Auditions will be held, at the Playhouse on Tuesday 21st August at 7:30pm

Scripts will be available on the night, before the Auditions, from 6:30pm

If you are interested in attending, please email us to REGISTER, at;

admin@altrinchamgarrick.co.uk

Please make sure you put ‘SINGULAR’ in the title/subject of your e-mail.

Auditions are open to everyone, (members and non-members) but anyone successful to get a part in one of our amateur productions will be expected to join The Altrincham Garrick as a member before rehearsals begin.

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Absurd Person Singular is set over three Christmases in the kitchens of three couples: Sidney Hopcroft, an ambitious tradesman, and his submissive wife Jane; architect and adulterer Geoffrey Jackson and his depressed wife, Eva; Ronald Brewster-Wright, a banker, and his alcoholic wife Marion. The three couples range from working to upper class.

‘Last’ Christmas is set at Sidney’s house, who hopes to persuade the others to invest in his business – although both Geoffrey and Ronald are obviously dismissive of the man and dislike him. Throughout the scene, Sidney’s unfeeling treatment of Jane becomes apparent, as does the way she rises above it. It also becomes obvious that Geoffrey and Eva’s marriage is on the rocks and that in Ronald, Geoffrey sees the potential for help with a new commission for a shopping centre. Unseen in the lounge, Dick and Lottie Potter hold sway with their raucous jokes, forcing the others to seek refuge in the kitchen. By the end of the act Jane has been locked out of the kitchen in the pouring rain only able to return when the party, declared a success by Sidney, is over.
‘This’ Christmas is spent at Geoffrey and Eva’s flat. Geoffrey’s fortunes have fallen and Eva spends most of the act attempting to commit suicide in ever more desperate, domestic ways. Jane mistakes her attempts to gas herself for cleaning and takes over scrubbing the oven; the tablets Eva loses down the sink leads Sidney to offer to help with the plumbing – getting soaked as result; when Eva tries to hang herself, Ronald thinks she’s trying to change the light-bulb and takes over – electrocuting himself in the process. In despair, she starts singing a Christmas carol as Geoffrey arrives with a doctor in tow. Amid the chaos, Marion has been getting increasingly drunk and the Jackson’s rabidly aggressive and unseen dog, George, has attacked Dick and effectively trapped them all in the kitchen.
‘Next’ Christmas is at Ronald and Marion’s house, where Marion tends to lock herself in her bedroom to be comforted by alcohol, leaving Ronald bewildered and lost in his own home. The roof of Geoffrey’s shopping centre has collapsed and, ironically, he is now dependent on Eva. The two couples meet for a Christmas drink but try to hide when Sidney and Jane turn up uninvited. The couple have come up trumps in the interim and are now on the rise. Once in the kitchen, it transpires Ronald, who was dismissive of them in the first act, has to court them to keep their business and Geoffrey desperately needs them to employ him as an architect to keep his career alive. Having dished out wildly inappropriate Christmas presents and with the fortunes of all couples now completely reversed, Sidney finally gets his wish for party games and makes everyone dance – literally – to his tune.

CHARACTERS

Jane 30-40 Jane is the most sympathetic character in this piece. Sidney’s loyal wife, also in her 30s, she’s not much brighter than he is, but she’s equally eager to please. Unlike Marion and Eva, she also has a knack for housework, in which she takes refuge from the complexities and difficulties of the world. She takes most of her social cues from her husband, and would do almost anything to help him succeed, but isn’t motivated by greed or social standing: she just wants a comfortable living and a happy family.

Sidney 30-40 A small man with ambition, eager for social and professional advancement, Sidney will do anything to impress his perceived superiors—at the expense of his marriage. Sidney is socially inept, and shares that innocence with his wife, keeping their marriage together. As the play progresses, he becomes wealthier and wealthier, until eventually the friends he was once desperate to impress are now courting him as their own fortunes sink lower and lower.

