AUDITIONS: Blue Stockings
Audition Notice-Blue Stockings
by Jessica Swale
Playing Dates: 3rd – 11th April 2020
Director – Aisling Tigwell
Audition Notice:
Sunday 27th October 2019 3pm at The Stables Theatre
Set over the academic year of 1896 to 1897, ‘Blue Stockings’ takes place in and around Girton College Cambridge. Girton, was the first college to admit women in 1869. However, whilst their male counterparts could graduate the women cannot. The women face the stigma of being called a ‘Blue Stocking’ an unnatural educated woman and not one that any man would want to marry. ‘Blue Stockings’ follows four young women and their teachers as they fight for their right to graduate alongside their male counterparts. They face prejudice, the class divide and the pressure to conform to society’s expectations of women.
There will be a read through in December before rehearsals start in full in January. I would encourage people of any racial or ethnic background to audition for these roles. If you have any questions about the auditions or cannot make the audition date, please contact the director, Aisling Tigwell, on aislingtigwell@hotmail.co.uk
The Girton Students
Tess Moffat – playing age 20- 30 Audition pages: 42-44, 46-48, 49-53, 102-103
Tess is the central character of the play. The audience see the action of the play through her eyes. She is conflicted between wanting to study science and also the desire to have children and get married. She is also not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. For example, she questions Dr Maudsley’s views around hysteria in women.
Celia Wilibond – playing age- 20-30 Audition pages: 46-48, 102-103
Is the most conventional of the four Girton Girls in terms of what the Victorian stereotype of what a woman should be. Celia is not a risk taker and much more likely to follow the rules of the society set for her. Celia has fought hard to keep her place at Girton and will not allow anyone to distract her from her studies.
Carolyn Addison – playing age 20 -30 Audition pages: 46-48, 73-75
Is the most eccentric and bohemian of the Girton students. She is well travelled and frequently mentions her travels when talking to the others. She is relatively carefree and is much more willing to break and bend society’s rules. She is most affluent of the four Girton girls.
Maeve Sullivan – playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 46-48 and 60-62
She keeps herself to herself and is probably the most naturally intelligent of all the Girton students. She does not come from an affluent background and is at Girton as she has a generous benefactor. When tragedy strikes Maeve her family background is revealed and provides an emotional end to the first half of the play. It would be nice to see a regional dialect for Maeve.
The Male Students
Ralph Mayhew – playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 49-53, 95-99
A second year student at Trinity College, Ralph is a romantic and a scientist who falls in love with Tess. He does have sympathy towards women studying at Cambridge but ultimately he bows to pressure from his father in deciding who to marry.
Will Bennett – playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 42-44, 95-99
Tess’s friend from childhood, he feels very protective of her. He is initially not very supportive of the women’s cause but by the end of the play is one of the few men who support a woman’s right to a degree. He eventually confesses his love for Tess. He is a second year at King’s which makes him more of an outsider to the other male students and is treated as such.
Lloyd- playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 86-89, 95-99
A second year student at Trinity, he is the most vocal of the male students in his opposition to women gaining the right to graduate and is cruellest to the girls. He is scared of the changes that might be coming and that he might be undermined by the female students.
Holmes- playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 22, 86-89, 95-99
Another second year student at Trinity, he comes from a very privileged background. He expresses some similar views to Lloyd but is maybe not quite as fearful and cruel.
Edwards – playing age 20-30 Audition pages: 22 86—89, 95-99
He is a little bit more welcoming to Will and shows glimpses of being more sympathetic to the women but he is shut down by Lloyd and Holmes.
The Staff
Elizabeth Welsh – playing age 40+ Audition pages: 58-62, 67 and 113
One of only two characters in the play who actually existed, Elizabeth Welsh was mistress of Girton college. Mrs Welsh is an interesting character who is committed to the fight to allow the women to graduate and thus views the suffragettes as a distraction and discourages the girls from attending any suffragette meetings.
Mr Banks – playing age 40+ Audition pages: 69-72
The most sympathetic of all the male characters to the women’s fight to graduate. He ultimately pays the price with the establishment for choosing to educate the Girton women.
Miss Blake – playing age 35+ Audition pages: 58-62
One of the teachers at Girton, she has committed her life to the pursuit of education and has remained unmarried. She is sympathetic to the suffrage movement and is ultimately made to choose between Girton and fighting for the vote.
Minnie– Any age 16+ Audition pages: 47-48
The Maid of Girton College she looks after all of the Girton Students.
