Theatre Guild Holding Auditions for Summer Production
The Punxsutawney Theatre Arts Guild (PTAG) is starting production on a diabolical farce, and it all starts with auditions. The organization will be staging the comedy “Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Play” by Lauren Wilson, produced by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service. Auditions will be held Tuesday, April 28, and Wednesday, April 29, from 6 to 8 PM at the Presbyterian church on the corner of Union and Findley Streets.
Roles are for two to four( 2 to 4) Men, six (6) Women, and one young girl(to play a 9-year-old). PTAG president and show director Jef Dinsmore remarks, “Now don’t be skittish. This show is a great one to get your feet wet. It throws at you all the wonder of stagecraft, blending strong characters, ingenious sets, and great costumes. We need several people to make this work, so we hope to see you at auditions and make the show come alive! It’s just criminal how much fun this will be.”
From the title of the play, we know it is about Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Dinsmore is quick to state that it isn’t a retelling of the horror classic. He says, “Though it would be great to do as a strict horror for the stage, this isn’t that. This version takes a twist with the tale and turns it into a blood-splattered farce like no other. I mean, the poor doctor transforms at the most inopportune times, like right in the middle of courting a lady. Yes, you’re going to want to do this. It is guaranteed to give the audience and the cast & crew great theatrical fun.” The back of the script reads, “In Victorian England, repressed impulses burst their corsets as Dr. Jekyll’s experiments in the nature of evil threaten to reveal the bloody hands beneath the gloves of the British Empire. A fast-paced romp about men and women tightrope walking the line between aristocracy and depravity, and between the twin spectres of good and evil.”
To audition, the Guild staff will ask for a simple form to be filled out with contact information and any theater experience. Guild staffers will also inform each person trying out of the time commitment involved for the rehearsal period and performance dates. Each auditioner, one at a time, will then join the director to read selected script passages, which the auditioners have the opportunity to peruse beforehand. In the days following the audition dates, all auditioners will be notified about the casting of the roles. The staging of “Chemical Imbalance” is set for June 26 & 27 in Punxsutawney and on July 1, 2, &3 at the Verna Leith Sawmill Theater in Cook Forest. Note: There will be no performance on July Fourth.
“It may be a bit bone-chilling, but it will be fun, fun, and did I mention, fun,” the director states. Even if you are interested but unsure, still stop by the Presbyterian Church and talk to us about it, or give us a call at (814) 938-0378. We’ll see you at auditions!”