DANCING AT LUGHNASA Equity Principal Auditions - Irish Repertory Theatre Auditions

DANCING AT LUGHNASA – Equity Principal Auditions

Irish Repertory Theatre LOA-NYC (approval/salary level pending; 2010-11 weekly minimum: $408)

Artistic Dir / Stage Dir: Charlotte Moore

Producing Dir: Ciaran O’Reilly

Author: Brian Friel

1st reh: 9/20/11. Runs 10/19 - 12/11.

Equity Principal Auditions:

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Irish Repertory Theatre

10 AM - 6 PM 132 West 22nd Street

Lunch from 1:30 – 2:30. New York City

Please prepare a contemporary monologue, 2 minutes or less.

Please bring a picture & resume, stapled back-to-back.

The play summons back the memories of the end of the summer of 1936 on the eve of the celebration of the harvest god, Lugh. The five unmarried Mundy sisters live in a modest Irish cottage in Donegal. On this threshold of golden autumn, the house revolves around the eight-year-old love-child, Michael, and the brother priest, Father Jack, who has recently returned from 25 years in a leper colony in Uganda. Tribal customs and Christian beliefs clash as blazing fires stoke an abandon to Lugh, leaving the Mundy sisters sentenced to live purely in the past or absolutely in the present. With unfailing courage and loving forgiveness, all things conspire to irretrievably change the golden season of the Mundys as they dance in a final celebration of life before it changes forever.

Seeking:

Note: All roles (with the exception of Gerry Evans, who is Welsh) require an authentic Irish (Donegal) accent.

Michael:

Irish (from Donegal), late 40s. Narrates the story. Also speaks the lines of Chris’s seven-year-old illegitimate son.

Kate:

Irish (from Donegal), 40. Eldest of the five Mundy sisters. A schoolteacher, the only wage-earner among the sisters. Quite proper and zealous. A protector of Father Jack.

Maggie:

Irish (from Donegal), 38. The main housekeeper. Woman of great good humor; a joker. Able to speak the truth to Kate. Smokes wild woodbine cigarettes. Wears big boots with long, untied laces.

Agnes:

Irish (from Donegal), 35. The quietest of the family. Might have secrets. Agnes and Rose work at home, knitting gloves to make a bit of money for the family. Very protective of Rose.

Rose:

Irish (from Donegal), 32. Sweet, but stubborn and, some say, a bit simple ... quite vulnerable. Her sisters, especially Agnes, are protective. Wears Wellington boots, even in summer.

Chris:

Irish woman (from Donegal), 26. A bit of a dreamer. Michael's mother. Pretty. In love with Gerry who, has fathered her son. Has no income, but shares housekeeping duties with Maggie.

Gerry Evans:

Welshman, 33. Michael's father. Attractive. Has fatal, easy charm. Wonderful dancer. His origins are quite mysterious. He is certainly the love of Chris's life.

Father Jack:

Irish (from Donegal), 53. Missionary priest who has spent the last 25 years in Africa, ministering to a leper colony. He is pictured as resplendent in tableau, but his long service in Africa has taken its toll.