Audition Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2015, 4:00 – 6:30 P.M. (Callbacks begin at approximately 5:30 P.M.)
Location: Tampa Preparatory School, Smith Black Box Theater, 727 W. Cass Street, Tampa, FL 33607
Rehearsals: August 17 – September 16, 2015
Production Dates: September 17 – October 4, 2015
Preparation: Please prepare a monologue not to exceed 90 seconds. Callback sides will be available at www.TampaRep.org beginning May 1st. All should bring an updated photo & resume to the audition. Monologue auditions will begin at 4:00 P.M. Auditionees may be asked to stay for callbacks, which will begin when all monologues have been seen.
Download audition sides here: The Children’s Hour Side 1 | The Children’s Hour Side 2
About the play:
Banned in Boston and London, despite its critical and commercial success on Broadway, Lillian Hellman’s 1934 “drama about the emotional costs of prejudice” continues to raise pertinent questions in our day. Written long before Facebook and other social media made cyberbullying a word of the day, The Children’s Hour shows how gossip and lies can go “viral” within any community. And when a young girl seeks revenge on her teachers, her whispered words shatter lives. Set in a small boarding school in New England run by long-time friends Karen and Martha, the two, along with Karen’s fiancé, find themselves having to remake their lives as a consequence of their own — and others’ — actions. The Children’s Hour will open on Sept. 17th in the Smith Black Box Theatre at Tampa Preparatory School, directed by Emilia Sargent.
AVAILABLE ROLES – YOUTH
HELEN BURTON (12-14)
One of the girls at Karen and Martha’s school. It is her bracelet that classmate Rosalie Wells “borrows.” an act which allows Mary to blackmail Rosalie into confirming Mary’s lies about Karen and Martha. Helen is one of the first to be pulled out of the school.
CATHERINE (12-15)
Catherine is one of the students at the Wright-Dobie School. She attempts to help Lois prepare for a Latin test. The Latin lesson contributes to the chaotic lack of discipline in Mortar’s classroom, revealing Lily’s incompetence as a teacher.
LOIS FISHER (12-15)
Another of Karen and Martha’s students, she receives Latin tutoring from Catherine at the play’s opening, conjugating Latin in hectic counterpoint to Peggy’s reading of Portia’s “quality of mercy” speech from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Lily Mortar’s languid criticism.
GROCERY BOY (14 – 17)
The unnamed grocery boy makes a very brief appearance in the last scene, carrying a box of groceries into the school’s living room. He is almost mute, but his puerile gawking and giggling are indicative of the damage done to the reputations of Karen and Martha as a result of Mary’s accusations.
EVELYN MUNN (12-15)
One of the girls at the Wright-Dobie School, Evelyn is first encountered in the opening scene, in which she mangles Rosalie Wells’ hair with a pair of scissors. Evelyn, who lisps, is relatively quiet and timid. With Peggy, she overhears the conversation between Martha Dobie and Lily Mortar; the overheard conversation becomes the keystone in the malicious arch of lies that Mary Tilford constructs
PEGGY ROGERS (12-15)
A student at the Wright-Dobie School, Peggy, like Evelyn Munn, is easily intimidated by Mary Tilford. She appears in the opening scene, where, under Lily Mortar’s tutelage, she tries to read Portia’s famous speech on the quality of mercy. Unimaginative, she shows little interest in Shakespeare. Her grandest aspiration is to marry a lighthouse keeper. Peggy is with Evelyn when they overhear the fateful conversation between Martha Dobie and her aunt.
The roles of Mary Tilford and Rosalie Wells have been cast.