What: Auditions for Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl
When: Saturday 11 June 2016, 2:30–6:30 pm (latest)
Where: FINNBRIT, Fredrikinkatu 20 A 9, 2nd floor
Welcome to open auditions for the Finn-Brit Players' autumn production in cooperation with the Passport Theatre Company: Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Adrian Goldman.
The auditions will begin at 2:30 pm and last until the play is cast (latest 6:30 pm). Please arrive in good time to begin at 2:30. Press the FINNBRIT buzzer by the street door to be let in.
The performances will be on 21–25 September. You must be available for an intensive rehearsal period starting 6 September.
Preparation
We’d like you to prepare a short monologue of your choice in advance, preferably from a comedy. There will be some monologues available to read on the day, but advance preparation will improve your chances of being cast.
In addition, we’d like to hear you sing, as there are a couple of simple songs in the play. There's no need to prepare any songs and as long as you can keep in tune with the piano, you should be just fine!
Registration
If you’d like to audition, it would help us plan a smoother day if you register in advance to zoe (at) finnbritplayers.com.
More information & queries
You can read more about the play and characters below, but if you have any questions about the play, auditions or other arrangements, or are stuck for a monologue, please contact us at the email address above.
The Play
Tilly is melancholy. She is depressed and longing, alluring and unashamed. “She makes her unhappiness into this sexy thing.” Tilly’s therapist, Lorenzo, wants her to take pills, but instead falls madly in love with her. In fact, it seems that everyone Tilly meets falls madly in love with her melancholy. Frank, her tailor, hems her trousers, which leads to romance. Frances, her hairdresser, and Joan, France’s lesbian partner, also become infatuated. Everyone feasts off her melancholy and falls in love with her –until she becomes happy herself.
That happiness throws the world out of whack: everyone else is experiencing turmoil in their lives. Now they are unhappy: Frances becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. The streets are full of them – of almonds that used to be people. With Frances’ very existence in question, Tilly, Lorenzo, Frank and his long-lost twin sister Frances must go and find her. But how does one become so melancholy that they turn into an inanimate object? What will happen when Tilly and her friends travel to the almond state?
The Characters
Tilly (cast) – The central character of Melancholy Play. She embodies melancholia in a way that is so completely unashamed that it is considered sexy. Tilly seems to enjoy her melancholy, even though her job wants it cured. As Tilly encounters people with her melancholia, they seem to fall in love with her.
Frank – A tailor who hems Tilly’s trousers, which leads to him being her boyfriend. Frank is a typical nice guy, and Tilly is a little out of his league. He loves Tilly in spite of her constant melancholy, although he too is longing for something that is lost....
Frances – A hairdresser who gives Tilly a trim. She has moved from New Jersey to Illinois and currently resides with her partner, Joan. Frances falls in love with Tilly, which begins their whirlwind affair. When Tilly becomes happy, Frances becomes so depressed that she turns into an almond.
Joan – Frances’ partner. She is a nurse. Joan is very calm and composed. At first, she is jealous of Frances’ obvious attraction to Tilly. However, upon meeting Tilly, she too is overwhelmed by the melancholy and falls in love.
Lorenzo – He is Tilly’s therapist and hails from an unspecified European country. Lorenzo was raised in a sweet shop and grew up so happily that he did not fit in with his European heritage, so he moved to Illinois. He is happy here. As he falls in love with Tilly, we begin to see a less happy side to Lorenzo.
Julian (cast) – He plays the clarinet at various points during the play. The other characters do not notice him until the final scene, and everyone comes together.
The Dramatist
Sarah Ruhl is a modern American dramatist, winner of a MacArthur award, and a Tony Award nominee (for In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play).