Audition Dates:
Number 1: Saturday, 14th October 2023, 10am-1pm
OR
Number 2: Saturday, 28th October 2023, 10am-1pm
Call back Date: Sunday, 29th October 2023, 10am-3pm
(you must be able to attend this date if you get called back)
Please read ALL the following information about the auditions, the play, and role descriptions. Audition sides, which you’ll need for your audition preparation, will be sent to you when you register.
Should you be interested, then please send us an email at: [email protected] with the following details:
Reference: TCO Auditions
Name
Mobile No.
The date on which you would like to audition
Which role/s for which you would like to audition
You will then receive an email confirmation with location info and your requested audition sides.
Should you have any further questions about the play, characters and/or roles please contact our director Jim Phetterplace Jr.: [email protected]
Have fun and break a leg!
ABOUT THE AUDITIONS
Come one, come all, and welcome!
We’ll be focused on ensemble building from the beginning. As such, please plan to be present for the entire audition day, from 10:00am until 1:00pm. The auditions will be conducted as follows:
We’ll begin with a short talk about the play and the concept for this production, with a chance to ask questions and get answers. This will be followed by a couple of group exercises, primarily aimed at movement and getting to know each other. Finally, we’ll run the scenes in various configurations.
When you register for the auditions, you will be sent the sides. We encourage you to read through them and, when possible, learn by heart any characters for which you would specifically like to audition. This is not obligatory, but it will help you shine at your audition.
A few words about the show in advance. Like so much of Chekhov’s work, The Cherry Orchard reads a lot like a tragedy, although the playwright stated that it’s a comedy. Without leaving out the pathos, together we will mine the text for the comedy and bring it to life. The 4 acts rotate through 3 settings: the nursery, the grounds, the drawing room and adjacent ballroom. This means that doing the show in the Kulturhaus Frankfurt your imagination will have to “sell” the setting. Bring your imagination, make bold choices and, most of all, have a blast!
Note from the director:
There are many roles in this play and a little something for everyone, regardless of age, gender identification, or acting experience. It will be a terrific learning experience for all of us, and I think each of us will walk away having learned something out of the process of working on this magnificent classic gem of a play!
ROLE DESCRIPTIONS
RANYEVSKAYA (Lyuba), landowner of the estate (female, 40-65 years old). Lyuba is torn between her love of her childhood home (which she fled after her youngest child drowned in the nearby river) and her need for the abusive lover she’s recently fled home from. She’s overly empathic, financially immature, and blind to the implosion of Russian’s gentility. (A large, tragicomic role)
LOPAKHIN (Yermolay), a rich businessman (male, 30-55 years old). Yermolay is a former peasant with a keen sense of financial opportunity, enjoying his newfound freedom to make money. He sees everything in terms of cost and benefit. He adores Lyuba but is expected by all to marry her adopted daughter Varya. (A large tragicomic role)
TROFIMOV (Petya), a student (male, under 30 years of age). Petya is an itinerant university student, thrown out of one school after another. He’s idealistic and impractical, adores Lyuba and loves Anya. (A large tragicomic role)
GAYEV (Lenya), Ranyevskaya’s brother (male, 40-65 years old). Lenya is silly, frivolous, and obsessed with billiards. He refuses to acknowledge that the noble class is dying. He adores his family but has no practical way to implement change. (A large comic role)
VARYA, Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter (female, 20-35 years old). Varya is stubborn, religious, highly practical and efficient. She expects to marry Lopakhin, but he must be the one to ask. She dreams of being freed of her domestic responsibilities but sees no way out. (A medium tragicomic role)
ANYA, Ranyevskaya’s daughter (female, 17-20 years old). Anya is clever, less naïve than she seems and loved by everyone. She is a woman of action and accepts her fate even if it’s not what she would wish. (A medium tragicomic role)
SIMEONOV-PISHCHIK, a landowner (male, 40-60 years old). Pishchik is carefree, harmless, and enjoys his noble privileges. (A smaller comic role)
DUNYASHA, the chambermaid (female, 15-25 years old). Dunyasha is vain, in love with the idea of love, and too girlish for her age. (A small comic role)
YASHA, the young footman (male, 20-30 years old). Yasha is conceited, a skirt-chaser, and contemptuous of women. (A small comic role)
YEPIKHODOV, the estate clerk (male, 20-40 years old). Yepikhodov is clumsy, lazy and in love with Dunyasha. (A small comic role with a lot of physical comedy). He sings (quality unimportant) and could play the guitar.
FIRS, the footman (male, over 60 years old). Firs is loyal, proud of his service, and dotes on his charges, Lenya and Lyuba. (A small tragicomic role)
CHARLOTTA IVANOVNA, the governess (female, any age). Charlotta is sassy, quixotic, and good for little but entertainment, such as playing card tricks and circus tricks. (A small comic role)
A PASSER-BY (any age or gender). This character is an out-of-luck traveler passing by the estate. They sing a song, beg for money, and then leave. (A very small tragicomic role)
THE STATIONMASTER (any age or gender). This character comes to the ball to dance and recite a poem which gets interrupted. (A very small comic role).
THE POSTMASTER (any age or gender). This character joins the ball. (A very small, non-speaking role).
SERVANTS (any age or gender). The actors who play the passer-by, the stationmaster and the postmaster will also have a second, non-speaking role as servants in the household. As such they are present in each act and handle the set changes between acts.