Our 2023-24 auditions have taken place and the season has been cast. However, please see below for details of any onstage roles still available. If you would like to register your interest, you can find the relevant director’s contact details on the pages below.
“We have all, at one time or another, been performers.”
“Mike Kenny's script of funny, clever and pointed in its championing of riverbank life. It has a warm heart but is never twee.”
The Stage
Directed by Millie Holland
This production has not yet been cast; auditions will take place in the third week of Youth Theatre sessions.
Youth Theatre sessions will be starting from September 2023.
Production synopsis Tired of spring cleaning, Mole leaves Mole end and ventures out to the riverbank, where he befriends the resourceful Ratty, the gruff Badger and the infamous Toad of Toad Hall (Poop-poop!). Together they explore the wide world and the Wild Wood and try to keep out of trouble…
Interested in joining our Youth Theatre? Find out more and fill out your online application form here
Directed by Pauline Armour
Auditioning 2nd July 2023, 2.30pm
Interested in auditioning for this production? Fill out your online audition form here.
Production synopsis Based on Jane Austen’s incomplete early novel ‘The Watsons’, Laura Wade dips beneath the surface to imagine what might have happened. The result is clever, playful and very funny. Characters boldly go in search of their own endings which delight, occasionally horrify but constantly entertain. As the play opens we meet a myriad of familiar Austen characters. Young women in search of a husband, flirtatious suitors, stuffy aristocrats, serious clergymen, dazzling army officers, formidable ladies of the manor, as well a precocious child. All familiar territory – but what happens when the writer loses the plot allowing the characters to introduce plans of their own, unrestricted by the conventional rules of fiction and the demands of Regency England. The dialogue sparkles, the costumes delight and as the plot unravels unexpected twists and turns keep us guessing what the final outcome ‘might or might not be’.
A large cast is required – 18 actors (9 women, 9 men – one a boy of about 10). The play starts out as a typical Austen novel with all the well known characters but as the writer (Laura) enters the story and the plot begins to unravel the characters become free to develop their own destinies which are very funny, satirical and surprising. Scenes of enforced gentility segue into an anarchic battle ground of ideas.
Highly acclaimed at Chichester (2018) and The Menier Chocolate Factory (2019) – this could well be an amateur premiere at GWT. There are many scenes when the entire cast is on stage so strong ensemble work is vital. The play needs enormous pace and energy and an ability to deliver complex ideas with understanding and speed. So great diction will be essential. There will be some dancing, possibly live music. The Regency scenes need to be portrayed with honesty and a real sense of period. As the plot begins to break down and characters reinvent themselves so will actors have a greater freedom to explore acting styles and intentions. It will be hard work but a great deal of fun.
Some of the smaller roles could be doubled. Character ages are ‘Playing Ages’ and could be flexible.
Characters
Mr Watson – Playing age "old"! VERY SMALL ROLE (No lines) Lies in big bed, poorly. He might groan a bit. Could double once he’s deceased!!
Mr Edwards – Playing age 50s to 60s. (SMALL ROLE) In ball scene and briefly in second half – non speaking. Could double.
Directed by Sue Higginson
Auditioning 25th June 2023, 4.00pm
Interested in auditioning for this production? Fill out your online audition form here.
Production synopsis Nell Gwynn premiered at The Globe in 2015 and transferred to the West End in 2016, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Demanding fine acting, music, singing, dancing and humour galore, it’s the perfect end to the GWT 23/24 season.
It is a bawdy comedy (think Shakespeare/Upstart Crow/Blackadder), telling the tale of our heroine’s rise from selling oranges on the sleezy streets of London to become the mistress of the King of England.
How on earth does a King meet someone from the sleezy streets of London, you may well ask? Well…obviously, he goes to the best place to spot talent… the theatre!
Ambitious mistresses, stroppy Queens… in all senses of the word…oh dear, is that expression acceptable these days? Anyway, this play has the lot!
It is possible for the same female actor to play the parts of Lady Barbara Castlemaine and Louise de Keroualle.
Also Queen Catherine may be played by the same female actor as Old Ma Gwynn.
Louise de Keroualle will need to have a good bash at a French accent for the Auditions.
Queen Catherine will need to have a good bash at a Portuguese accent for the auditions.
You should be able to find some pointers on accents on Google/ YouTube.
Characters
Thomas Killigrew – Playing age 30-65+. Theatre manager.
Lord Arlington – Playing age 45-65+. Advisor to Charles II.
Ned Spiggett – Playing age 18-25. Actor in training.
