by Beth Henley
Directed by Teresa Widner
The setting is 1981 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi where the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. An unplanned reunion results with Babe’s older sisters, Meg and Lenora, juggling Babe’s ordeal, Granddaddy’s failing health and their own unresolved sibling rivalries. In the end the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future—but the telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.
Audition Information
Sunday, December 7, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Faith Lutheran Church,
9041 166th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052.
Map to LocationMonday, December 8, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, 2008
Redmond Senior Center
8703 160th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052
Map to LocationUPDATE 11/30/08: Due to the high interest, we only have Sunday audition times available for women; men may request an audition on either day.
Call-backs
Tuesday, December 9, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm at TPS
Audition Requirements
The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. Please bring a head shot and resume, as well as conflicts and availability.
Character breakdown
Lenny, 30, the eldest sister, has become the all-purpose family caregiver and resident martyr, the premature spinster with ”a deformed ovary”.
Meg, 27, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career (and a nervous breakdown) on the West Coast. Middle child that rebeled even though she always got whatever she wanted in her youth.
Babe, 24, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. Has a naivety about her. The most optimistic of the three.
Chick, 29, the priggish cousin. Holds her standing in the community to a very high standard, a member of the Ladies’ Social League.
Barnette Lloyd, 26, is a young and very ‘green’ lawyer.
Doc Porter, 30, is Meg’s former sweetheart, who, despite his nickname, gave up his dream of becoming a doctor.
Performance dates
February 6-February 21, 2009
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm
Sundays at 2:00 pmAll performances at
Fred W. Meitzer Theatre within the Redmond Municipal Campus
8703 160th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Contact
Email your resume and headshot (if available) to auditions[at]redwoodtheatre.org, and please specify which day you prefer.
Reviews
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. An astonishing first play, initially presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then Off-Broadway, and then on Broadway, where it established the author as a major voice in our theatre. Warm-hearted, irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative, the play teems with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of three young Mississippi sisters betrayed by their passions.
While this play overflows with infectious high spirits, it is also, unmistakably, the tale of a very troubled family. Such is Miss Henley’s prodigious talent that she can serve us pain as though it were a piece of cake.
New York Times
It has heart, wit and a surprisingly zany passion that must carry all before it…it would certainly be a crime for anyone interested in the theatre not to see this play.
New York Post
From time to time a play comes along that restores one’s faith in our theatre…
New York Magazine
