Upright Theatre Company (Non-Equity) is holding auditions for
The Importance of Being Earnest
By Oscar Wild
Playing August 25-September 16, 2023
In this madcap romantic comedy, two friends use the same pseudonym "Ernest" for their on-the-sly activities, resulting in pandemonium you won’t want to miss!
Directed by Michael Childs
Upright Theatre Co. is holding auditions for its upcoming production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Auditions will be held on Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 7:00pm at Upright Theatre Company’s studio space in Euless, TX. Callbacks (if needed) will be Monday, July 10, 2023 at 7pm. To audition, performers are asked to fill out an online audition form and make an appointment using the links provided on Upright Theatre Company’s audition page at https://www.uprighttheatre.
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen under the name Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend, the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds, pandemonium breaks loose.
UPRIGHT RATING: G (General Audiences)
*Fun romantic farce. Appropriate for all ages.
For more information on Upright Production Ratings, please email info@uprighttheatre.org.
ROLES AVAILABLE:
John (Jack/Ernest) Worthing, J.P. (Age: late 20s-30s) - The play's protagonist. Jack Worthing is a seemingly responsible and respectable young man who leads a double life. In Hertfordshire, where he has a country estate, Jack is known as Jack. In London he is known as Ernest. As a baby, Jack was discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station by an old man who adopted him and subsequently made Jack guardian to his granddaughter, Cecily Cardew. Jack is in love with his friend Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. The initials after his name indicate that he is a Justice of the Peace.
Algernon Moncrieff (Age: late 20s-30s) - The play's secondary hero. Algernon is a charming, idle, decorative bachelor, nephew of Lady Bracknell, cousin of Gwendolen Fairfax, and best friend of Jack Worthing, whom he has known for years as Ernest. Algernon is brilliant, witty, selfish, amoral, and given to making delightful paradoxical and epigrammatic pronouncements. He has invented a fictional friend, "Bunbury," an invalid whose frequent sudden relapses allow Algernon to wriggle out of unpleasant or dull social obligations.
Gwendolen Fairfax (Age: 20s-early 30s) - Algernon's cousin and Lady Bracknell's daughter. Gwendolen is in love with Jack, whom she knows as Ernest. A model and arbiter of high fashion and society, Gwendolen speaks with unassailable authority on matters of taste and morality. She is sophisticated, intellectual, cosmopolitan, and utterly pretentious. Gwendolen is fixated on the name Ernest and says she will not marry a man without that name.
Cecily Cardew (Age: 18-early 20s) - Jack's ward, the granddaughter of the old gentlemen who found and adopted Jack when Jack was a baby. Cecily is probably the most realistically drawn character in the play. Like Gwendolen, she is obsessed with the name Ernest, but she is even more intrigued by the idea of wickedness. This idea, rather than the virtuous-sounding name, has prompted her to fall in love with Jack's brother Ernest in her imagination and to invent an elaborate romance and courtship between them.
Lady Bracknell (Age: 50-65) - Algernon's snobbish, mercenary, and domineering aunt and Gwendolen's mother. Lady Bracknell married well, and her primary goal in life is to see her daughter do the same. She has a list of "eligible young men" and a prepared interview she gives to potential suitors. Like her nephew, Lady Bracknell is given to making hilarious pronouncements, but where Algernon means to be witty, the humor in Lady Bracknell's speeches is unintentional. Through the figure of Lady Bracknell, Wilde manages to satirize the hypocrisy of the British aristocracy. Lady Bracknell values ignorance, which she sees as "a delicate exotic fruit." When she gives a dinner party, she prefers her husband to eat downstairs with the servants. She is cunning, narrow-minded, authoritarian, and possibly the most quotable character in the play.
Miss Prism (Age: 40-65) - Cecily's governess. Miss Prism is an endless source of pedantic bromides and clichés. She highly approves of Jack's presumed respectability and harshly criticizes his "unfortunate" brother. Puritan though she is, Miss Prism's severe pronouncements have a way of going so far over the top that they inspire laughter. Despite her rigidity, Miss Prism seems to have a softer side. She speaks of having once written a novel whose manuscript was "lost" or "abandoned." Also, she entertains romantic feelings for Dr. Chasuble.
Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. (Age: 45-65) - The rector on Jack's estate. Both Jack and Algernon approach Dr. Chasuble to request that they be christened "Ernest." Dr. Chasuble entertains secret romantic feelings for Miss Prism. The initials after his name stand for "Doctor of Divinity."
Lane (Age: 25-65) - Algernon's manservant. When the play opens, Lane is the only person who knows about Algernon's practice of "Bunburying." Lane appears only in Act I.
Merriman (Age: 25-65) - The butler at the Manor House, Jack's estate in the country. Merriman appears only in Acts II and III.
AUDITION INFORMATION
AUDITION DATE: Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 7:00pm. Callbacks (if needed) will be Monday, July 10, 2023 at 7pm. Audition forms, appointment links and conflict calendars can be found on the Upright Theatre Co. website at: https://www.
LOCATION: Upright Theatre Company, 2501 N Main St, Ste 210, Euless, TX 76039
REHEARSALS: Rehearsals will be held at Upright Theatre Company beginning July 17, 2023 and will generally be 3-4 nights per week from 6:30pm-10pm, Monday through Friday and (if needed) Saturday late afternoons. Not all actors will be called for every rehearsal.
PERFORMANCE DATES: August 25-September 16, 2023, on Fridays at 7:30pm and Saturdays at 3pm and 7:30pm.
For more information, please visit https://www.
ABOUT UPRIGHT THEATRE COMPANY
Upright Theatre Company, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2020 with the goal of providing high-quality artistic and educational programming to the community. Upright Theatre Company promotes artistic excellence in the performing arts, along with education and outreach opportunities that work to provide public access to the arts and arts education. Upright Theatre Company's mission is to elevate the culture of our community by presenting classic and contemporary works that challenge thought, inspire empathy and enhance personal growth; to provide a safe, nurturing and professional educational experience for emerging artists; to promote the talents of our diverse community by collaborating with local businesses, showcasing local artists and cultivating the arts for local families.
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Upright Theatre Co.
2501 N Main St, Ste 210, Euless, TX 76039
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