[Capdist-auditions] Ghent Playhouse auditions for Ayckbourn's "How the Other Half Love"

[Judy Staber]

The Ghent Playhouse

6 Town Hall Place         Off Route 66

Ghent, NY 12075

 

January 13, 2014

 

GHENT PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS FOR ALAN AYCKBOURN’S “HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES”

 

The Ghent Playhouse invites interested actors to audition for the fourth production of the 2013-2014 season:

 “How the Other Half Loves” by Alan Ayckbourn

 

Performance dates: March 21, 22, 23; 28,29,30; and April 4, 5, 6

Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Audition dates: January 27 and 28 at 7:00pm. (Sign in at 6:30)

at The Ghent Playhouse off Route 66 in Ghent, New York

Audition sides will be provided.

For questions, please contact the director, Sky Vogel: skyvogel at aol.com      

 

Synopsis

Frank is an upper-level manager in a nondescript business office. He is married to Fiona. The two of them are comfortable in life, though Fiona is a bit bored. Frank, it should be added, is a bit dim.

 

Bob and Terry are a young couple with an infant child. Bob works for Frank. Terry spends her days writing letters to newspaper editors trying, without much success, to right one or more of society’s wrongs. She could be a better mother.

Bob is sleeping with Fiona. Bob could be a better husband.

 

In an attempt to provide cover for a late night rendezvous, Bob tells Terry he has been out offering counsel to a co-worker, William, supposedly distraught because his wife, Mary, has been having an affair. This seems a little more than odd considering Mary is mousy, plain, and meek. William, himself no prince of partying, may also be up to sexual shenanigans. At least so suspects Frank, who, as mentioned, is not the sharpest cheddar in the pantry.

 

In an effort to manage the situation, Frank invites William and Mary to his and Fiona’s home for dinner. Terry also wants to ride to the rescue and plays dinner hostess to William and Mary on a subsequent evening. I say “subsequent,” but we see “simultaneous.”

Hilarity ensues.

Bob storms out to get drunk.  Terry storms out to get Bob.  William’s buttoned-down composure pops several buttons.   Mary has a most massive meltdown.

 Fiona discovers that cougars are better left in Africa.  Frank considers early retirement. The baby receives his baptism by fire, otherwise known as The Stage.

Character Breakdown

 

FRANK (50s) – Pleasant and affable with a can-do spirit. Tends toward pomposity and bloviation. Has others’ best interest at heart. However, being prone to absent-mindedness he may not actually remember what those are. Obliviously married to...

 

FIONA (40s-50s) – Smart, attractive, stylish. A typical day might consist of a visit to the salon, lunch with a girlfriend or two, maybe some time at a favorite boutique. Oh, and a quick tryst with...

 

BOB (20s-30s) – Handsome and smooth, but a bit like a word that rhymes with "crass pole". Looks in the mirror and sees one remarkable specimen (who can't see that his shirttail is not tucked in). Somehow got married to...

 

TERRY (20s) – Cute and vibrant. Not very domestic. A frustrated idealist, looking to take part in any number of social causes. Might be forgetting she's got quite a bit already going on, what with being a new mother to the infant child...

 

BENJAMIN (0 or so) – An infant child.*

WILLIAM (30s) – An adult child. Quite self-satisfied in that I-know-what-it's-all-about way. Not a bad guy, but pretty much one shade of gray. Also a touch domineering - something he can only safely get away with when married to someone like...

MARY (30s) – Shy, plain, socially awkward. However, when given room to breathe, she can be sweet and caring. With a little sun (no, not like Benjamin), and some determined self-pruning, it's only a matter of time before she comes fully to bloom.

*Note: Benjamin is an unheard & unseen offstage presence. No babies are used (or harmed) in the making of this play.

Visit the Ghent Playhouse website: www.ghentplayhouse.org

 
Judy Staber



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