Audition Notices
Proof 2004 The Chatham Community Players will hold open auditions for Rabbit Hole by the David Lindsey Abaire. The production runs October 1 – 16, 2010 at the Chatham Playhouse. Robert Pridham directs.
Auditions will be held on Tuesday, June 29 and Wednesday, June 30 at 7pm. Both auditions will be held at The Chatham Playhouse, 23 North Passaic Ave., Chatham. Director Robert Pridham asks that actors be familiar with the script. Sides will be provided at the audition.
The Chatham Players have an open call casting policy. ALL roles are open, none are precast, and everyone is encouraged to audition. Any questions please call Kristin Furlong at (732) 208-4184 or email her at kristinbarber33@yahoo.com.
Synopsis:
Becca and Howie are struggling with the recent death of their four year-old son Danny, who was struck and killed by a car driven by a local 17 year-old boy, Jason Willette. From Ben Brantley’s review of the play: “Grief has not brought the members of Becca’s family – including her husband and her mother – closer together. Sorrow isolates them. Anything that anyone says is almost guaranteed to be the wrong thing.”
Time: Now -- A Week In February And Two Weeks In May
Place: Suburban Tri-State Area
Character Breakdown
BECCA 30 – 40: Sensible, intelligent housewife and mother, a bit more on-the-ball and up-to-date than might be commonly assumed. There’s a good deal of the “guardian” about her with respect to her younger sister Izzy. Responsive but sporadically deferential to her husband; there’s a wall between them, but it’s not a wall they want. Her mission: keeping everything together and in its proper place, filling up time with action, keeping things going – none of which has done anything to help her effectively navigate the dark waters which surround her. She is putting on a good front, but this can’t last, and she knows it.
HOWIE (Becca’s husband) 30 – 40: Sensitive, straightforward husband, attentive to his wife and highly attentive to changes in her mood. At times he seems to be a bit out of sorts in his own home, perhaps even a bit out of place in his own skin – almost as if he’s stuck in a room tightly packed with valuable antiques and he’s hesitating to turn around or change position for fear of breaking something. He appears to be looking for something he can’t quite seem to find – either in his own home, or beyond it.
IZZY (Becca’s sister) 25 – 30: Abrupt, brash, unsettled, and blissfully unconcerned about her disorganized life. Good heart, but almost completely self-involved. Tough, abrasive simply because she often fails to “sense” the mood of the room. Her own life is something of a chaotic mess, although she’s trying to get things in order. Nevertheless, able to deliver down-to-earth candor almost in spite of her vanity. Although she’s not good picking up most social cues, on occasion she can (and does) hit the nail on the head. Come what may, Izzy is a survivor.
NAT (mother of Becca and Izzy) 50 – 65: Strong grasp of the entire situation faced by her daughter, Becca, but still fumbling for a way to help without violating Becca’s precise system for navigating the aftermath of tragedy. Nat understands what is at stake here and, although she has the good sense (and almost impossible task) of holding herself back from interfering, she is reaching the end of her patience. She is now actively in search of a “way in” – an opening that might give her a chance to help her family face the life they need to live if they are going to survive. She is terrified of doing this in the wrong way, of saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment – but acutely aware of the need to do something.
JASON 16 – 19: Stunned, awkward, inarticulate, but struggling mightily with the challenge of trying to address a situation he cannot fully comprehend, but which he’s beginning to realize will always be with him. Somehow, he seems to understand his (now permanent) connection to this family, but has not yet found a way to address that connection in a manner which might have meaning for him, or for the family. If grief is like the tide, Jason is a newcomer to the ocean, treading water in the hope that someone will pull him out. He is not thoughtless. He is not uncaring. He is frightened, and alone.
Auditions 
