Auditions MELANCHOLY PLAY by Sarah Ruhl at Old Academy Players

Auditions Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl at Old Academy Players

On Saturday September 10, 2016 at 11 am, auditions for the January 2017 production of Melancholy Play, written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Jane Jennings, will be held at Old Academy Players [www.oldacademyplayers.org], 3544 Indian Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129. Performance Dates are January 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29, 2017. The cast must also be available for snow dates on Fri Feb 3 and Sat Feb 4. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8 pm and Sunday matinées are at 2 pm. Rehearsals will begin in early October, 2016.

Wanted: 3 Women, 2 Men, & 1 Cellist – Male or Female

ACCENTS REQUIRED: British for the character Joan & an unspecified European language for the character Lorenzo

Old Academy Players welcomes new talent! Old Academy Players is a Non-Profit Community Theater and roles are non-paid. All roles are open for casting and descriptions of the characters are listed below. Download and complete the Audition Form http://www.oldacademyplayers.org/sites/default/files/Form%20-%20Auditions.pdf in advance.

About the play

This is an unusual and non-traditional piece. The playwright calls the play "a contemporary farce". The tone is one of absolute sincerity, which serves both to heighten the comic absurdities, and present the characters' emotions with true poignancy. The style is at once poetic, comic and melodramatic.

Those auditioning will be asked to perform cuttings from the script. Cuttings from the script with be posted shortly at http://www.oldacademyplayers.org/auditions .

At auditions actors will be asked to sing a simple song of their choice, without accompaniment. Although this play is not a musical, singing is required in the script. Most singing is in a group; however, there are solo lines. Actors should be able to carry a tune well, without accompaniment, and with confidence, in a pleasant, non-belting voice.

Characters: Though they are quite sincere and very serious about their concerns, every character has a quirky comic sensibility.

Tilly (age 25-45) is a single woman who works as a bank teller. Her unique melancholy is strangely attractive to everyone she meets. She has a keen sense of the beauty and poignancy of life.

Frank (age 25-50) is a tailor and Tilly's lover. Frank loves and appreciates Tilly's special view of the world.

Lorenzo - age 30-65. Tilly's psychiatrist. Lorenzo "has an unidentifiable Italian accent". In his youth, he "spoke an unspecified European language". ***The actor must demonstrate an appropriate accent in the audition. Lorenzo is happy, unlike those in the European culture where he grew up, where existential angst was the norm. He felt like an outsider, so he moved to Illinois where he believed his happiness would fit in. Lorenzo is the most overtly comic character in the play.

Frances (age 30-50) is a soulful hairdresser who used to be a physicist. Though she lives with her partner, Joan, she falls in love with Tilly while cutting her hair.

Joan (age 35-60) is a nurse and Frances' partner, a caretaker type. She is initially jealous of Tilly, but when she meets her, falls for her like everyone else. Joan is British and the actor must demonstrate a British accent in the audition.

Julian is a real cellist. (any age, male or female) The playwright suggests that Julian be "handsome and brooding", and "from a foreign country". This would be ideal, but any willing and accomplished cellist will be considered. Julian is on stage during the entire play, playing emotional and passionate music at designated moments. Julian has only a few lines, and can be played by a man or a woman. Acting experience is preferable but not essential.

***Julian will not be required at rehearsals, with a few exceptions, until December, 2016.

***Please bring your cello to the audition, and be prepared to play one or two short pieces or excerpts.

Old Academy Players, a member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community theater in East Falls (Philadelphia), the urban village on the Schuylkill River. Constructed in 1819, the Old Academy building has been the OAP home since 1932. Old Academy Players, providing continuous community theater since 1923, featured the acting debuts of both Grace Kelly and Robert Prosky.

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