The Real Thing

by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Kristin Hughes

Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Callbacks (if necessary) will be held on Thursday, September 3, 2009

Auditions will take place at the Abbott Memorial Theater, 9 Spring Street in Waltham, MA (next to the Waltham Public Library, in the D’Angio Law Office building).

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. British accents are required for this production. Familiarity with the script is highly encouraged. All age ranges are approximate and relative. Any questions please contact the director, Kristin Hughes, at hughes@hoveyplayers.com.

Performance dates will be November 6, 7, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at 8:00 p.m., and November 15 at 2:00 p.m.

Plot Overview:

Henry and Annie are in love – but is it the real thing? Can love last? Can a marriage? In this heartfelt comedy – a Tony winner for Best Play – Tom Stoppard examines the difficulties and rewards of finding and sustaining love and commitment, as well as challenging our very notions about what is “real.”

Character Descriptions:

Henry (40-ish): Henry is married to Charlotte and in love with Annie. He is a playwright; brilliant with words and infinitely less brilliant with emotions.

Annie (30-ish): Annie is married to Max and in love with Henry. She is an actress; and is much more comfortable with emotion than words.

Charlotte (35-ish): Henry’s wife. Also an actress; very witty and self assured. Probably does a lot of Noel Coward.

Max (40-ish): An actor, married to Annie. He’s Henry, if Henry were a really good looking actor and not a brilliant writer. Or, at least, he’s what Henry writes his alter ego to be. As Charlotte says, “You don’t really think that if Henry caught me out with a lover, he’d sit around being witty about Rembrandt place mats?”

Billy (early-mid 20s): An actor who Annie meets. Young, brash, charming. Can do a Scottish accent in addition to British.

Debbie (17 years old): Henry and Charlotte’s overly mature daughter. One scene, but it’s a good one!

Brodie (early to mid 20s): A Scottish soldier and political prisoner. Loud, boorish, and not all that political, when it comes right down to it.

Abbott Memorial Theater
9 Spring Street, Waltham

Free parking behind the building