Theatre Company: APEX Playmakers
Director: Zach Cantrell
Producers: Isaac Jay, Dominic Bournes, Caribay Franke, Katie Schindleheim
Writer: Oscar Wilde
Auditions will be held at Space Station Casting, 950 N Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Good day, my dearest Players. I hope you find yourself as well as any actor might on this dreadfully cheerful, sunny, Los Angeles day. This breakdown has been written for the soul purpose that one of these things might be: to cast a play. And by that I mean, putting actors in a room in front of a jury and asking them to fully realize something they might get the chance to actually perform. A dreadful process really, my dears, but it must be done. And by that I mean APEX Playmakers is producing Oscar Wilde’s most overdone and outrageous play, The Importance of Being Earnest. And we would love to have you come put your sincere vulnerability up for our amusement. And by that I mean audition for us. There is something truly ghastly about being humorous, but if you ever find yourself wishing that you had permission to be as silly as this breakdown, come Bunbury with us. You’ll fit right in.
Rev. Canon Chasuble (35-45): Any gender. Any Ethnicity. The priest of the country parish where Jack resides. A pious person who finds joy in walks through the garden. A wise soul in most things, but who is lost when it comes to affection. Has a crush on Ms. Prism. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition.
Ms. Prism (30-40): Female. Any Ethnicity. Cecily’s tutor. Easily distracted and often lost in her own thoughts. Wants nothing more than a Romantic lifestyle filled with books, gardens, and a dashing professor type man. In love with Dr. Chasuble. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition.
Cecily Cardew (18-24): Female. Any Ethnicity. Jack’s ward. A bright, charming girl who is more interested in fantasies than in her studies. Likes to play matchmaker. She’s been in love with Jack’s brother Earnest since the first time she heard his name, years before they met. Rival to Gwendolyn over Earnest’s affection. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition.
Gwendolyn Fairfax (20-24): Female. Any Ethnicity. Jack’s betrothed. A sharp city girl, bred in the ways of high society. A rebel in her own right, believes in true love and freedom of will over her mother’s desires. Rival to Cecily over Earnest’s affection. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition.
Lady Bracknell (40-50): Female. Any Ethnicity. Gwendolyn’s Mother. A well bred lady who holds social status and decorum above all else. Opposed to Gwendolyn’s betrothal to Jack because of his lack of proper ancestry. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition.
Lane/Merriman (20-70): Any gender. Any ethnicity. Jacks two serving men. The sardonic Lane is a city butler. Merriman a footman in the country. Looking for an actor who can create two distinct characters. English RP dialect. Accent requested but not required for audition. Would be fun if you could manage both an RP and Cockney, but certainly not necessary.
Oscar Wilde’s most over done and outrageous play follows the romantic foibles of two young couples in late 1800s England. In Algernon’s upscale flat in London, Jack and Gwendolyn decide to get engaged against Lady Bracknell’s wishes and under the assumption that Jack is actually named Earnest. Algernon goes to visit Jack’s country estate to meet Jack’s ward, Cecily, also under the assumed name of Earnest. They get engaged. The rest of the play is filled with wrong identity, humor, courtship and attempted christenings. All ends happily ever after.
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