2018 playbill announced by Many Hats
The Many Hats Theatre playbill for 2018 along with an open audition casting call have been announced by the Penticton company.
“We’re really excited about our 2018 season” said Many Hats executive producer Eric Hanston “We have hilarious comedies, murder mystery, and lighthearted fare that will make you think.”
Many Hats Theatre Company is holding open auditions for its 11th season of five productions during 2018.
Auditions will be held Monday at 6:30 p.m. on the Cannery Stage in the Cannery Trade Centre. Directors of all five shows will be present.
Headshots, resumes, and prepared monologues are welcome but not essential and actors of all experience levels and ages are invited to attend. All auditions are first come, first seen. Auditionees will be photographed and auditions will be filmed.
The proposed 2018 production lineup (subject to change) is as follows:
Feb. 8 - March 3: “Buying the Moose” by London, Ont. playwright Michael G. Wilmot is a quick, witty comedy about the classic “he said/she said” differences between men and women and how they communicate or miscommunicate to each other. The story involves two couples, one in crisis and the other caught up in their chaos of misunderstandings and anxieties. This slap your knee comedy reminds the audience that Lucy, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred from the I Love Lucy show continues to live on in the present and their antics make us laugh at them and at ourselves. Jane Pilkey directs.
Required: 2 males, 2 females
April 12 - May 5 “Art of Murder” by Joe DiPietro. In a remote estate in the countryside of Connecticut, Jack Brooks, one of the most accomplished and eccentric painters of his generation, awaits the imminent arrival of his art dealer. But the visit is not a standard one, for Jack feels wronged, and he is intending to kill the man. As Jack lays out his intentions for the evening, his wife, Annie, calmly paints. She is reluctant to go along with the plan, until Jack’s threat of violence convinces her otherwise. Harried and annoyed, Vincent, Jack’s flamboyant art dealer, arrives. Will Jack carry out his plan? Will Annie help him? Or is something else going on? Jamie Eberle directs. Required: 2 males, 2 females
July 5 - 28: “Self Help” a riotous farce by Norm Foster Canada’s favourite playwright! A couple of married, second-rate actors decide to reinvent themselves as nationally renowned self-help gurus in order to improve their lot. Unimaginable success follows until their lives threaten to unravel in a hilarious farce as they try to hold on to their falsely won fame. Eric Hanston directs.
Required: 1 male and 1 female ages 40-50, 2 females, 2 males
Sept. 6 - 29: “Baskerville-A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” by master of comedy Ken Ludwig. Get your deerstalker cap on-the play’s afoot. A murderously funny adventure based on the classic Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is on the case. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms the newest heir. Our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises as five actors portray multiple characters. Does a wild hellhound prowl the moors? Can our heroes discover the truth in time? Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be. Josephine Patterson directs.
Required: 2 males who can play 40s to 50s; 2male actors to play multiple roles 30s-40s; will require accents; 1 female actor to play multiple roles 20s-40s; will require accents
Nov. 8 - Dec. 1: “On a First Name Basis” by Norm Foster. This delightful play tells the story of a very successful, but cantankerous, novelist who suddenly discovers that he knows nothing about his maid of 28 years. She, on the other hand, knows absolutely everything about him! He makes it his mission to learn all he can about her in a most engaging conversation. With revelations that are surprising, funny, and extremely moving, this is a love story, a social commentary and a mystery wrapped in witty dialogue and vivid imagery. Ed Schneider directs.
Required: 1 male, 1 female, both ages 50-65.