A comedy written by Steven Moffat and directed by Andrew McGrath

Audition date: Sunday 5th October, 1-5pm.

Performance dates: Friday 13 – Saturday 21 March at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Sunday 15 and no performance on Monday 16.

Auditions are open to anyone and all are welcome!

Rehearsals are intended to start around end of October/start of November, with a 3 week break for Christmas. Rehearsal days will be subject to cast availability and negotiated after/during casting.

Synopsis:
A British couple run into a woman on holiday who is typically American – straightforward, extraverted and overly friendly. Before long she’s invited herself round to stay with them and their two kids when visiting a friend in England and they’re too polite to say no. They look her up online before she arrives only to find out that she’s hiding a murderous past, but before they can do anything she’s already knocking on the door! Can they get rid of her without seeming, well, impolite? And before she offers to cook dinner…

A high energy, hilarious and satirical look at the middle-class English instinct to always appear pleasant and accomodating, performed in Chichester in 2022, the West End in 2023 and now coming to Hastings in 2026!

The Characters:

Peter – Male, playing age 40-50, always slightly cross with a typically English critical, biting attitude.

Elsa – An older American woman, roughly 50s/60s, drawling, confident, unabashed, a powerful battleaxe.

Debbie – Female, playing age 40-50, teasing, sunny, but still with a tension running through her.

Alex – Male, teenager, grungy, solemn, phlegmatic.

The neighbor – Male, playing age 55-70, perfectly friendly but very gray, quite dismal and laboriously boring.

Rosie – Female, teenager, very nosy and a little selfish in that teenage way.

PC Junkin – Male/Female, playing age anywhere from 20s – 50s, portly, slow and pleasant.

Please be aware that you may be asked to do an American accent if you’re auditioning for Elsa – we’re not expecting perfection, but just give it your best shot! Excerpts will be handed out at the auditions, and scripts are available from the Stables Office for familiarisation.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!