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Location

South Hill Park

Ringmead,
Bracknell,
Berkshire,
RG12 7PA
sales@southhillpark.org.uk

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Audition Notice

February 20, 2023

Audition Notice

A Studio Theatre Production
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Adapted by Lisa Evans
Directed by David Stacey

Casting/auditions:
Thursday February 16th, 19:30-22:00 – Read-through – Recital Room
Monday February 20th, 19:30-21:00 – Audition 1 – Studio Theatre
Thursday February 23rd, 19:30-21:00 – Audition 2 – Terrace Room

Auditions will involve reading parts of scenes in pairs or groups. No preparation necessary. You can attend either of the audition dates, and you don’t need to have attended the read-through to audition. Please contact me for more info about the script or with any questions you may have. I look forward to hearing from you!

Show dates:
Performance dates are Wednesday 14th – Saturday 17th June 2023, (four performance nights, 19:30). Cast would need to be available for all nights of show week (w/c 11th June). Location = Studio Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell.

Rehearsals:
Rehearsals will likely commence from late February 2023. Twice-weekly at SHP to start with, with extras added later (likely to be Mondays & Wednesdays 7.30-10pm, and also Sundays 2-5pm, but up for discussion with the cast).

Characters:
The contemporary characters (set in 2023):
MARY
A troubled soul confined to a psychiatric institution. This is an emotionally tough role. Lead role.
HATTIE
Mary’s sister. Regularly visiting Mary, she tries to understand her sister’s thoughts. Medium role.

The historical characters (set in 1820s):
VICTOR
Victor Frankenstein, the ambitious and arrogant student who wants to discover the secret of creating life. Lead role.
MONSTER
Requires physicality and a powerful stage presence. Lead role.
ELIZABETH
Victor’s fiancée. Medium role.
FATHER
Victor Frankenstein’s father. Medium role.
HENRY
Victor’s best friend. Medium role.
JUSTINE
A servant to the Frankenstein family, also looking after William. Medium role.
WALTON
A sea captain exploring the Arctic Ocean. Short role.
DE LACEY
An elderly blind man living in a country cottage. Short role.
SAFIE
De Lacey’s daughter, living with him in the woods. Short role.
FELIX
De Lacey’s son-in-law, living with him in the woods. Short role.
MOTHER
Victor Frankenstein’s sickly mother. Short role.
WILLIAM
Victor’s nine-year-old brother. This is a child role and appropriate chaperone supervision will be required. I only plan to cast one actor in this role, but it is open to boys or girls to play a nine-year-old boy. Short role.
SAILORS x2
Single lines, performed by the cast.

The play is written to allow for a smaller cast with multi-rolling. I will not necessarily follow this, but the actor groupings are as follows:
MARY / JUSTINE
ELIZABETH / SAFIE
HATTIE / MOTHER
VICTOR
FATHER / DE LACEY
WALTON / HENRY / FELIX
MONSTER
WILLIAM

Synopsis:
Mary is a troubled individual held in a psychiatric unit, convicted of murdering her baby daughter. During her incarceration, she becomes obsessed with Mary Shelley’s famous novel. Whilst Mary’s visiting sister tries to make sense of Mary’s terrible act, the book comes to life within Mary’s imagination.
To Victor Frankenstein, death is just a problem that should be reversed using logic and science. He leaves his family in Geneve to study at university, working long hours to find the solution. At last, his experiments seem to have worked. But too late Victor realises the consequences if his terrible act. The creature he has brought to life just wants to be loved. But when it is rejected, its only response is to destroy.

Notes about the production:
This version of Frankenstein is a full-length play (there will be one interval, each half being under 60 mins), first performed in 2008. The plot follows the classic period-set story from Shelley’s original book. There is also a contemporary sub-plot that runs alongside this. There will be no fixed set on stage; the scenes will run into each other as the action progresses. I am hoping to include some original music throughout the performance, created for this production. This is a community theatre production.

For more info, please contact:
David Stacey (Director)
Davidstacey.home@nullgmail.com