Dad's Army

SHOW Dates:  Monday 5th until Saturday 10th of May in the Oak Theatre          

AUDITIONS:

Sunday the 2nd of March from 2pm-4pm.

Oberon Rehearsal room at TFT, St Margaret's Lane.

IF unable to make audition but interested in taking part:

email Sam on email below.

Dad's Army, the staple British comedy of the 60s and 70s, returns to the stage at Titchfield Festival Theatre. This hilarious and entertaining show is perfect for audiences of all ages. Set once again in the small coastal town of Walmington-on-Sea, the play follows the Home Guard platoon as they prepare to face a new threat from the German army. With performances taking place during the 80th anniversary of VE Day, this production is a fitting tribute to Britain’s enduring wartime spirit and humour in the face of its darkest hour.

DIRECTOR: Sam Crosby

Email: samcrosby@live.co.uk

Characters in the platoon: (playing ages)

• Captain Mainwaring - Male 35+. Manager of the town bank and leader of the platoon. Thinks highly of himself, pompous, admired and ridiculed by others in equal parts
• Sergeant Wilson - Male 35+. Chief clark at the town bank. Upper class, softly spoken, gentle
• Lance Corporal Jones - Male 40+. Very keen to be involved, willingness often replaces any actual competency
• Private Frazer - Male 35+. Scotsman, purveyor of doom
• Private Godfrey Male 40+. Platoon’s medic. Constantly in need of the toilet and/or a nap
• Private Walker (18-30) Wheeler dealer, lady’s man. Cockney spiv
• Private Pike (18-30) Bank Clerk. Naive, soppy, mummy’s-boy
• Private Sponge - Male Any age.
• Private Hancock - Male Any age.
• Private Bracewell - Male Any age.

Speaking Roles:

• ARP Warden - Male 30+. Captain Mainwaring’s nemesis, short tempered
• Mrs Pike - Female 35+. Over protective of Pike, has a semi-secret relationship with Wilson
• Mr Yeatman - The Verger - Male 30+. Protective of the church that the platoon sometimes neglects
• Colonel - Male 35+. Stern and imposing by his seniority in rank.
• U-Boat Captain - Male 21+. German, patriotic and very cunning
• Mrs Fox - Female 35+. A charming and flirtatious widow
• Mrs King - Female 18+. Bank clerk, friendly and cheeky
• Mrs Yeatman - Female 30+. Wife to The Verger. Impatient and jealous, clashes with platoon members
• Vicar - Male 30+. Kind-hearted albeit scatterbrained.
• Dolly Godfrey - Female 40+. Nurturing and caring sibling of Private Godfrey

Also varying non-speaking roles

Shakespeare in Love

SHOW DATES:

Tues 27th May – Thurs 29th May - The Great Barn

Sun 1st June – Thurs 5th June - The Great Barn

AUDITION DATES:

Mon 24th Feb. & Tues 25th Feb. - 7.30pm – 10pm

Mon 3rd March & Tues 4th March - 7.30pm – 10pm

LOCATION: Upstairs rehearsal room at TFT, St Margaret’s Lane.

DIRECTOR: Malcolm Bain

Email: Malcolm.bain56@btinternet.com

Will Shakespeare M (23-30) - Leading Man. Has writers block. Meets and falls in Love with Viola. Imagine a young Kevin directing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ where only Janette and myself turn up at the auditions, but he still bulldozes on, dodges, weaves and against all odds manages to produce a masterpiece.

Viola de Lesseps F (18-25) - Leading Lady. Intelligent, smart and loves the theatre. Falls in Love with Will. Needs to be able to pass as a boy and still look feminine in a dress. Think of ‘Bob’ in Blackadder and you will get the idea. Viola will be the most important and first part to cast and a big ask of any actor. No pressure then.

Nurse F (40+) - Nursie has been looking after Olivia since birth so should look around 20 years older. Loyal to a fault she acts as a line-backer against Wessex when Romeo and Olivia are in the bedroom. Somewhere between Mrs Doubtfire and Nursie in Blackadder.

Kit Marlow M (25+) - Popular playwright. Friend and competitor of Will and helps him to woo Viola. Laid back and bit of a lad. Stabbed to death in a bar brawl, so suitable for anyone who fancies himself as the very first TOWIE.

Queen Elizabeth F(40-Frankie) - Smaller role, only two scenes – but be honest, you’ve seen the clips on You Tube and you want to be Judi Dench – go for it girl!

Henslowe M (35+) – Theatre owner. Regards playwrights as a necessary evil. Battles to keep his theatre open and the moneylender cutting bits off. Optimistic that everything will work out in the end, but has no idea why or how. Probably invented the phrase “It will be all right on the Night”.

