Auditions for our production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Taking Steps“
Directed by Florence McFarlane
Ayckbourn describes Taking Steps as his only really classic farce.
WHEN: Sunday 27 May 2pm.
WHERE: Muritai School hall, Muritai Road, Eastbourne
TO BOOK AUDITION: email director Florence McFarlane at flojomac@gmail.com
REHEARSALS: Start Tues 5 June, then Tue & Thurs and Sunday pm
PRODUCTION DATES: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 August
ROLES: There are six characters in the play, ages not specified.
- Elizabeth: Former dancer, retired as a result of her marriage; now in perpetual indecision about whether to leave her husband; her effort to do so sets off much of the action in the play
- Roland: Elizabeth’s unappreciative husband; a businessman who is a major presence in the bucket industry; alcoholic
- Mark: Elizabeth’s brother, attempting to save his one-sided relationship to Kitty and fulfil his dream of opening a fishing tackle shop
- Kitty: Arm-twisted into engagement with Mark; having left him at the altar once, she has been persuaded to come back to him after her arrest for suspected solicitation; feels trapped into always being part of other people’s dreams (including Mark’s fishing tackle shop)
- Leslie: Dodgy builder, on the brink financially; desperate to sell the house (currently rented) to Roland
- Tristram: Roland’s solicitor; inarticulate and unassertive; unwittingly causes absolute havoc.
PRODUCTION:
This will be performed “in the round” since, although it takes place in a 3 story London House, all three floors are represented on stage at a single level, with the actors’ movements between the floors expressed through mimed movement up and down flat staircases. This means that the downstairs living room, upstairs master bedroom and attic bedroom all occupy the same level, with actors frequently next to each other when their characters are on different floors in the story (actors will get a map!)
See Scarborough Production for a review of teh author’s production and more about the play.