Town Players of Newtown will host auditions for Double Vision, written and directed by veteran director, and farce and mystery expert Gene Golaszewski.

In the “brilliant, lively, and hilarious farce,” due to unforeseen circumstances (and chickens!), a community theater director, stage manager, two actors, and a couple of passersby attempt to stage an entire production by themselves on opening night of a performance.

Characters include Barry, (35+), a hard luck community theater director whose every play seems to end in a disaster; Nickie (35+), Barry’s faithful stage manager who at a moment’s notice is ready to go down with yet another disaster; Trish (35+), a community theater actor who is willing to be in any play, as long as her name gets in the credits; and Carl (35+), a theater veteran who is ready to take any part in any play.

Actors planning to audition for the aforementioned roles should note the roles require multiple rapid costume changes.

The cast also includes Mrs Hertel (50+), the refreshment sales lady who gets enlisted into making her theatrical debut; and Grandma (50+), who thinks she is Margot in Dial M for Murder.

Auditions are planned for Sunday and Monday, April 6-7, 7-9 pm each night.

They will take place at The Little Theatre, 18 Orchard Hill Road.

Sides will be provided and/or a cold read from the script may also take place.

Rehearsals will be Monday through Thursday from 7 to 9 pm. Those planning to audition are asked to bring with them a list of conflicts between April 14 until opening night.

Performances are planned for weekends, May 30-June 14, including Sunday afternoon matinees on June 1 and 8, and a Thursday evening performance June 12.

For further information, contact info@newtownplayers.org.

‘Noises Off’ Rehearsals Underway

Meanwhile, Town Players has a cast and crew in rehearsals for an upcoming production of Noises Off.

Town Players of Newtown will open its 2025 season with a production of Michael Frayn’s comedy, which takes a fond look at the follies of theater folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss, and passionate affairs turn every performance into a high-risk adventure.

The play-within-a-play captures a touring theater troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run.

Act One is set at the technical rehearsal at the (fictional) Grand Theatre in Weston-super-Mare. It is midnight, the night before the first performance and the cast is hopelessly unready.

Baffled by entrances and exits, missed cues, missed lines, and bothersome props, including several plates of sardines, the actors drive Director Lloyd Dallas (being played by Hugh Tucker), into a seething rage and back several times during the run.

Act Two shows a Wednesday matinée performance one month later, at the Theatre Royal in Ashton-under-Lyne. In this act, the play is seen from backstage, providing a view that emphasizes the deteriorating relationships between the cast.

Romantic rivalries, lovers’ tiffs and personal quarrels lead to offstage shenanigans, onstage bedlam and the occasional attack with a fire axe.

Act Three depicts a performance near the end of the ten-week run, at the (fictional) Municipal Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees. Relationships between the cast have soured considerably, the set is breaking down and props are winding up in the wrong hands, on the floor, and in the way.

The actors remain determined at all costs to cover up the mounting chaos, but it is not long before the plot has to be abandoned entirely and the more coherent characters are obliged to take a lead in ad-libbing towards some sort of end.

The Town Players cast will additionally feature Brian DeToma as the actor Frederick Fellowes, who plays Phillip Brent in play-within-the-play Nothing On; Bob Filipowich as Selsdon Mowbray/Burglar; Rich Lamkin as Stage Manager Tim Allgood; Katerina Levasseur as actress Brooke Ashton/Vicki; Eric Lyga as actor Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain; Kristi McKeever as actor and de facto peacemaker Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent; Missy Slaymaker-Hanlon as actress and producer Dotty Otley/Mrs Clackett; and Vicki Sosbe as Assistant Stage Manager Poppy Norton-Taylor.

Opening night is Friday, March 28. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm to April 12; and Sundays, March 30 and April 6, at 2 pm. There is also a Thursday evening performance, 8 pm curtain, scheduled for April 10.

Tickets are $30 in advance, with a senior discount for tickets purchased at the door.

Performances are at The Little Theatre, 18 Orchard Hill Road in Newtown. Reservations and additional information are available at newtownplayers.org.