dear%academy%members,% … brothers... ·...
TRANSCRIPT
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Dear Academy Members, Simply Theatre Academy is delighted to announce details of their Academy production for Autumn / Winter 2013: “Blood Brothers” (the non-‐musical version inspired by the musical by Willy Russell) This version features Russell's story of two twin brothers who are separated at birth and who grow up in two radically opposite social backgrounds. Yet, the ending of this production is slightly different of the musical, which is still enjoying a successful run in London's West End. Mrs. Johnston's big ballad ("Out of a Movie with Marilyn Monroe") is the only song kept in this production. Our production of Blood Brothers will take place at Simply Theatre Studios, Main House on : Thursday 21st November, Friday 22nd November, Saturday
23rd November, Sunday 24th November, Thursday 28th November, Friday 29th November, Saturday 30th November, Sunday 1st December. Want to audition? If you are an Academy member aged between 10 and 18 you can book your audition time by visiting www.simplytheatre.com/auditions Audition dates -‐ 28th and 29th September 2013. If you want to audition but cannot make these dates please let us know and we may be able to help. Attached is your audition pack containing all relevant information regarding the auditions. Please contact the Simply Theatre office on 022 860 05 18 or alternatively email [email protected] if you have any further questions. Best Wishes & ‘Break a leg!’ Your Simply Theatre Academy Team
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AUDITION DETAILS Auditions for Blood Brothers will take place on 28th and 29th September 2013.. Audition times on Saturday 28th September are: Session 1 : 14.15hr – 15.45hr Session 2 : 16.00hr – 17.30hr Audition times on Sunday 29th September are: Session 3 : 11.00 hr-‐ 12.30hr Session 4 : 12.45hr-‐ 14.15hr Session 5 :14.30hr – 16.00hr Session 6 : 16.15 – 17.45hr If you have a preference of audition time, please state so when you book your audition time. We will do our best to accommodate this request, however due to the high demand expected for auditions we cannot guarantee to do so. WHAT WILL I BE DOING IN THE AUDITION PROCESS? As part of for your audition, you will be asked to perform a monologue from memory, chosen from the options presented at the end of this pack. Remember to think about where you think your character is at the time of this monologue who he may be talking to and what they are feeling. How can you get this information over to your audience (director) through your audition? You may feel free to choose any of the monologues for your audition, as no matter what you perform at audition you will still be considered for all parts. This said, if you are particularly keen on playing a specific part and this character is offered as an audition monologue, then it would be a good idea to prepare the appropriate one for audition. During the audition you may be asked to perform your monologue in different ways. You may also be asked to work on a small scene from the play, with other auditions and take part in some group improvisations. The auditions will feel a bit like a workshop, and so while you should prepare thoroughly and do yourself justice, you don't need to be nervous. There is some more advice regarding auditions on the Simply Theatre website, particularly for those who have not auditioned before. For more information on preparing for audition, please see the attached ‘Audition Hints and Tips’ document.
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PRODUCTION DETAILS Our production will take place at Simply Theatre Studios, Main House, Centre Choiseul, Avenue de Choiseul 23a, 1290 Versoix Production dates: Thursday 21st November at 19.00 Fri 22nd November at 19.00 Sat 23rd Novemeber 14.00 and 18.30 Sunday 24th November 14.00 and 17.00 Thursday 28th November at 19.00 Friday 29th November at 19.00 Saturday 30th November 14.00 and 18.30 Sunday 1st Decemeber 14.00 and 17.00. . Please be aware that being involved in this production is a definite commitment. Each cast member must be present for all rehearsals when he or she is required. The only exception to this is if we have been notified of an absence at the time of audition. A full and detailed rehearsal schedule for the production will be issued to all of the cast members when the full cast list is in place, however here is a rough guide. Rehearsal dates: Rehearsals will take place at Simply Studios on the following weekends: Saturday 5th October from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 6th October from 10am – 5pm Saturday 12th October from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 13th October from 10am – 5pm Saturday 19th October from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 20th October from 10am – 5pm Saturday 26th October from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 27th October from 10am – 5pm Saturday 1st November from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 2nd November from 10am – 5pm Saturday 9th November from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 10th November from 10am – 5pm Saturday 16th November from 1pm – 6pm and Sunday 17th November from 10am – 5pm Tuesday 19th November from 5pm – 9pm Wednesday 20th November from 5pm – 9.30pm (exact call times will be given after completion off successful audition, please be aware additional dates may be added to this) Full scripts for the show will be provided following the completion of a successful audition. If you are successful and gain a part in the production, we ask each participant to pay a small fee to help towards production costs. The fee for Academy students enrolled on weekly academy courses is a one off payment of 190chf. Students who are members of the Academy via weekend / summer workshops etc. but not weekly students will be asked to pay a fee of 500chf.
