Chester theatre auditions

The Forum Studio Theatre in Chester is welcoming the start of its new season by holding a number of open auditions during August for some of its key upcoming productions.

Tip Top Productions, which took over the studio theatre in the old Chester Gateway building in 2007, will be holding open auditions for a variety of productions as part of its 2010/2011 season including Doubt: A Parable, The Flint Street Nativity, and Oleanna.

Made famous by the film starring Meryl Streep, auditions for the Pulitzer Prize winning drama Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley will take place at the studio theatre on Sunday 15 August at 12pm. This emotive drama set in a Bronx Catholic school looks at the ambiguous relationship between a priest and a 12 year old black student. Roles available for audition include Sister Aloysius , Sister James, Father Flynn and director Peter Swingler is particularly keen to hear from a black actress who may be interested in the pivotal role of Mrs Muller.

The second set of auditions this month will be for Cheshire writer Tim Firth‘s hilarious comedy i>The Flint Street Nativity on Monday 23 August at 7.30pm at The Forum Studio Theatre. This will be a fun workshop style audition, open to all people with a playing age of 20-50, where auditionees will be asked to play the part of the children as well as the adults. With a wide variety of roles available, director Steve Davies is keen to hear from anyone interested via steved@tiptopproductions.co.uk.

Finally, auditions for the part of ‘John’ in Mark Newman’s production of David Mamet’s Oleanna will be held at The Forum Studio Theatre at 11am on Sunday 29 August. The playing age of the character is approximately 45-55 years old and the actor will need a convincing American accent. As no spare scripts are presently available actors are asked to do their own research on both the play and the character before auditioning, though Mark is happy to discuss both in detail if contacted.

Steve Davies said: “We are always keen to welcome new members and this open audition period for some fantastic, and very different, productions gives people from across the region the chance to get involved. I’d encourage anyone interested to either get in touch or turn up on the day and make the most of this opportunity to perform in a wonderful theatre in the heart of Chester.”

August will see a number of productions performed at the Forum Studio Theatre including three weeks of Theatretrain summer schools, Brownpaper productions will also return to the theatre with a musical compilation evening This is My Musical III from 11-14 August, and The Goon Show on 19 August will re-live original sketches.

September will see Tip Top Productions much awaited first production of the season The Rise and Fall of Little Voice directed by Gail Young. This touching tale is sure to have audiences entranced with the story of the shy girl with the big voice. The 2010 season also brings new offers for opening nights and extensive offers for the Under 30s – including tickets from just £4.

For more information on any of the auditions or to book tickets for any productions call the box office on 01244 341296.