilitator (ideally not me) provides everyone with a series of open-ended questions, inviting them to respond authentically to the work, and at a measured pace. This allows the participants to easily think about the work in a deeper, more satisfying way, and for the playwright it provides a wealth of information about what works and what doesn't within their story.
If this reading goes well we'll do two more sessions like it later on in the year, on the Saturday mornings of our summer rentals, with plays written by others. If you have a play that you would like considered for one of those readings, let me know, and if you can, come out for this one to see how the process works.
The afternoon will be devoted to open auditions for our upcoming shows. From 1pm to 2:30 it will be an open audition - everyone will be in a single group, and we'll read from various scripts - no preparation or registration required. From 2:30 to 4pm we'll hold one-on-one auditions, for people who prefer to deliver a prepared audition piece. Slots are 10 minutes each, and preregistration is required for those. Spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
I know a lot of people who come out to auditions want to know more about the specific roles. Here's a brief list of the parts I know I need to cast at this time. But there may be more - I have a few other projects that aren't confirmed yet, so even if I can't cast you in any of these shows, I may be able to find a role for you somewhere else later on:
Love Song: Show dates TBA, but sometime in June, at the Elora Community Theatre rehearsal space, a small part of a larger show of short theatre, music, dance, etc.
Synopsis - this is loosely-adapted staging of TS Eliot's poem, "The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock"
Roles:
Johann: a middle-aged man
Vivienne: a fashionable middle-aged woman
Esme: an unfashionable young woman
Mary: a sensible woman
Electra: (Euripides' version) July 18th and 19th, Ennotville Library
Synopsis - Electra and her brother Orestes plot the murder of their mother and stepfather, in order to avenge the deaths of their father Agamemnon and sister Iphegenia
Roles:
Electra: Female-identifying, mid-20's
Orestes: Male-identifying, mid-20's
One other actor, any age or gender, to play all other non-chorus speaking roles, and possibly do some puppet work portraying various mute characters
Chorus: a typical Greek Chorus was composed of 50 men and 50 boys, but in our case we don't have that much room. This casting is very flexible. We need at least one actor to speak the Chorus lines, but could use some additional people if desired, with or without lines, to help use movement to tell the story. In Euripides' play the Chorus represent the women of Argos, where the play takes place.
Maid of Stone: July 25th and 26th, Ennotville Library
Synopsis - set in the not-too-distant dystopian future, this is the story of brilliant-but-troubled chemist-turned-pharmaceutical CEO and her relationships with her mother and her daughter, told as a series of flashbacks as the world descends into a neo-fascist hell-scape. All three characters will need to play a range of ages.
Roles:
Maiden: late 20’s, with flashbacks to mid-teens. When the play opens she's cheerful and optimistic, despite the circumstances. She looks the very picture of health, and exudes a quiet confidence.
Mother: early 40’s with flashbacks to mid-teens. A bit headstrong, but very clever, if not always wise. She has a lot of layers, and we're never really sure where the self-delusion stops and the 'real' person begins.
Matriarch: over 60, with flashbacks several decades. Think the waitress from Supertramp's "Breakfast in America" album, only sadder. Despite her lifetime of struggles she's smarter than she looks, and smarter than most people give her credit for.
The Constant Lover, by St. John Hankin, September 28th, part of Just Play, a free Culture Days event at the Fergus Grand Theatre, time TBA
Synopsis - A pair of young lovers meet under a tree, and find out that they have very different ideas of what love is supposed to be.
Roles:
Evelyn: a lovely young lady, late teens or early 20's. She's prim, proper, polite, but not a prude.
Cecil: a charming young man, early to mid 20's. He's quick-witted, authentic, and astonishingly happy with life.
Comments