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A SIMPLY THEATRE ACADEMY PRODUCTION
BLOOD BROTHERS THE SYNOPSIS Act One
Around the beginning of the 1960s, Mrs Johnstone is deep in debt and cannot support her seven children after her husband walks out on her, so she takes a job as a cleaner for a wealthy local couple, Mr and Mrs Lyons. Soon she finds out she is pregnant again but she can barely afford to raise the child.
Mrs. Lyons is desperate for a baby but is unable to conceive, and would like to adopt a child but her husband does not agree. Mrs Johnstone finds out that she is going to have twins and explains to Mrs Lyons that she cannot afford to raise two more babies. Mrs Lyons then suggests that Mrs Johnstone gives one of the babies to her. Mrs Johnstone apprehensively agrees to this and is made to swear on The Bible to keep to the deal. Mrs Johnstone has the twins (Mickey and Edward), but then regrets having agreed to give one away. She lies to her other children, saying that the other baby had died and gone to heaven.
Mrs. Johnstone continues to work for Mrs Lyons, but Mrs Lyons soon feels that Mrs Johnstone is paying too much attention to the child that she has given up to her. She fires Mrs Johnstone, who wants to take the baby with her, but Mrs Lyons plays on Mrs Johnstone's superstitions by telling her that "if twins separated at birth learn that they were once one of a pair they will both immediately die". Mrs Johnstone refuses to take the money that Mrs Lyons gave her and leaves without the child and money.
Seven years later, Mickey, the son Mrs. Johnstone kept, meets Edward, the other twin, and after learning they share the same birthday, the two boys make a pact to become blood brothers, with Mickey calling Edward: Eddie. Mrs Johnstone finds them and sends Eddie away, telling him not to come round again or else the "Bogey-‐man" will get him. Later in the day Mickey goes to Eddie's house, and Mrs Lyons throws him out. She and Eddie argue on the subject, and Eddie swears at her. Mrs Lyons slaps him and immediately regrets her reaction. She realises that he has learned to swear from Mickey.
Mickey is playing with some neighborhood children including his friend Linda. Afterwards, he takes her to see Eddie, and the three of them sneak off to play, but are caught by a policeman when about to throw stones through a window. Mrs Lyons tries to find Eddie. She becomes worried about Eddie's friendship with Mickey, as she has started to believe the superstition that she herself had made up. She decides to move and persuades her husband who realizes she is becoming ill. When Eddie says goodbye, Mrs Johnstone gives him a locket with a picture of herself and Mickey, as the boys separate.
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The scene shifts to the time around the end of the 1960s when the Johnstone family are being rehoused from the condemned inner city slum area of Liverpool to a new council house in the nearby overspill town of Skelmersdal
ACT TWO
It is now the mid 1970s and Eddie, Mickey and Linda are 14 years old. The Johnstones' lives have improved since moving, and they have not seen Eddie in all this time. Mickey has a crush on Linda, who is obviously interested in him too, but Mickey does not know how to act with her. Both of them are suspended after mouthing off to their teacher. Eddie is suspended from his boarding school for refusing to give up Mrs Johnstone's locket to a teacher, but he will not tell his mother who it was from. Mrs Lyons sees Mrs Johnstone near her house and her worries are renewed. Eddie and Mickey bump into each other in a field, but do not recognize each other. They become friends again, each wanting to be like the other. They finally realize who the other is and meet up with Linda. Mrs Lyons flies into a rage and tries to kill Mrs Johnstone, but she couldn't and Mrs Johnstone just showed her out of the door.
Four years later, an 18-‐year-‐old Eddie has feelings for Linda, but will not say anything, as he knows Mickey likes her too. Eddie leaves for university, but not before encouraging Mickey to ask Linda out. During Eddie's absence, around the turn of the 1980s, Mickey is made redundant from his factory job due to the recession, which forces him onto the dole. He soon discovers that Linda is pregnant, and they decide to get married. Eddie returns at Christmas ready to party and have fun, but Mickey realizes that they are now very different; after a small fight with Eddie, they part. To get money, Mickey assists his brother Sammy in a robbery that goes wrong, and becomes an accessory to a murder committed by Sammy. He is sentenced to seven years in prison.
In prison, Mickey falls into a deep depression. When released early for good behaviour, he is still dependent on anti-‐depressants, and he turns away from Linda. Linda, unable to get Mickey off the anti-‐depressants, contacts Eddie, who is now a councillor, and he gets them their own house and gets Mickey a job. Linda worries about Mickey and meets up with Eddie. Mrs Lyons sees them together and tells Mickey about it. Mickey, distraught over Eddie and Linda's affair, grabs the gun that Sammy hid before he got arrested and then storms down to the council offices to confront Eddie.
