Auditions for the spring production, 2007

In May 2007, The Finn-Brit Players will be performing two shows on the 'Puoli-Q' stage at Q-Teatteri. One is August Strindberg's classic Miss Julie (directed by Jack Leo) and the other a double bill of one-act French plays, consisting of The Maids by Jean Genet (directed by Fionna O'Sullivan) and The Bald Prima Donna by Eugene Ionesco (directed by Bruce Marsland). Overall producer Laura Robinson.

The auditions are open; you don't need to be a member of the Players to audition, though you will have to join to be in the production, if cast. There are a total of twelve roles in the two shows, some larger and some smaller. No preparation is needed for the audition, but taking a look at the plays in advance can't hurt. There's a short description of the plays below, and the following links are worth checking out:

The script of Miss Julie in the original Swedish
The Bald Prima Donna, or The Bald Soprano, on Wikipedia
The Maids, on the Shotgun Players' site
Goldfish Publishers on The Maids
Miss Julie on the National Theatre of Scotland's site

Whether you would like to be onstage, backstage, or participate otherwise, come along to the audition to find out more and get yourself involved!

The audition is at FINNBRIT, Fredrikinkatu 20, December 10th at 2pm.

Miss Julie

The setting is a country house somewhere in Southern Sweden in the late 19th century. Miss Julie is the count's daughter; Jean is his footman. Their encounter during Midsummer night results in a collision of passion, and a conflict of sex and class arises which ultimately leads to the downfall of Miss Julie, an aristocrat by birth but not by nature. Strindberg's Miss Julie is classic of 19th century drama, and its naturalistic approach had a great influence on many of the plays of the early 20th century. Although the issues of class and social status are no longer as central as in Strindberg's day, the drama of Miss Julie is still a gripping one, with all the hot, steaming passion of Tennessee Williams, but covered by a veneer of Nordic propriety.

Two short French plays, 'Pas de Deux'
Three French maids, two short plays, one night to remember.

Two modern classics of the French theatre, translated into English, these plays pose similar questions about reality, in a modernist vein. How much of what you see is really real?

Based on a real-life case that shocked France in the 1930s, Jean Genet's The Maids explores the claustrophobic relationship between two sisters, their mistress, and her lover. Nothing is what it seems in this story of murder, suicide, and lies. In harmony with the themes, the staging will use fleamarket-type set and props. The part of the mistress may be cast as a man.

The Bald Prima Donna, sometimes translated as The Bald Soprano, was described by its author, Eugene Ionesco, as 'a pseudo-play in one act'. It follows the tradition of absurdism, with elements of farce and surrealism. The action takes place in 'a small, typical, old-fashioned, middle-class English living room' and revolves around two married couples: the hosts and the guests. In addition, there is a maid and a fire chief. Much of the play involves twists of language and logic, and the conversation is frequently littered with non sequiturs. In typical fashion for Theatre of the Absurd, this results in a combination of comedy and pathos: a critique of social convention and 'small talk'. From a sedate 'English' beginning, the play tracks a descent into the chaos of the characters puffing around the room as a railway train, before 'normality' is restored.