PLEASE NOTE: This play is being auditioned well in advance
of the beginning of rehearsals to afford extra time for the actors
selected to memorize lines and prepare for the rehearsal period,
which will begin in March. Due to the length of this play (running
time approx. 3 hrs 20 min), the rehearsal period has been expanded
to approximately ten weeks.
About the show
The play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan
that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when the
alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths
and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with its
matriarch, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center
of this storm. For all family members, the through line of their
lives is, as Barbara says, "I am in pain. I need help".
The extent of that objective varies from extreme to repressed,
but overall this is a disjointed family in major disrepair. As
such, emotions are often naked, funny and tragic.
Auditions
The show is performed by a cast of six men, six
woman and one fourteen year-old girl. Auditions will be comprised
of readings from the script. Reading the play in advance is strongly
recommended. The play is written in three acts and is performed
with two intermissions. All roles in the play are available.
BEVERLY WESTON - late 60s to early 70s, the father
and patriarch of the Weston family. An alcoholic and former poet.
VIOLET WESTON - mid to late 60s, the mother
and matriarch of the Weston family. She is addicted to several
prescription drugs, mostly depressants and narcotics.
BARBARA FORDHAM - mid 40s, the oldest daughter
of the Weston family. Her marriage is on the rocks, and she has
the intense need to control everything around her as it falls
apart.
IVY WESTON - mid 40s, the middle daughter of
the Weston family. Known as "Mom's favorite", and the
only daughter to stay in Oklahoma.
KAREN WESTON - late 30s to early 40s, the youngest
daughter in the Weston family. She is newly engaged to be married.
BILL FORDHAM - late 40s to early 50s, Barbara's
estranged husband and Jean's father. A college professor who is
having an affair with one of his students.
JEAN FORDHAM - age 14 but looks 17-18, Bill
and Barbara's daughter. She smokes pot and cigarettes, is a vegetarian,
loves old movies, and is bitter about her parents' split.
STEVE HEIDEBRECHT - early 50s, Karen's fianc¨¦.
A businessman (actually, a Middle East arms dealer) and revealed
to be not the "perfect man" that Karen thinks he is.
MATTIE FAE AIKEN - mid to late 50s, Violet's
sister, Charlie's wife and Little Charles' mother. Equally as
jaded as her sister.
CHARLIE AIKEN - age 59-60, husband of Mattie
Fae and the presumed father of Little Charles. A slim, genial
man and a lifelong friend of Beverly.
LITTLE CHARLES - mid 30s, son of Mattie Fae and
presumably Charlie (later revealed to have been fathered by Beverly.)
Treated as the family "screw-up."
JOHNNA MONEVATA - age 25-26, a Cheyenne (Native
American) woman, and the Weston's newly hired live-in housekeeper.
SHERIFF DEON GILBEAU - late 40s, a high-school
classmate and former boyfriend of Barbara's.
Production Schedule
| rehearsals
begin |
March 7 (tentative) |
| previews
|
May 15, 17 & 18 |
| public
opening |
May 19, 2011 |
| performance
run commitment |
May
19 - June 5 (14 performances), Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at
7pm, Saturdays at 7pm, and Sundays at 4pm. There is a possible
holdover of two performances internal to the original three-week
run: Wednesday, May 25 at 7pm, and Wednesday, June 1at 7pm.
|
Performances will be held at Manoa
Valley Theatre. Rehearsals will be held at Iolani School, 563
Kamoku Street (near Kapiolani & Date). The rehearsal schedule
will generally be Mondays through Fridays from 6:30 to 9:30 pm,
and weekends as necessary. Cast members will uniformly receive
an honorarium to help defray the out-of-pocket expenses associated
with volunteerism and participation in this production. This honorarium
is not an offer of employment.
About The Director
Glenn Cannon
(Guest Director) has been a professor of theatre at the University
of Hawaii/Manoa for the past 42 years. He received his theatre
training in New York from Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen, and has
performed on Broadway as well as leading roles in professional
and community theatre. He has guest directed extensively in Hawaii
at the University of Hawaii, Army Community Theatre, Diamond Head
Theatre and Manoa Valley Theatre including such productions as
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Streetcar Named Desire,
A View From the Bridge, Anna Christie, Long Day's Journey Into
Night, Rhinoceras and The Crucible.
Script Perusals and More Information
Scripts are available for perusal on premises at
the Manoa Valley Theatre business office, 2833 East Manoa Road,
between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm, Mondays through Fridays. For more
information please call MVT at 988-6131.
Mahalo
to our Show Sponsors
Sunshine Arbor Care, Inc.
Watumull Stores
Mahalo to our Seasonwide Sponsors
for 2010-11
Richard Aadland Trust
Cades Schutte and The Cades Foundation
Hawaiian Airlines
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Iolani School
Island Television KITV
Oceanic Time Warner Cable
Toyota Hawaii
To return to
the main auditions page, please click here.
Download a blank audition registration form and production schedule
by clicking here.
