Read Through and Auditions are coming up next week for Hartley Arts Group’s next productions ‘Calendar Girls’ by Tim Firth. We’d love to see new faces so please check out the event details and come along if you’d like to get involved.
Read-through: Thursday 30th June at 8pm
Audition 1: Tuesday 5th July 8pm
Audition 2: Thursday 7th July 8pm
**Show dates**
Technical Date: Sunday 2nd October
Show Dates: 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th & 15th October
Characters (9 Females, 4 Men)
Chris, (50s) You want her at your party. Without Chris as her best friend, Annie would be better behaved but have less fun.
Annie (50s) The mischievousness Chris elicits in her prevents her from being a saint. She has enough edge to be interesting, and enough salt not be too sweet.
Together these two are more than the sum of their parts.
Cora (35-45) Raised by strict parents, she rebelled during college only to come home pregnant with her tail between her legs. Too much native resilience to be downtrodden. Deadpan wit. Currently raising her daughter as a single mom and serving as the church organist. Must have some vocal and piano ability.
Jessie (70s) A retired schoolteacher with no filter. She goes on roller coasters and does not hesitate to berate shopkeepers about their improper use of apostrophes.
Celia (35-50) More at home in a department store than a church hall. She is somewhat enamored of Jessie, even though Jessie has very little time for most of the Celia’s of the world. There is a rebelliousness in her that Jessie responds to and that sets Celia apart from the vapid materialism of her peers.
Ruth (40s) Ruth journeys from the false self confidence of the emotionally abused to the genuine confidence of a woman comfortable in her own skin. Marie’s right hand woman. Cheating husband.
Marie (50s) Head of the Knapely chapter of the WI, which is a trophy to her that justifies her entire existence. There is a part of Marie that would love to be on that calendar.
John, Annie’s husband (50s) John is a human sunflower. Not a saint, not a hero. Just the kind of man you’d want in your car when crossing America. When he dies it feels as if someone somewhere has turned a light off.
Rod, Chris’s husband (50s) Runs a flower shop with Chris. He has a deadpan sense of humour that has always made Chris laugh. He and John were good friends, though their relationship was originally channeled through their wives.
Lawrence, (20-30) Hesitant and a bit shy, but not nerdy. Has enough wit to make a joke and enough spirit to turn up at the WI to be their photographer.
Lady Cravenshire (60s) She really doesn’t mean to be so patronizing, but the WI girls seem like they’re from another world. The world of her estate workers.
Elaine (20s) She really doesn’t mean to be so patronizing, but Jessie seems from another world. The world of her grandmother.
Liam (20s) would rather be doing anything but directing photo shoots for washing powders. He’s not so unprofessional as to let it show, but for him this is a job. And not the one he wanted.
