Read-through/info evening: Wednesday 4th September 7:30pm

Auditions: Saturday 7th September 12:30pm and Wednesday 11th September 7:30pm

Contact Peter Hunt for a script - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 07840544121

FAQ:

• You only need attend one audition.
• The read-through/info evening is not mandatory, though you do get to meet the production team and hear their views and ideas.
• Audition pieces are not yet finalised - they are usually given out at the read-through and will be available online shortly afterwards...watch this space!
• Show dates are 16th-19th and 22nd-26th January with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays but no Sunday evening shows.
• Rehearsals are weekday evenings, Mon, Tues Thurs or Mon, Weds, Thurs. Not everyone will be called all the time. Some Sunday afternoons closer to the show.
• These auditions are unpaid roles for ages 16+

DESCRIPTION

Come and audition for the most popular show of the year - pantomime! This year we are putting on a new traditional panto with a twist. Written by our own Tim Hinchliffe, The Stolen Princess is already set to be a fantastic show. There's evil afoot in Pantoland as characters are mysteriously vanishing from all the pantos. When Princess Aurora becomes the latest to disappear, the King decides a search-and-rescue mission is needed, involving Jack the hero of the Beanstalk and Prince Valiant, the hero of his own imagination. Will they succeed? Should they even bother, since she's not that nice a princess anyway? Will everyone live happily ever after? Or even for a while? Only one way to be certain. Come and see "Panto at the Playhouse: The Stolen Princess".

NOTES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PANTO CAST:

OUR HEROIC BAND OF BROTHERS.

Jack. (Of Beanstalk fame!) Played as male, played by male. Age immaterial. Major part, on a lot. The "hero". Wily but not noticeably intelligent. Coward, but inexpensive. May do a solo song.

Will (Scarlet) Played as male. Played by female. In several scenes. Principal boy, or as close as we get to one. Resourceful and encouraging. The smartest of our merry band although that's not a high bar.

Prince Valiant. Played as male, played by male. Youngish. On a fair bit. Heroic. Dim. Brave and gormless. Would run through a brick wall for you, but only because he hadn't noticed the door.

Neep. Gender indeterminate. Small furry woodland creature. Minimal dialogue ("Neep!") Probably alternates with Priscilla (see below)

THE COURT OF THE KING OF PANTOLAND

King of Pantoland Played as male, played by male. Older. Kindly and a bit helpless. On in early scenes and later scenes. May do chorus in between. May be included in street dance number. (Well why not?)

Queen of Pantoland Played as female, played by female. Older than Princess. On in early scenes and later scenes. May do chorus in between.

Lord Chancellor. Played as male, played by male. Devious and smarmy. In same scenes as K and Q.

THE PRISONERS

Princess Aurora. Played as female, played by female. Brattish and loud. It's her 18th birthday but this is Panto so as long as she looks younger than her own mother we'll be fine.

Widow Twanky. Played as female, played by male. Traditional dame. In several scenes. Wants to sing but usually and thankfully gets thwarted.

Baron Hardup. Played as male, played by either. A hundred years old, with cobwebs. In several scenes. Spars with Dame.

Buttons. Played as male, played by either. In several scenes. Boyish, keen, helpful, dressed as bellhop. Slightly underwritten, but it's early days.

Priscilla the Goose. As per Neep (See above) but with even less dialogue and a goose suit. May get to headbutt people a bit. Will probably alternate with Neep.

THE COURT OF THE EVIL EMPEROR

Emperor Humbert the First and Only. Played as male, played by male. Age immaterial. Evil, self-satisfied, narcissistic but possibly having a mid-life crisis. On in second half. Can do chorus before then.

Empress Matilda. No. 1 Wife. (Pro tem) Played as female, played by female. Long-suffering and worried about her long term future, but may have a trick up her sleeve. On in second half. Can do chorus before then.

Grand Vizier. Played as male. Played by anyone devious. Imagine Fu-Manchu moustache and go from there. On in second half. Can do chorus before then.

The Mummy. A mummy. May get kicked around a bit.

OTHER NAMED PARTS

Mutt / Jeff Double act with scenes on forestage. May sing. Will probably reappear in later scene to pelt audience with boiled sweets as dictated by tradition. Played as male. Played by either. Age very immaterial, as we have shown on many previous occasions. May be used as Tomb Guards, although that depends on numbers.

The Genie Can be male, female, or other. Played by either. In several scenes.

Jack's Uncle Fred. Played as male, played by either. Old, not all there. In one scene. Can be in chorus before and after.

The Wicked Witch. Played as female, played by female. Gothic Glam. In one scene. Can be in chorus before and after.

And..

THE CHORUS.

It is our intention to utilise our chorus as much as they are inclined to be utilised. As villagers, as the courts of the King and of the Emperor, passers-by, palace guards, and prone to appear from nowhere whenever a principal starts to sing. There are also a lot of lines of dialogue to be distributed in the court scenes and some rhubarbing. They are emphatically not there just to make the place look busy. And of course singing.