Eva 30-40 Geoffrey’s wife. Eva’s appearance in the first act is brief and whimsical, establishing only her addiction to anti-depressants and her difficulties with her husband Geoffrey. She comes into her own in the second act, as a very depressed Eva tries repeatedly to kill herself, growing more and more desperate to end it all even as the other characters prevent her from doing so. By the third act she has recovered, dispensed with her addiction to pain-killers, and appears to be teetotal (or at least a much lighter drinker, refusing alcohol even though she’s not driving). She has also taken control of her relationship with Geoffrey, setting the course for his business and forcing him into situations he has typically charmed his way out of but which are now unavoidable.

Geoff 30-40 A debonair philandering man, architect by trade, Geoffrey is initially on the way up, only to fall from grace after a design fails and collapses between the second and third acts. A confident man and something of a Jack-the-Lad, he has many casual affairs and could be said to flaunt it. His indifference towards his wife Eva may have led to her addiction to anti-depressants, and even to cause her suicide attempts

Marion 50’s Ronald’s second wife is charming though snobbish and deeply eccentric. As the play advances more and more of her eccentricities are attributed to alcoholism, climaxing in her thoroughly drunk presence in the third act. She’s an uncomfortable, frequently insecure woman. As the wife of a successful banker, Marion looks down on many of her husband’s friends—indeed, she can’t even remember Sidney Hopcroft’s name until the second act. By the end of the play, Marion has become a full-fledged alcoholic, suggesting that she’s unhappy in her marriage to Ronald Brewster-Wright (who never seems to show her much affection, or even take much interest in her).

Ronald 50’s An aging bank manager, Ronald takes pride in his work and enjoys the finer things in life. More conservative than the other characters, he is wry and sardonic. Initially both indulgent and disdainful of Sidney and Jane—although casually admiring Geoffrey—he is something of a side show in the second act and by the third act is clearly in severe financial trouble, unable to afford even to heat his house. Although he tries to maintain a facade of cheerful aristocratic bluster, his nerves show through, and he is forced to submit to Sidney as the holder of a large business account in Ronald’s bank.

 

For those who might have access to the script, below are the suggested sections for audition pieces.

Copies of the actual scripts will be  available on the night, before the Auditions, from 6:30pm

 

Jane and Sidney pg 5 : Jane ‘And you’ve been at those nuts’ Pg 6 S ‘ Just don’t get nervous’
Jane and Sidney Pg 10: S bottle opener Im trying to find … Pg 11 S come in
Marion and Ronald Pg 19 M: Ronnie Pg 20: ‘R ‘ I don’t know about lucky’
Geoffrey Pg 46 half chewed biscuits Pg 46 Now Eva please
Geoffrey Pg 44 You all right Pg 44 This could actually work out terribly well
Jane Pg 52 Hark at that dog of yours Pg 52 Good elbow grease that’s the way
Sidney Pg 53 Now, I’ll give you a little tip Pg 53 Need a wrench for that one.
Ronald and Eva Pg 78 R whats she want? Peanut butter? Pg 79 usually out too with their friends
Eva and Geoffrey Pg 82 E ‘I mean either you want me… Pg 83 end 83
Marion and Ronald Pg 88 Geoff darling its sweet of you… Pg 89 you finish up lying there utterly……
Marion and Ronald Pg 90 M I don’t know what it is about xmas Pg 91 R nobody wants your damn picture

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Auditions will be held, at the Playhouse on Tuesday 21st August at 7:30pm

Scripts will be available on the night, before the Auditions, from 6:30pm

If you are interested in attending, please email us to REGISTER, at;

admin@altrinchamgarrick.co.uk

Please make sure you put ‘SINGULAR’ in the title/subject of your e-mail.

---

Auditions are open to everyone, (members and non-members) but anyone successful to get a part in one of our amateur productions will be expected to join The Altrincham Garrick as a member before rehearsals begin.