AUDITIONS "THE YELLOW WALLPAPER" FRENCH CREEK THEATRE
Please select a 10-minute time slot for your audition. Ensure you arrive 15 minutes early to check in.
French creek theatre announces AUDITIONS FOR
YELLOW WALLPAPER
Adaptation by Kathryn Funkhouser
From “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Directed by Paige Conway
LOOKING TO CAST THE FOLLOWING ROLES
1910
JANE, 20s-early 30s. 1910. A writer who recently gave birth to a daughter, a difficult delivery. Postpartum depression is sapping her strength, but this condition is not yet known. Everyone considers it to be a weakness of her will, and so does she. She wants to be good. Stronger than she seems.
JOHN, 20s-30s. A doctor in 1910. It would never occur to him that he was doing anything but the best for everyone. Jane’s husband.
1950
ELEANOR, late teens. Dorothy’s daughter. Bright and ambitious – but perhaps a little less worldly than she thinks she is.
DOROTHY, 30s-40s. John and Jane’s daughter. Eleanor’s mother. She’s been hurt a lot, and puts up walls to stop it from happening again.
FRANK, 20s. Studying to be a doctor. Eleanor’s cousin. Generally kind, but his ego is fragile.
BOTH
JENNY, 20s-30s in 1910 and 60s-70s in 1950. “John’s Sister” is how she would describe herself. She carries herself differently in the 1950s, now that John is gone.
THE WOMEN IN THE WALLS – Spirits trapped in the nursery. They want out. They are unsettling and unsettled.
ABOUT THE PLAY
When Eleanor stumbles upon a hidden diary, she unlocks a family secret – and finds that danger lives closer to home than she possibly could have imagined. An ensemble of trapped spirits cracks open the door between generations in a theatrical adaptation that wraps the classic psychological horror story The Yellow Wallpaper in a Hitchcockian thriller. Kathryn Funkhouser’s stage version delves into the haunting consequences of confinement and obsession, capturing the eerie descent into madness that has captivated readers for over a century.
ABOUT THE PROCESS
This rehearsal process will be mostly conventional in nature and based in script analysis, character analysis, and emotional arc. Actors will be asked to make strong proposals, be generous, and meet deadlines given. The entire cast will engage with some movement work and heightened physicality throughout the process and production. The movement work will be more significant for those cast as the WOMEN IN THE WALLS, JANE, and ELEANOR.
Rehearsals will begin the week of July 20th We will rehearse approximately five times a week.
Performances are September 4-6 & September 11-13. Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30pm and Sunday matinees at 2pm.
Daytime matinee weekday performance for field trips TBA.
CONTENT DISCLOSURES ABOUT THE PLAY
Yellow Wallpaper includes discussion of postpartum depression and explores themes of loss, abandonment, and the difficult realities of both womanhood and motherhood.
AUDITIONS
Wednesday, June 24, 6pm – 9pm
Sunday, June 28, 2pm – 5pm
Callbacks for this production are TBD.
Auditions are by appointment only and will be scheduled in 10 minute increments. Prepared auditions will be individual. Director, Paige Conway, will be running the initial auditions. Artistic Director, Erin Moran, and Stage Manager, Hannah Watson, may be present in the room.
WHAT TO PREPARE
- Please prepare a 60-90 second dramatic or dark-comedic monologue. You may be asked to perform it more than once in the room.
- You may be asked to do some light movement work in the audition (we will create it together, no need to prepare anything in advance). So please wear clothes and shoes you’re comfortable moving in.
- Some actors may be asked to do a short cold reading from sides provided by the director at the audition.
- Headshot and Résumé
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
PAIGE CONWAY (she/her) is a director/deviser, AEA stage manager, and theatre educator from Flint, Michigan. She holds a BFA in Theatre, with a focus in Directing, from Michigan State University. With over 12 years of experience as a competitive gymnast, it’s no surprise she found her niche in physical theatre. She has trained as an intimacy choreographer through TIE (Theatrical Intimacy Education). She currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theatre. These days, most of her work focuses on women’s stories, using physicality to deepen and heighten our experience of the ways we’re connected to each other. Some favorite directing credits include: The Body Play (director, CPT), Funny, Like An Abortion (director, CPT), String of Us (deviser/creator, CPT workshop), These Mortal Hosts (director, Williamston Theatre), Lungs (director, Kickshaw Theatre).