Roles which will have a Double
Dr Maudsley/ Professor Anderson – playing age 50+ Audition pages: 14 and 69-72
Dr Maudlesy is the other character in the play based on a person who actually existed. He was a leading psychiatrist of his time. He comes to Trinity to deliver a lecture and clashes with Tess over hysteria in women. Professor Anderson is the a Cambridge Professor who recommends Mr Banks for Tenure.
Miss Bott/ Mrs Lindlay – playing age 45+ Audition pages: 73-75 and 86-89
Miss Bott is the girl’s chaperone she may at first seem like she is a stickler for the rules but there is more to her than that. Mrs Lindlay runs the haberdashery shop.
Professor Collins/ Mr Peck – playing age 40+ Audition pages: 69-72 and page 81
Professor Collins is one of the professors who interviews Mrs Banks to get the job at Trinity. Mr Peck is the groundskeeper at Girton. Has some funny moments with Carolyn.
Professor Radleigh/ librarian and the waiter. – playing age 40+ Audition pages: 69-72
A professor who interviews Mr Banks about the full time position at Trinity.
Billy Sullivan – Audition Pages: 58-59
Maeve’s brother who comes to visit Girton following a family tragedy. This role will be played by one of the actors playing Lloyd, Holmes or Edwards.
AUDITIONS: PRESSURE
PRESSURE
by David Haig
Production Dates 7th to 15th February 2019
Director Carol Hunt
Assistant Director Christopher Cook
Audition Notice: Sunday 13th October 6pm
It’s June 2nd 1944. The clock is ticking down. In 72 hours, 350,000 troops are to cross the Channel in operation Overlord. The fate of the 350,000, the future of Britain, Europe and the United States rests on one single weather forecast.
David Haig’s story is about the unsung heroes. Packed in its tightening isobars are the personal battles and pressures of responsibility that weigh heavily on those who must make the decisions. Two meteorologists with different forecasts. One General whose decision is about to change the course of history.
Dr James Stagg – Chief meteorologist for the Allied Forces
A Scotsman, mid 40’s, dour, brusque and initially not easy to warm to but his integrity and tenacity will capture the audience as the play progresses. Scottish accent. Audition pages 20 to 23 plus 45 to 47.
Colonel Irving Krick – Chief meteorologist for the United States Armed Forces
Late 30’s. Confident, smart, charismatic. The first celebrity weatherman. American accent. Audition pages 20 to 23 plus 59 to 61.
Flight-Lieutenant Andrew Carter – from the Met Office.
Young enthusiast and immediately likeable perhaps a little effeminate. Excited to be working with the well-respected Stagg. Efficient. On the ball. Audition pages 7 and 8 plus 83 to 85.
Lieutenant Kay Summersby – Eisenhower’s chauffer and unofficial aide and confidante.
Late 30’s. Attractive, vivacious, loyal and capable. Her close relationship with Eisenhower becomes apparent as the story unfolds. Possibly a slight Anglo-Irish accent. Audition pages 70 to 75.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) – Allied Supreme Commander with sole responsibility for the D-Day landings.
Mid 50’s. A heavy smoker. He walks with an occasional limp from a knee injury. He has a more relaxed ‘American’ style than his British contemporaries but he is nobody’s fool. Fair, respected. A married man who must deal with his feelings for Kay. American accent. Audition pages 45 to 47, 72 to 75 plus 96 and 97.
The following roles are doubled:
Lieutenant Battersby/Captain Johns
Age 30s. Keen, efficient. Audition pages 87 to 89 (Battersby). Pages 106 and 107 (Capt. Johns).
Commander Franklin/General ‘Tooey’ Spaatz
Mid 50’s. Spaatz is sceptical of Stagg’s forecast and inclined to trust Krick who he has worked with before. He displays nervous energy. Believes D-Day should go ahead as planned. American accent. Audition page 33 to 37 plus 79 (Spaatz). Pages 87 to 89 (Franklin).
Electrician/Admiral Bertram Ramsay (Bertie)
Early 60’s. Electrician. Stolid, chatty. A wonderful cameo role. Audition pages 27 to 29. Bertie. Level, realistic. Voice of reason. Audition pages 33 to 37 plus 79.
Air Chief Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Early 50’s. Serious, considering. Dignified. Audition pages 33 to 37 plus 79.
Naval Meteorologist
Young. Smart. Keen. Audition pages 8 and 9.
