Aspiring actors are being invited to audition for the debut production of The Butler Company – the Georgian Theatre Royal’s new professional acting troupe.
Blithe Spirit – Noel Coward’s classic comedy – will be performed at the Georgian Theatre on 7 and 8 April 2022 and the auditions will take place at the Theatre on Friday 4 February 2022 at 6pm. Rehearsals will be held in Richmond throughout February and March.
Named after the Theatre’s founder and first manager, Samuel Butler (who built the Theatre in 1788), The Butler Company is a new professional company that will promote exciting and creative theatre in North Yorkshire.
The Company, which has been set up with the generous support of The Friends of The Georgian Theatre Royal, will operate on an entirely professional basis. Profits from each of the shows will be shared between the performers and the Theatre, and actors will accrue credits through the national Mandy casting network.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone wanting to be involved in an exciting local dramatic production but at a professional level,” said Jo Mawhinney, the show’s producer. “The auditions are open to everyone but may be especially appealing to those looking to further their acting careers.”
The Company will be able to draw on the considerable skills of the Theatre’s in-house creative team that already produces the highly successful annual pantomime and Youth Theatre Fringe shows.
Blithe Spirit itself is a big hitter in the dramatic hall of fame. Written in 1941, it became one of the West End’s longest-running shows and its inventive wit and farcical humour continues to entertain audiences of all generations.
The plot follows a dinner hosted by novelist and socialite Charles Condomine. Hoping to gather material for his next book, he invites the eccentric clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to conduct a séance. However, he gets more than he bargained for when the temperamental spirit of his first wife, Elvira, is inadvertently summoned and attempts to disrupt Charles’s marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
The Butler Company’s production of Blithe Spirit was scheduled to be performed in April 2020 but then lockdown happened and the show had to be postponed. The April 2022 production is under the direction of Kath Torbet.
A full synopsis and list of characters is available to download here.
To register for the audition, please email butlerco@georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk with your name, playing age, which character you wish to audition for and any information you think is relevant. You will then be sent a script for the audition.
The closing date for registering an interest is Monday 31 January 2022.