Auditions

BLITHE SPIRIT
by Noël Coward

Directed by Brad Friedman

AUDITION DATES:  Saturday, May 17 (12 – 5) and Sunday, May 18 (6 – 9)
 

CALLBACKS: Saturday, May 24 (12 – 5)
 

AUDITION NOTES:  Please prepare a 1 – 2-minute-long comic monologue. Noël Coward has a very particular style, arch and witty and veddy British, similar to Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest). In your choice of audition, try and match that style. British accents are welcome but not required.

Bring to the audition:

•     Resume and recent headshot

•     Calendar and schedule of conflicts

All inquiries, contact the director, Brad Friedman (ahsweetmysteryblog@gmail.com)
 

REHEARSALS:  Rehearsals will begin late July, depending on conflicts (July 22 or 29). 
We will rehearse Sundays, 6pm – 9pm and Mondays - Thursdays, 7pm – 10pm. In order for us to create the most effective schedule, you must supply all conflicts you have, especially as we will be rehearsing during the summer months.
 

PERFORMANCES: September 12 – 28. Show times are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:00pm.
 

LOCATION: Coastal Repertory Theatre, 1167 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA
 

All ethnicities, races, gender identities, body types are encouraged to audition.
 

NO PAY // NON AEA (small travel stipend available)
 

SYNOPSIS:                        

Charles Condomine, a successful mystery author, intends to set his next book in the world of fake spiritualism. In order to research the topic, he and his wife Ruth host a small dinner party where they invite a local medium named Madame Arcati to conduct a séance. The psychic’s efforts are a huge success: she manages to bring forth the spirit of Charles’ late first wife, Elvira, a mischievous sprite who has some shocking plans in store for her husband. The  question: can Charles, Ruth, and Madame Arcati exorcise this charming ghost before she can put her fatal plan in motion?
 

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
 

CHARLES CONDOMINE   (male presenting, late 30’s - early 40’s) A successful novelist. Charles is bright, sophisticated, articulate and debonair but somewhat at the mercy of his wives, both past and present. In the grand tradition of comedy, he is a practical man who doesn’t believe in the supernatural – until the supernatural takes over his life. Charles is torn between exasperation and egotism at having two nagging and adoring wives in his life.
 

RUTH CONDOMINE  (female presenting, mid-30’s – early 40’s) Charles’ second wife. Like her husband, Ruth is witty and sophisticated and quite the society matron. Unlike Charles, she has never married for love. Her first husband was elderly and rich. Charles is a charming and witty companion. Ruth can be a bit stuffy and predictable and becomes even more so when Elvira returns.
 

ELVIRA  (female presenting, late 20’s – early 30’s) The ghost of Charles’ first wife. A wildly attractive, madcap and totally self-centered  woman who quite enjoys being a ghost because it allows you to make mischief and have tea with Genghis Khan. She loved Charles in her own way when she was alive, but she also drove him crazy and continues to do so from the afterlife. Elvira likes to win! When she decides to reclaim Charles, it might have more to do with her jealousy of his still living, or that Ruth has him, than with any true feelings for her husband.
 

MADAME ARCATI (female presenting, anywhere from 40 to 70) A relative newcomer to the village and, like Charles, an author. She writes both whimsical children’s books and enthusiastic biographies of minor royal figures. On the side, she is a spiritualist and a medium, and quite a genuine one at that. Arcati is eccentric but quite energetic and boisterous, riding her bicycle around the countryside and always one to enjoy a good martini.
 

DR. GEORGE BRADMAN (male presenting, 50ish) A pleasant-looking middle-aged man who is a good social friend of the Condomines. His outlook on spiritualism is wholly skeptical – but he doesn’t let that stop him from having a jolly good time.
 

VIOLET BRADMAN (female presenting, late 40’s – 50’s) Dr. Bradman’s wife is fair and rather faded-looking. A simple and naïve woman, (perhaps a bit dotty?) she is quite excited about being in the presence of a medium, whom she finds fascinating.
 

EDITH (female presenting, early 20’s – 50’s) The Condomine’s new maid - perhaps new to service entirely. She is nervous and tears around at breakneck speed, trying to do things right and make a good impression but rarely succeeding. A lovely comic role.