There, Eddie is giving a speech when Mickey storms in with the gun. Mickey asks why, even though Eddie has everything and Mickey has nothing, Eddie would take away the one good thing that Mickey had — Linda. Eddie denies this intention, and the police enter, demanding that Mickey put the gun down, Mickey lowers the gun. Mrs. Johnstone runs in and, in an attempt to stop Mickey from shooting Eddie, tells the two brothers the truth. On hearing this news the boys are shocked when a crazed Mrs lyons enters in a state that the truth has been revealed. She proceeds to shoot Mickey, Eddie now knowing the truth jumps in front of Mickey and is killed. Mrs lyons realsies her
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son is dead and shoots Mickey dead. Mrs Lyons's superstitious prediction has come true, and the Narrator questions whether class was more to blame than superstition.
The story ends some time around the mid 1980s with the deaths of Mickey and Edward.
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CAST (in order of appearance) Please note that your playing age is not your chronological age, but the age you appear to be on the stage. For example, you may be 18 years old but may appear to be 14 or 15 on stage. All roles require a Liverpudlian accent apart from Mrs Lyons and Edward who speak in R.P (posh English) The Narrator This role commentates on the action throughout the play and can take interact with the action, throughout the play.
• This role is open to interpretation and could be played by a male or female of any age
Mrs Johnstone Female, (playing ages 25-‐50 in the play).
• A single mother of seven who finds herself pregnant with twins. She used to be quite a looker, which we still get a sense of even underneath her grief (people used to compare her to Marilyn Monroe). Compassionate and determined, she always acts with her children’s best interest in mind.
Mrs Lyons Female, (playing ages 30-‐55 in the play).
• Upper class wife, from a world of privilege, she is desperate to have a baby and convinces Mrs. Johnstone to give her one of her unborn twins. Her devotion to Edward develops into an unhealthy obsession to protect him from the truth of his past, with tragic results.
Mickey: Male, (playing ages 7-‐25 in the play).
• Twin brother to Edward, Mickey is raised by his real mother in relative poverty. A good-‐natured and well-‐meaning kid, he turns to a life of crime when he has trouble providing for his family as an adult. This leads to a period of dark depression, from which Mickey never fully recovers.
Edward Male, (playing ages 7-‐25 in the play).
• Twin brother to Mickey, Edward is given away by his mother to the well-‐to-‐do Lyons family. He attends the best boarding schools, eventually becoming a respected politician. An earnest and sheltered kid, he is delighted to befriend Mickey and learn how to let loose and get in trouble. Hopelessly in love with Linda.
Linda Female, (playing ages 7-‐25 in the play). She is feisty, fun loving and loyal with a good heart.
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Grows up in the same lower class neighborhood as Mickeys family, and befriends Mickey and Eddie. She is in love with Mickey, and they eventually marry when she gets pregnant. She is doomed to pay a price for her role in the central love triangle.
There are many other smaller speaking roles to be cast, including Kid (1,2,3,4), Milkman, Policewoman, Doctor
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AUDITION EXTRACTS Narrator So did you ever hear the tale of the Johnstone Twins, As like each other as two new pins: Of one womb born, on the self same day, How one was kept, one given away? Did you ever hear the tell of that young mother Who stood and watched brother parted from brother Who saw her children wrenched apart, That woman, with a stone in place of a heart? Then bring her on, come on lets see The author of such cruelty. And judge for ourselves this terrible sin. Bring on the mother, let the story begin. Mrs Johnstone (Enters and stands in the office) You see, and I just feel that if I could leave here and, and you know, sort of start again, in a new house in a new place where I wasn’t known , where the kids weren’t known, well we could start again with a clean sheet. Do you know what I mean? You know if we cfould just like , find a place to start again. See we’ve tried here. We’ve tried to like turn over to a new page , but like , like the blotches keep showing through. But if we could move.(Pause) Well could you put me on the waiting list? Please. Thank you.(Pause) Well even if it is in a few years , I mean as long as I knew there was a chance well, well it’d be something to hold on to, wouldn’t it? Mrs Lyons (Entering with telephone) I want you to come home Richard…For gods sake leave the office …..Because I don’t know where Edward is…But out playing where?.....There’s nothing wrong with my nerves….It’s it’s this place: I hate it, I want to move. It doesn’t have to be far away……It’s these people, these people Edward has been mixing with…..You don’t see it Richard.You don’t see how he is drawn to them…….I don’t need to see the doctor( Making an effort to control herself) I’m fine. I’m fine. I just want to move away from this neighbourhood …Well I’m frightened. I’m frightened for Edward. Please….please….pl(He has hung up. She replaces the receiver) Mickey I wish I was our Sammy. Our Sammy’s nearly ten. He’s got two worms and a catapult And he’s built an underground den.
