Town Players Announces Auditions

For ‘Importance of Being Earnest’

Town Players of Newtown will conduct auditions May 10 and 12 for its July production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, to be directed by Ruth Anne Baumgartner.

Turning on attitude, word play, and as many coincidences as can be squeezed into three acts, the play is “a candy box,” Ms Baumgartner says, with “sparkling wrappings, and inside delicious moments, surprise and delight in every bite.” It is considered by many readers the most perfect comedy of manners in the English language.

“In matters of great importance, style, not substance, is the vital thing,” says Lady Augusta Bracknell, the play’s grande dame, and this is a good guide to any production of the play.

Needed are five men and four women of various ages. All actors should be capable of a “good plummy stage-English accent,” says Ms Baumgartner, “and Attitude.”

The production will be period to the date of its first performance, 1895. All roles are open and every role, says the director, “is wonderful, including the smallest ones.”

Ms Baumgarten anticipates ensemble casting, meaning that no actor’s age is critical to casting per se, but will be relevant in relation to the ages of the other actors.

Auditions will be cold readings from the script; actors are encouraged to read the play ahead of time. Copies are readily available in bookstores, in libraries, and full-text online.

People interested in backstage or production work are invited to auditions to meet with the director and producer. Seamstresses are particularly invited. All participation in this community theater production is without pay.

Production dates are Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinées, July 9-25.

Auditions will be held Monday and Wednesday, May 10 and 12, each night from 7 to 9:30. They will be conducted at The Little Theatre, Orchard Hill Road, just off Route 25/Main Street South. Call 203-270-9144 for directions to the theater.

College students wishing to audition may request later auditions if final exams are keeping them out of town. These requests, and any other questions, may be e-mailed to the director at ruthanneb@mindspring.com.