Current Auditions:
- JEKYLL AND HYDE
- LABOUR OF LOVE
Want to be involved but don’t want to act? There’s always plenty to do backstage – see our membership page for details.
Non-members are welcome but please read the notes on this page.
Membership Commitment – as part of your membership we expect all members to support the theatre by assisting with our Front of House Operations when the theatre is open for performances by either Stewarding, working on the Bar or Coffee Bar. We term this as a “Duty” and members are expected to do eight “Duties” per membership year.
New Members will be asked to do three duties before the run of any production they are cast in. Existing members should ensure that they have fulfilled their quota of duties before auditioning or they may not be considered for a production. All members should do a minimum of three duties within a four month period.
The Crescent Theatre is committed to the promotion of equal opportunities within the theatre, and affiliated projects, through the way we manage the venue and provide services to the community. No person should experience discrimination or lack of opportunities on the grounds of gender, race, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. In the provision of services and in regards to the membership and visiting companies, the Crescent Theatre is committed to promoting equal opportunities for everyone. Click here for our Statement of Commitment on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. If you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to access an audition, you can let us know in advance by filling in an online audition form.
Please note the opportunities below are Unpaid
Please note
While auditions are intended for members, non-members are welcome to attend on the understanding that, if successful in reading for a part, you would be expected to become a member of the theatre. This entitles you to take part in all theatre activities and to concessionary ticket prices. In return you will be expected to attend all rehearsals and performances and to undertake your required allocation of front of house duties. Your membership subscription must be paid by the end of the second rehearsal. Membership fees for a year are £60 (£25 if unwaged). More details on Crescent Membership can be found in the membership pages.
Unless stated otherwise, the venue for all readings and auditions is the Crescent Theatre.
JEKYLL AND HYDE
by Neil Bartlett
8th – 15th Feb 2025
Brief Synopsis
This play is not a simple retelling of the novel but uses the events in that gothic tale to examine a dark all-male world where birth and privilege create an unhealthy bond of shared secrets.
In 1886 a female doctor recounts her experience of being newly-qualified and trying to find the brutal assailant of a young girl. She is hampered by being an outsider, excluded from the boys’ club. Undeterred, she tracks the culprit down, but can she denounce someone of power and influence protected by the male establishment?
The style of the play
Physicality, choral speech, illusion and theatrics weave through the text in this ensemble piece. The male characters form a quasi-Greek chorus enjoying, commenting on and furthering the story.
The female characters – largely missing from the novel – are the real protagonists. They are brave survivors in a world that would crush them.
Whilst the playing style is contemporary it plays within a more traditional environment of gothic sound and light.
N.B. none of the cast get to spend much time in the dressing room.
Characters
Three strong, remarkable women;
Dr Stevenson
A newly- qualified doctor in a fiercely all-male world. She is dangerously attracted to the glamorous and controversial Dr Jekyll, she is also intimidated by him but finally pushed beyond her fears into anger and action. Whilst not a ‘narrator’, Stevenson speaks directly to the audience.
The Girl
Bartlett explains that, not naming the character is not an oversight, but gives licence to the actor to name themselves. She is a sex-worker, and, given her class and the era, illiterate. She is fearless and her comments are often pithy and telling.
The Hospital Matron
Runs the hospital but also the stage. She is more experienced in practical medicine that Stevenson and would never have worked with a female doctor before. In this environment she is stern, efficient and robust. Like ‘The Girl’ she also needs naming.
This actor also plays Mrs Poole – Jekyll’s housekeeper – who has borderline unpleasant relish for the bloodiest moments of physical horror.
Six men, all with a ‘Hyde’ side to their character;
Mr Enfield
A pompous, middle-aged ‘man about town’ – with a few dodgy habits beneath the bluster. Why was he in the street at 3.00am when he first met Mr Hyde?
Mr Utterson
A very senior and well-connected lawyer. He was at school with Jekyll and is now his solicitor. He presents as a man of iron will and probity; but he lies with ease or prevaricates. Only when it is too late is he forced to believe anything negative about his school friend, such are the bonds forged in the public school system.
Dr Lanyon
An older, more conservative doctor. Also at school with, but a few years above, Jekyll. The old school tie means he doesn’t act on his suspicions.
Inspector Newcome
His work as a detective is hampered by his inability to imagine that the crimes could have been committed by someone upper class. It must be a ne’er do well or a random psychopath.
Mr Guest
A clerk in Utterson’s legal chambers. He is fascinated by murder – the more gruesome the better and sees no problem with this, or the innuendo-laden banter he indulges in.
Collectively these five actors form, ‘The Gentlemen’ They act as a chorus and play any minor roles that crop up. Occasionally they speak together but, more often, the speech for the chorus is divided up in a way that will be devised in rehearsal.