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But I’m not allowed to go in there. I have to stay near the gate. Me Mam say’s I’m only seven But I’m not, I’m nearly eight! I wish I was our Sammy, You want to see him spit! Straight in your eye from twenty yards, And every time, a hit. He’s allowed to play with matches And he goes to bed dead late. But I have to go at seven Even though I’m nearly eight! Edward Mickey: It’s just dead difficult . Eddie: Talking to girls? (mickey nods) Yes I know but you must, Mickey ….you must. Mickey: What do I say though? Eddie: Look I’ll tell you what to say. I’ve read about it in books. Next time you see Linda you stare straight into her eyes, bold and unflinching and in a steady firm voice you say: “ Linda, my loins are burning for you. (Mickey screaming with laughter) Let me lay my weary head upon your warm breast: Linda I love you , I want you! And then, and then Mickey, her eyes will be heavy lidded and half closed and her voice will be husky and desperate as she says, as she moans ”Oh Mickey, take me, take me.” (They both scream with laughter) It would work you know! Linda Linda enters. Addresses audience as though it were official person at the housing department. Linds: See…weve been living with his mother for five years now…Yeh, yeh I know that but we have applied ….But I thought we’d be moved by now….we don’t want a flat…we want a house…Well, well couldn’t I see someone else….Couldn’t I see who’s in charge, the Chariman of the housing?I know he’s a very busy man…but what do you think I am? Don’t you think I’m busy? Don’t you think I get sick to the back teeth of standing on the other side of a desk talking to people who never sodding listen? Well I weant to see the Chairman of the housing committee and until I do I’m not moving from this office….(She determinedly sits on the floor and prepares for a long wait.)
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Audition Tips & What to Expect!
• Be confident and try to enjoy the audition as much as possible-‐ remember the team will be there to help and support you, not to judge you!
• Arrive with plenty of time to spare so that you do not add to your nerves. • Warm yourself up in advance both physically and vocally using exercises you will have
used in Academy classes to help warm up the voice and body. If you are short on time, you can easily do vocal warm-‐ups in the car on the way there!
• Good preparation in advance of your audition is key to helping you feel calm and confident on the day. Giving you the best chance of showing yourself off to the best of your ability.
• It is advisable to learn the pieces of script if possible, again to be able to perform it fully and confidently.
• Arrive in comfortable clothing (no skirts as they hinder movement) that is easy to move around in for the dance audition. No jewellery please.
• Students with long hair should ensure they have their hair tied back. • Try to enjoy the audition and use it as a fun, learning experience. • Do not make the mistake of believing that you have a part before you do! Building
yourself up too much can lead to disappointment. • Go into the audition with an open mind, looking at it as an opportunity and new
experience from which you will learn. • Do not worry if something goes wrong in the audition. The audition team is there to see
the potential not to see a finished, polished routine. • Presentation is important. Ensure that even if you feel nervous and everything goes
wrong, you smile, project your voice and try to come across as enthusiastically and confidently as possible.
We will be looking for several different things in the audition, these include; enthusiasm, talent, the ability to perform and present yourself confidently to an audience, the ability to be both independent and work with others as part of a team. We will also be looking for the following skills in candidates; the ability to focus, listen, react and take direction from the directing team. Good Luck!
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BLOOD BROTHERS AUDITION FORM (1 page)
To be completed and returned at your audition Students Full Name ________________________________________________ Age at time of audition ________________________________________________ Course attended ________________________________________________ Gender Male Female Student’s Email ________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian’s Details Full Name ________________________________________________ Email (for production notices) ________________________________________________ Home Phone ________________________________ Mobile ____________________________ If you are unable to make any potential weekend rehearsals marked on the Academy calendar please state them here: Any other relevant information: Terms and Conditions • All students must have the permission of a parent/guardian in order to audition and participate. • If successful, on gaining a part, students must agree to pay the show fee of 190chf/500chf for non-‐members in full,
in advance of the rehearsal start date. • On accepting a role, each cast member agrees to attend all relevant rehearsals unless previously agreed with the
director. • Simply Theatre Academy reserves the right to withdraw a cast member from the show if their behaviour is
detrimental to the enjoyment of the other participants, even once rehearsals have commenced. • No refunds will be given once rehearsals have commenced. • Occasionally photographs may be taken of students during Simply Theatre Academy shows / rehearsals for
promotional purposes. Simply Theatre Academy reserves the rights to use these photos. If a parent does not wish their child’s photo to be used then they should notify the Academy office.
I agree to the terms and conditions above and give my permission. Signature of parent/guardian named above: _____________________________________ Date: _____ Signature of student named above: _____________________________________ Date: _____