AUDITION CALL
THE ELEPHANT MAN by Bernard Pomerance
Synopsis
Based on a true story, The Elephant Man tells the tale of John Merrick, a 19th-century Londoner who became a star of the travelling freak show circuit.
When the renowned Dr Treves comes across Merrick during one of his performances, he takes him into his care at the London Hospital. Here, the legend of the Elephant Man begins to grow, and a beautiful actress named Mrs. Kendal arrives, determined to meet the man behind it.
Teves and Kendal enter into a complex friendship with Merrick; torn between a desire to help him experience life, and the cruelties they must inflict in order to protect him.
(Bernard Pomerance/ A SAMUEL FRENCH LTD./ Concord Theatricals)
Character List (with indicated playing age range)
Fredrick Treves – Surgeon and Teacher (M 40+)
John Merrick – The Elephant Man (M 20-30)
Ross – Ring Master (M 40+)
Mrs. Kendal – Nurse (F 40+)
Lord John – Aristocrat (M 40+)
Bishop Walsham-How (M 50+)
There are several other minor characters required for this production. Actors for these roles should be comfortable with choregraphed movement. These roles are not age or gender specific.
Details and vision
The play is primarily set in 1880’s London. Sections of the play will contain stylised scenes or choregraphed movement and acrobatics which will involve an element of physicality from the actors playing these roles. The role of John Merrick (The Elephant Man) will also require a degree of physicality and the actor playing this role will need to be comfortable with portraying elements of physical distortion and discomfort.
Dates
Performance dates are Saturday November 7th to Saturday November 14th (not including Sunday November 8th) all at 7:30pm in the evening.
Familiarisation – Oldbury Rep Studio Space on Monday August 24th at 7:30pm
Audition – Oldbury Rep Studio Space on Thursday September 3rd at 7:30pm
It is not necessarily essential to attend the familiarisation, but it might help with preparing for the audition and deciding on which roles you might be more interested in.
If you are interested in auditioning but are unavailable for the dates, please let us know at info@oldburyrep.org and we will endeavour to make additional times available.