Among their number at the start of the play is a more solitary figure who turns out to be –
Dr Jekyll
Suave and rather glamorous in his frock coat he could easily have stepped out of an Oscar Wilde; he certainly has the dexterity of language. He is a rich, top-ranking doctor and a philanthropic conservative true to his class. His private experiments, in the lab he has converted from an old dissecting theatre at the back of his house, give him complete joy. Like many high-functioning addicts he is a consummate and skilful liar.
This actor also plays:
Mr Hyde
Certainly at the outset this is not the hairy, fanged, shuffling, ape-like creature of so many iterations. We don’t really see his face, but he is detached, chilling and indefinably odd. The challenge is to find key elements for this alter ego without going down the were-wolf route. His costume will change as will the walk, the voice, the accent, but Utterson believes Hyde to be personable enough to be more than just a friend to Jekyll. Towards the end, his façade crumbles and we are confronted with ‘the creature’.
Intimacy
The gentlemen have a lot of physicality which will involve lifting one of their number and miming the violent actions being recounted. This will be choreographed in line with health and safety and a risk assessment.
There is no specific intimacy in the play.
Auditions
- Sunday 3rd November 2024 at 14.00 in the Cumberland Room
- Monday 4th November 2024 at 19.00 in the Cumberland Room
- Possible callbacks Thursday 7th November 2024
Sign up link: https://forms.gle/KinyUx42pWXCNvXP8
The audition process
Please be familiar with – but don’t necessarily learn – the speech for the character(s) you are auditioning for. There will also be a short, non-threatening, group task.
Rehearsals
The normal rehearsal pattern is Tuesday and Friday evenings, 19.00 – 22.00, and Saturday afternoons 14.00 – 18.00.
Rehearsals start Tuesday 19th November. There will be a break over Christmas.
Michael Barry
Director
LABOUR OF LOVE
by James Graham
Performance schedule :
- Saturday 22nd Feb 2025 – Matinee
- Saturday 22nd Feb 2025 – Evening
- Sunday 23rd Feb 2025 – Matinee
- Tuesday 25th Feb 2025 – Evening
- Wednesday 26th Feb 2025 – Evening
- Friday 28th Feb 2025 – Evening
- Saturday 1st March – Matinee
- Saturday 1st March – Evening
“Labour of Love” is an award-winning, dazzling political comedy written by someone who is definitely “the man of the moment” as far as contemporary British drama is concerned.
In the play, David Lyons is a Labour MP who cares about modernisation of the party and “electability” – his constituency agent, Jean Whittaker, cares about principles and her community. Their clash of philosophy, culture and class produces some crackling, razor-sharp dialogue as they spar with each other over a period of 27 years.
The characters in the play are:-
- David Lyons – a Labour MP
- Jean Whittaker – a constituency agent
- Elizabeth Lyons – David’s wife
- Len Prior – a local councilor
- Margot Midler – a constituent and party worker
- Mr. Shen – a businessman investor
Members of the cast, apart from David and Jean, will also play other parts which include: constituents, a delivery person, party workers and a Take-Away owner.
The play is set in the local constituency office of a Labour MP in North Nottinghamshire, during the 27 year period between Summer 1990 and Spring 2017.
Most of the characters are local to the Nottingham area, so all, except for David and Elizabeth, will need to speak with a regional accent.
I have not specified ages for the characters as I prefer to look for an age balance which suits the whole cast. Jean says (probably more than once!) that she is older than David, but I think they are probably quite close in age. The others are fairly flexible age-wise. Mr. Shen is a Chinese Businessman.
Intimacy
The script calls for David and Elizabeth and David and Jean to kiss at various times. There will also be some fairly close contact between members of the cast (dancing, hugging etc). All will be rehearsed following the Crescent Theatre Intimacy Guidelines. You will not be asked to participate in any intimate acts during the auditions.
Auditions
Auditions will take place in the Cumberland Room at the theatre. The dates of the auditions are as follows:-
Monday 11th November 2024 at 7.00pm
Wednesday 13th November 2024 at 7.00pm
Call backs (if needed) Friday 15th November at 7.00pm
Please sign up for an audition, to let us know which session you will be attending, using this link.
Audition pieces for each character can be found below.
Rehearsals
The usual rehearsal pattern will be Monday and Thursday evenings plus Sunday mornings. There are a few exceptions to this pattern, but a full list of rehearsal dates will be available at the auditions.
If you are interested in auditioning but cannot make either of the audition dates – or if you have any questions about the production – please contact me at labour@crescent-theatre.co.uk and I will arrange to see you at a different time.
Many thanks,
Stewart Snape
Director