Tacoma Little Theatre is holding auditions for its production of Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward, and directed by Chris Serface.
Auditions will be held Sunday, August 13th and Monday, August 14th at Tacoma Little Theatre. Audition appointments will be set between the times of 6:00pm-9:00pm on Sunday and 7:00pm-10:00pm on Monday. Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, August 16th.
Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit is a spook-tacular comic classic. After a “spirited” séance goes decidedly wrong, the cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine suddenly finds himself face to face with the ghost of his deceased wife, Elvira…much to the chagrin of his current spouse, Ruth. Love and marriage devolve into laughter and mayhem when Ruth is accidentally killed and united with Elvira on the “other side.” Together the paranormal pair of blithe spirits haunt their hapless husband with hilarious consequences.
Please prepare a comedic monologue in the style of the piece with a British accent. Roles are available for 2 men/5 women and all ethnicities are welcome to audition. Roles available are Charles Condomine, Ruth Condomine, Elvira Condomine, Madame Arcati, Edith, Dr. Bradman, and Mrs. Bradman.
To reserve an audition time, email tlt@tacomalittletheatre.com, or call our Box Office at (253) 272-2281. Please provide: your name, phone number, email address, preferred audition time, and playable age.
Once cast, Blithe Spirit will run from Friday, October 20, 2017 to Sunday, November 5, 2017.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Roles are available for 5 women/2 men
CHARLES CONDOMINE
A novelist in his forties, Charles is bright, sophisticated, articulate, and debonair but somewhat at the mercy of his wives, past and present. His interest in spiritualism as a subject for a novel leads Charles to ask Madame Arcati to dinner and a séance. He is skeptical but becomes a believer when the ghost of his first wife appears—and stays. From then on, poor Charles is a shuttlecock between the women battling for his affections: Ruth, his living wife, and Elvira, his dead one. Charles prefers Elvira.
RUTH CONDOMINE
Charles’s second wife, Ruth is in her late 30's, early 40's. Like her husband, Ruth is witty and sophisticated, and she is quite the society matron. Ruth is a bit stuffy and a little predictable. She is convinced that Charles has lost his mind when Elvira appears, because at first she can neither see nor hear Elvira. Throughout much of the play, Ruth acts as a concerned wife, trying to restore Charles to normalcy.
ELVIRA
Elvira, the ghost of Charles’s first wife is between 25 and 30 years of age. Elvira is gray from head to toe, and only Charles can see or hear her. In life, Elvira was spirited, outgoing, wild, and carefree. In death, she is no different; she has cocktails with Genghis Khan. She does love Charles, if somewhat casually, and is jealous of Ruth. Her attempts to monopolize the attention and conversation of Charles after she reappears form the central tension of the play.
MADAME ARCATI
Madame Arcati, the local spiritualist and medium. Elderly but spry, Madame Arcati bicycles into the play wearing slightly outlandish clothes and talking to an eight-year-old contact on the other side. As everyone soon finds out, Madame Arcati is no fraud. She truly is in contact with the other world and inadvertently is the “medium” through which Elvira is called back to this one. The problem is that Madame Arcati cannot figure out how to return Elvira to the other side.
EDITH
Edith, the maid. Edith plays a tiny part in the bulk of the play but turns out to be a central character. Edith, not Charles, has the extrasensory powers that called Elvira back from the dead, and only Edith can make Elvira return.
DR. BRADMAN
A pleasant-looking middle-aged man, Dr. Bradman is a friend of the Condomines.
MRS. BRADMAN
The wife of Dr. Bradman, Mrs. Bradman is middle-aged and a bit faded.
