We’ve got four great plays lined up for our 104th season of quality local theatre in Huddersfield. At the start of the season, we’re looking for expressions of interest from performers for all four plays.
To express interest in any of these roles, please get in touch with casting@huddersfieldthespians.co.uk.
Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons
Lawrence Batley Theatre, 18-21 October 2023
Get in touch by 25 July
The average person speaks more than 123million words in their lifetime. However, what if there was a limit? One couple is about to find out. Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons is a tender and funny drama, telling us about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we can’t say anything any more.
Bernadette
Playing age mid 20s-35 (but must be similar age to Oliver)
An ambitious lawyer, Bernadette is a proudly working-class, with something of a chip on her shoulder. Her relationship with Oliver is tense and fraught, especially around Oliver’s ex, whose wealth piques her jealousy and rage about class and privilege.
Oliver
Playing age mid 20s-35 (but must be similar age to Bernadette)
A laidback musician, Oliver, has a background and lifetime of institutional privileges that couldn’t be more different from Bernadette, He goes on protest marches where he sometimes bumps into his dreaded ex, Julie, which causes problems in their relationship.
The key requirement is that the two actors work as a couple within the age guidelines. It is also possible that the role of Oliver could become Olivia, and two women cast as a couple, as an alternative to the original script where it is a male/female couple. With the content of the play, it is not possible to consider two men for the couple.
Around the World in 80 Days
Longwood Mechanics Hall, 13-16 December 2023
Get in touch by 31 July
Meet the fabulously wealthy Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg, as he wagers his life’s fortune that he can circumnavigate the globe in just eighty days. Along with his hapless valet Passepartout, Fogg sets out on a dazzling escapade that takes them from the misty alleys of London to the exotic Indian subcontinent and on to the Wild West. Join them as they race against the clock on a dizzying succession of trains, steamers, a wind-propelled sledge and…an elephant? Laura Eason’s adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel packs in more than fifty unforgettable characters, performed by an ensemble cast of eight, making it a perfect high-spirited adventure.
Phileas Fogg
Playing age 30s or 40s
Calm and unresponsive to what might normally excite interest or emotion in others. In his daily life he is perfectly well-balanced and regulated as a clock.
Passepartout
Playing age 20s to 40s
A true Parisian and former circus performer. He is playful and honest, with an adventurous nature, that he is trying to quash.
Inspector Fix
Playing age – any
An overeager inspector from Scotland Yard, who mistakes Fogg for a bank robber.
Also required to play the additional role of a Club Man.
Mrs Aouda
Playing age 30s or 40s
A well-educated, self-possessed, beautiful widow, who joins Fogg & Passepartout on their journey after they rescue her from near-death in India. Also required to play the additional role of a beggar woman.
The additional cast members of the cast will play the following:
Actor 5
Playing age – any
The roles of: Mr. Naidu, Opium Denizen, Luigi, Rangoon Passenger, Train Bandit, General Grant Passenger, Mr. Mudge, Henrietta Crewman & Liverpool Policeman
Actor 6
Playing age – any
Colonel Stamp Proctor, Mr. Stuart, Mongolia Purser, Angry Malabar Man, Aouda Guard, Judge Obadiah, Hong Kong Consul, Circus Performer, Carnatic Purser, General Grant Purser & Engineer
Actor 7
Playing age – any
Captain Blossom Von Darius, Flower Seller, Suez Consul, Mongolia Passenger, Angry Malabah Man, Miss Singh, Clerk, Opium Denizen, Circus Performer, General Grant Passenger, American Train Porter, Sailor, Henrietta Crewman.
Actor 8
Playing age – any
Captain Speedy, Street Sweep, Mr. Flanagan, Mongolia Passenger, Angry Malabar Man, Bombay Consul, Peninsula Conductor, Aouda Guard, Calcutta Policeman, Opium Denizen, Batulcar, General Grant Passenger, Train Bandit
Sheila’s Island
Longwood Mechanics Hall, 13-16 March 2024
Get in touch by 10 August
Bonfire Night 2019, Sheila, Denise, Julie, and Fay are Team C in Pennine Mineral Water Ltd.’s annual outward-bound team-building weekend. Somehow, Sheila has been nominated team leader, and, using her cryptic crossword solving skills, has unwittingly stranded her team on an island in the Lake District.
Sheila
Playing age 30s-50s
Shelia is a control freak, and self-appointed leader of the team.
Julie
Playing age 30s-50s
Julie is a lady of luxury, who is not happy about being there at all.
Denise
Playing age 30s-50s
Denise is a larger lady, who is conscious of this.
Fay
Playing age 30s-50s
Fay is a rather ‘doolally,’ devout Christian, whose faith is an easy target when tensions rise.
All four roles require the actors to be totally soaked in their outward-bound clothes – they have just capsized in a lake – in the wings, immediately before the play starts, and they also must completely change clothes on stage, right down to changing their wet underwear. However, this is done whilst wrapped in towels, and the character of Denise, in her self-consciousness, makes her final, more intimate changes in the woods in the wings.
Gaslight
Lawrence Batley Theatre, 5-8 June 2024
Get in touch by 20 August
Jack Manningham is slowly, deliberately driving his wife, Bella, insane. He has almost succeeded when help arrives in the form of a former detective, Rough, who believes Manningham to be a thief and murderer. This classic thriller is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving his wife insane in order to steal from her.
Jack Manningham
Playing age 30s-late 40s
A handsome, well-dressed man, Jack’s complete authority over and manipulation of his wife drives her down the road to insanity. There is mystery below the surface and feigned bitterness towards having to put up with his wife’s condition.
Mr Rough
Playing age – middle aged
A friendly and impelling man, Inspector Rough comes to the aid of Mrs. Manningham by revealing secrets and mysteries of years past. He, too, has an air of secrecy about him, as he puts together the pieces of the Manningham puzzle.
Bella Manningham
Playing age 30s-late 40s
Bella has been married to Jack for five years, and in that time, she has denigrated into a pallid, frightened, and exhausted woman. Every night her husband goes out, leaving her alone in their large house, where sights and sounds fill her mind with fear and impending insanity.
Elizabeth
Playing age – middle aged
Elizabeth is the kind and dutiful servant in the Manningham home.
Nancy/Nathan
Playing age 18-25
Attractive, impudent, and conniving, Nancy/Nathan is a servant in the Manningham home.
