Auditions for new production

Home on Deranged
Three short comedies by Chris Sheppard and Jeff Grove

Monday, July 14 at 7pm.
 

Players By-The-Sea
106 Sixth Street North
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

Rehearsals will begin July 21.

Performances: August 15-17 and 21-23 in the Studio

Seeking an ensemble of roughly 8-10 actors to double/triple across all three plays. Auditions by cold readings; see below for information on reading two of the scripts in advance.

Dinner With the MacGuffins (running time 20-25 mins.)

Synopsis: At first glance, this is a typical family comedy: teenage James and girlfriend Karen try to make out one afternoon, only to face repeated interruptions by other members of Jame's family. But the ultimate interruption breaks the "fourth wall" so that James can see the spectators. As James tries to convince his increasingly worried family that a wall is missing from their house, and that people are watching them, the play takes more left turns than Bugs Bunny should have taken at Albuquerque until it reaches a happy (if twisted) ending.

To read virtually the entire play online free of charge, go to www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=523 and click Read sample.

Cast:

• James the son, an all-American teen-ager, smart enough, nice-looking, a decent athlete.
   
• Karen the girlfriend, another all-American teen-ager, smart enough, etc., etc., etc.
• Helen the mother, June Cleaver for the 21st century
• Grandpa an ornery but lovable old codger, convinced that everything was better in his day, and that the world is going to hell in a handbasket
• Dwight the father, Ward Cleaver for the 21st century
• Agent Smith representing the shadowy and perhaps sinister Federal Containment Bureau (may be male or female)
• Agent Wesson also representing the Federal Containment Bureau (may be male or female)One additional performer (may be male or female) with strong improvisational skills

And Your Mama, Too! (running time 20-25 mins.)

Synopsis: Typecasting can be a real pain for a performer, as a middle-aged actress realizes in this fast-paced, surreal farce. Our heroine, perpetually cast as mothers, dozes off while running lines at home, only to be visited in her dreams by her children from plays in her past. Harangued by figures from such disparate shows as Medea, The Music Man, and The Glass Menagerie, she frantically searches for a way out of her theatrical nightmare. This play was written as a tribute to Jacksonville actress Claire Backman, and is dedicated to her memory.

(Please note that while there are young children's roles in this play, and while we will be willing to consider actual youngsters for those roles, we may make the purely artistic decision to stylize those roles, and to have them played by teenagers or adults.)

To read virtually the entire play online free of charge, go to www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=826 and click Read sample.

Cast:

• The Mother middle-aged, friendly (ideally able to do Brooklyn, Irish and American Southern dialects)
• The Daughter young adult
• Winthrop Paroo from The Music Man small boy who lisps (may double as Roo and/or one of Medea's sons)
• Laura Wingfield from The Glass Menagerie 20s, Southern, pathologically shy (may double as Rose and/or Chorus)
• Helen Keller from The Miracle Worker small girl (may double as Roo and/or one of Medea's sons)
• Annie Sullivan from The Miracle Worker 20s, may have slight Irish dialect (may double as Rose and/or Chorus)
• Walter Lee Younger from A Raisin in the Sun mid-30s (may double as Jonathan and/or Chorus; can be African-American, but doesn't have to be)
• Medea's sons from Medea two small boys (can be played by girls)
• Jason from Medea arrogant Greek mythical hero (may double as Mortimer)
• The Chorus from Medea flexibly sized group of men and women
• Jonathan Brewster from Arsenic and Old Lace serial killer who resembles Frankenstein's monster as played by Boris Karloff
• Mortimer Brewster from Arsenic and Old Lace high-strung theater-hating drama critic
• Roo from Winnie the Pooh small (child) kangaroo (may be played by a boy or a girl)
• Mama Rose from Gypsy the best Ethel Merman impersonator we can find (be that male or female), capable of belting out the score's I had a dream motif

Knockers (running time approx. 10 mins.)

Synopsis: Thomas answers his front door one day to meet Alma and Esther, two callers from a local church seeking converts. He invites them in, saying that he is between religions at the moment, and they begin their spiel. His answers to their questions aren't quite what they expect, however, and Esther, new to all of this, grows befuddled enough that Alma must intervene. Soon, the intensity of Thomas interest outpaces even the ladies devotion to their mission, and he begins to unnerve them. Just when it seems that things can't get any more intimidating for the hapless missionaries, Thomas lobs them his biggest curve-ball yet. The play's turnabout ending will gain sympathetic nods from anyone who has ever suffered an onslaught of door-to-door solicitors. This production will be this play's world premiere.

Cast:

• Thomas a nice, friendly, ordinary guy, but with more than you bargained for lurking underneath
• Alma a missionary trainer for the Church of the Eternal Spirit
• Esther a missionary trainee for the Church of the Eternal Spirit
• Drew another nice, friendly, ordinary guy