Audition Notice
The Midvale Arts Council will be holding auditions for Oscar Wilde’s: The Importance of Being Earnest. We are looking for men and women to fill the roles of this comedic romp (all roles are open for auditioners). Auditions will be held at the Midvale Performing Arts Center 695 W Center Street (7720 South), Midvale, UT on January 9, 2019 from 7pm until 10pm; no appointment necessary. Callbacks to be held at the same location on Jan 10th starting at 7pm by invitation only. Come prepared with a memorized 1 minute classical monologue. Please also bring your conflicts between January 9 and March 16, 2019. A headshot and theater resume are encouraged, but not required. Brief character descriptions are listed below. Directed by Glen Reber and Co-Produced by Melody Chapman & Stephanie Johnson. The Importance of Being Earnest runs March 8-9, 11, 14-16, 2019, at the Midvale Performing Arts Center. Cast read through to be held Saturday, January 12, 2019. Visit www.midvalearts.com for the audition packet (coming soon). Email [email protected] with questions.
Character Descriptions
John “Jack” Worthing
Jack is the play’s protagonist and the play’s most sympathetic character. He was found in a handbag on a railway line, and feels less at home in aristocratic society than does Algernon. He lives in the country but has invented a wicked brother named “Ernest” whose scrapes require Jack’s attendance in the city.
Algernon Moncrieff
Algernon, the foil to Jack, is a hedonist who has created a friend named Bunbury whose status as a permanent invalid allows Algernon to leave the city whenever he pleases. He believes this activity, “Bunburying,” is necessary, especially if one is going to get married-something he vows never to do.
Lady Bracknell
Lady Bracknell is the antagonist of the play, blocking both potential marriages. She embodies typical Victorian classism; she does not allow Gwendolen to marry Jack when she finds out he is an orphan, and she dislikes Cecily as a mate for her nephew Algernon until she learns that Cecily is wealthy.
Gwendolen Fairfax
Gwendolen is Lady Bracknell’s daughter, and is the object of Jack’s romantic attention. Though she returns his love, Gwendolen appears self-centered and flighty. Like Cecily, she desires nothing but to marry someone named Ernest.
Cecily Cardew
Cecily is Jack’s ward and lives with him in the country. Young and pretty, she is favored by Algernon, who pretends to be Jack’s brother Ernest. Cecily has heard about this brother, and has written correspondences between the two of them for months by the time she meets Algernon/Ernest. Like Gwendolen, she is only interested in marrying a man named Ernest.
Miss Prism
Miss Prism is the Cecily’s governess. She obviously loves Chasuble, though the fact that he is a priest prohibits her from telling him so directly.
Lane
Algernon’s butler delivers a number of droll lines which show that he is far from a passive servant.
Chasuble
A rector, Chasuble frequently visits Jack’s country house to see Miss Prism. Though he is celibate, he seems well matched for the educated Miss Prism.
Merriman
Jack’s butler, Merriman has a less significant role than Lane has, but in one scene he and another servant force the bickering Gwendolen and Cecily to maintain supposedly polite conversation.
Post expires at 12:00am on Thursday January 10th, 2019