If you would like more information on the play in general or any of the roles please call:
Carol Hunt 01797 260898
Mémoires d’un Amnésique
Somewhere in between a play, a piano recital and a film, Mémoires d’un Amnésique tells the story of Erik Satie.
Composed around the turn of the Twentieth century, Satie’s works (including his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes) are some of the best loved pieces in the repertoire today, and have paved the way for many important musical genres of the modern era.
Rubbing shoulders with luminaries of the time such as Picasso and Cocteau, his life was every bit as intriguing and eccentric as his music.
Alex Metcalfe plays Erik Satie at the piano. Film by Keith Lovegrove.
Part of the Hastings Fringe Festival.
Storm Glass
Storm is sitting on a cushion on the floor of the dusty old attic. It is a very still, hot afternoon. The old trunk lid is open and strewn around her are an array of very old and rather odd items. She surveys them, and then picks out a faded and tattered old photograph – a sepia snapshot of some long forgotten tea party. Rows of smiling adults and children, all waving flags underneath fluttering bunting. Tracing her finger across the picture, she makes up names in her head for each smiling child. If only she knew their real names, but sadly she knows only one – Harry. Great, Great, Grandad Harry. There he is – sitting cross legged at the front, grinning. And next to him – another little smiling boy waving a flag– who was he? Maybe a long lost uncle? She wishes she knew. She’s always wished she knew, ever since she was big enough to climb the ladder to the attic. But no-one in the family knows anything about these mysterious people or where the picture was taken or the occasion. Only one thing is certain, soon after the picture was taken, everyone in it had to run away – but run away from what? They left to make a new life, her Dad said – but why?
Storm peers closer at the picture– she can just make out a strange ornate glass bottle in Harry’s hand – she looks down at the carpet and picks up what looks like the very same bottle. Her spine tingles, this is a mystery worth solving and she, Storm, will solve it! She tips the bottle slowly, but stops, just as a small gust of wind catches the edge of the photo… Storm smiles.
Written, choreographed and produced by Viv Wormley-Healing
It Runs In The Family
by Ray Cooney.
Set in a hospital, ‘It Runs in the Family’ contains the usual assortment of farcical nuts running in and out of doors mistaking everybody for someone else, as Dr. Mortimore tries to fend off a paternity suit, an ex wife, a punkish son and various other lunatics so that he may, at last, deliver the Ponsonby Lecture in an international conference.
A Stables Theatre production directed by Lyndsey Meer.
Cast
Dr. David Mortimore – Matt Davis
Dr. Mike Connolly – Richard Smith
Dr. Hubert Bonney – Stephen Whitehead
Matron – Pauleen McLaughlin
Lady Wilhelmina Drake – Julia Allen
Jane Tait – Megan Skinner
Rosemary Mortimore – Clare Murray
Leslie – Dan Palmer
Sister – Yvonne Rees
Police Sergeant – Alan Haynes
Bill -David Ames
Mother – Christine Spencer
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With grateful thanks to Mark and Andy at
for supplying a very important part of our set!
Old Souls
A heartwarming comedy play following Rosie and Vera who are brought together through a Befriend the Elderly scheme. Rosie: a 21-year-old amateur baker, living a self-imposed life of solitary dullness, and Vera: a 78-year-old who longs for the vivacious days of her youth. Can cakes and Irish coffee really bridge their generational gap?
Check in on these Old Souls in this hilarious new play by writer and comedian Vicki Sargent.
‘Comedy gold’ **** (Mumble Comedy).
Part of the Hastings Fringe Festival.
A Few Good Men
By Aaron Sorkin. Part of the Hastings Fringe Festival.
From the writer of The West Wing and The Newsroom.
“Enormously entertaining” New York Daily News.
While A Few Good Men is best remembered as the blockbusting film starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, it started life on Broadway. It tells the story of a court case where the military establishment tries to cover up the murder of a young marine by his fellow soldiers.
A callow young lawyer, Lt Daniel Kaffee, attempts to convince the court that the imposing Colonel Jessup is guilty of conspiracy – and in so doing puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honour on trial.
Honeysuckles Only Smell in the Evening
The premiere of a new Nordic Noir comedy, by the acclaimed Swedish novelist and playwright, Annika Banfield.
Sweden, the present day. Lennart and Monika have moved to a new house in the forest, where Monika has persuaded her husband to retire. She has invited their new neighbours, but an evening of harmless fun prompts surprising disclosures and uncovers life-changing secrets before the final skeleton rattles out of a very dark closet.
Part of the Hastings Fringe Festival.