Hugh Fennyman M (35+) - Moneylender and backer of ‘Romeo and Ethel the Pirates daughter’. Refers to the actors as ‘dregs’, but is stage-struck when he meets Ned and ends up with a part in the play. Happy to collect his interest in coin or body parts.

Ned Alleyn M (30-50) - Loud, imposing, gregarious lead actor of Henslowe’s company. Exceptionally talented and he knows it, he suggests to Will that the title should be changed to ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Always expects to be given the lead role. Possibly an ancestor of Nigel Dewsbury. Think OTT, flamboyant and totally awesome.

Richard BurbridgeM (35+) Theatre owner in competition with Henslowe. Presents plays for the Queen Elizabeth at the palace. Just as frantic as Henslowe and they probably buy their Valium from the same apothecary. Offers his theatre ‘The Curtain’ to Henslowe when The Rose’ is shut down.

Lord Wessex M (30+) - Penniless aristocrat of noble lineage who sees Olivia as a £4000 Kickstarter for his tobacco plantation in Virginia and as the mother of TNG chinless wonder. Goes bonkers when Will chats up Olivia. Suitable for someone who owns a snuff box and knows how to use it.

Sir Robert de LessepsM (40+) - Father of Olivia, who is quite happy to marry her off to Wessex for £5000 in exchange for his grandson becoming the next ‘Lord Wessex’.

Tilney M (40+) - Lord Chamberlain to the queen. Enforces the rules and revokes theatre charters at the slightest deviation. Has the classic line “That woman is a woman”! Pompous, entitled and finally gets put in his place by Queen Elizabeth.

Warbash M (40+) - Henslowe’s tailor to whom Henslowe owes money. Wants to be an actor and is given a part despite his obvious stutter. Delivers the prologue in the play.

Sam M (16+) - Young actor who plays Juliet. His voice breaks just before the show opens.

John Webster(14+) Wanabee actor who wants to be in the play. Gets kicked out by Will. Does not like ‘Romeo and Juliet’ except when she stabs herself. Loves the beheading in Titus and thinks all plays should be like this. An odious little scrote who snitches on everyone. Suitable for an up and coming member of the Goth subculture.

Boatman M/F (40+) - Typical London black cab driver. Fancies himself as a writer and gives Will a script the size of a brick. Doubles as Adam (one of the auditionees) and a musician.

Lambert M/F (25+) - Enforcer/muscle for Fennyman. Man of few words. Doubles as Guard and Musician.

Frees M/F (25+) - Accountant for Fennyman. Obsequious to a fault. Doubles as Robin (one of the auditionees) and the Musical director.

Ralph (18+) - Works as a pretentious waiter in ‘Ye Old Buck of Stars’ tavern while waiting for his next audition.

Nol (18+) - Works with Ralph and they possibly share digs in Cheapside. Doubles as Musician.

Peter (18+) - Another actor in the company who pops up from time to time.

Mistress Quickly F (25+) - Wardrobe Mistress with one line “Ready Sir”. Also has more lines as Molly, a ‘Lady of the Night’ who gives Sam the ‘House Speciality’ on his first night in the brothel/tavern.

Kate F (18+) - Younger work colleague of Molly who tries to give Olivia (as Kent) the same house special as Sam.

Ensemble: M/F Everyone from ‘Warbash’ down who is not doing anything at the time. This covers actors, musicians, attendants, guards, drinking buddies, general bodies, and anyone else that I may have missed. We will also need a couple of one liners: Barman “Straight up?”, Maestro “Ready”.

Spot M/F (6+) Oh yes, nearly forgot… we have a dog. “Never work with children or animals” is a well-known adage and I have plumped for the lesser of two evils and shall be offering this opportunity to some charming and talented members of one the TFT’s ubiquitous youth groups. Spot is in two scenes and causes mayhem. Spot may also randomly pop up to cause mayhem in other scenes – I have not got that far yet. Playing Spot won’t get you into LAMDA but it should be fun.

· Ages are a guideline.

· M/F are male parts but can be played by a female playing a man or a woman.

· All parts in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be played by a male except Olivia.

· No part has been cast or will be until after the final audition.

· Doubling, trebling or quadrupling will be very likely.

· Will and Olivia have to be comfortable delivering ‘Romeo and Juliet’ lines.

This is a very fast paced show with scene changes overlapping each other. How it will all work will depend on who and how many are in the cast. Characters are a bit hazy and this is deliberate. Most of the time an actor is in a better position to develop a character than the director is. Will, and to some extent Olivia, are more defined than most as there is a general expectation of who they are.