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Current Audition Notices
JEKYLL & HYDE
Adapted by Neil Bartlett
Directed by Jen Alexander
THE PLAY
Neil Bartlett’s bold adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is set firmly in the gaslit streets and shadowed drawing rooms of Victorian London, but at the centre of this version is Dr. Stevenson, a woman of intellect and resolve, piecing together the horrifying truth behind a string of violent crimes. Her investigation leads to the unsettling figure of Edward Hyde – and to the double life of the esteemed Dr. Henry Jekyll.
In a world built to protect men like Jekyll, Dr. Stevenson’s greatest obstacle is not just the monster in the alley – it is the privileged male elite who close ranks to silence her. A chorus of gentlemen haunt the stage, stepping in and out of roles, but always returning to their true form: a boys’ club determined to protect its own.
By giving voice to women, silent in Robert Louis Stevenson’s original novella, this chilling play exposes the machinery of complicity and asks: Who gets to define truth?
A tale of power, repression, and revelation – Jekyll and Hyde gives us both classic gothic horror, and an exploration of themes sadly as relevant today as they were when the story was first published in 1886.
CHARACTERS
Auditions for any role are open to people of all genders and gender identities. Characters will be played as the gender they are written.
As an ensemble piece, most of the cast are on stage most of the time.
Dr Stevenson: A newly qualified medical doctor, recently admitted to a previously all-male profession. Tough, but inexperienced. Every man she meets outranks her; every doctor she meets could have her removed. She is dangerously attracted to—and intimidated by—Dr Jekyll. Eventually, her fear turns to anger, and then to action.
The Girl: An underage (by modern standards) sex worker, and Hyde’s first victim. She is illiterate—but fearless. Briefly doubles as Mr Hyde’s comically grotesque Soho landlady.
The Hospital Matron: Solid as a rock—stern, efficient, and respected. She runs the hospital ward where Dr Stevenson is posted. Doubles as Mrs Poole, Dr Jekyll’s housekeeper, who relishes the unfolding horror.
Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Edward Hyde: “’If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also,”
As Jekyll: a top-ranking doctor in his prime—respected, cultured, wealthy, and single. He has Wildean wit and command of language, along with Wildean guilt and secrecy.
As Hyde: ‘indefinably odd,’ cruel, malevolent, selfish, and cowardly.
Although the use of costume, make-up and other effects will help to create the illusion of transformation required of this dual role, its real success will depend on the performer’s ability to create two distinct (yet connected) characters, vocally and physically.
The Gentlemen: Referred to collectively in the script as ‘The Gentlemen,’ this Greek Chorus moves as one, but each member requires individual character.
Involvement in each scene will be workshopped in rehearsal and lines distributed as part of this process. Sinister as the gentlemen are, there is room for comedy and flamboyance, bridging the audience and action with a Victorian theatrical air (with this in mind, there is scope for some of the gentlemen to be portrayed in the style of Music Hall ‘male impersonator’ performers, à la Burlington Bertie.
When required, they chip in with the storytelling, stepping into minor roles – and the following parts (please indicate on the audition form if you are particularly interested in a specific part):
· Dr Lanyon: A conservative, old-school doctor. Formerly at school with Jekyll, a few years older. He suspects the truth but lacks the courage to act—until it is too late.
· Mr Utterson: A senior, well-connected lawyer. Schooled with Jekyll and now his solicitor. Given the chance to do the right thing, he instead protects his class and gender—refusing to expose his own failures.
· Mr Guest: A clerk in Utterson’s chambers. He delights in the grotesque and sensational—especially murder. Oblivious to the harm of his innuendo-laced ‘banter.’
· Mr Enfield: A pompous man-about-town. He witnesses Hyde’s assault on The Girl but withholds crucial details—especially concerning his own late-night activities.
· Inspector Newcome: A detective floundering in his investigation, unwilling to believe the criminal could come from the same class as his informants.
Any other roles, e.g. newsboys, office boy, servants to be played by the ensemble.
AUDITIONS
Please note: We have received feedback from several people who are interested in auditioning for both Jekyll and Hyde (23rd – 27th Sept) and The School for Scandal (11th – 15th Nov). Despite the two productions being close together which might lead to a slight overlap for performances/rehearsals, the directors have agreed to work together to make it possible to do both shows should anyone wish to audition for both.
All auditionees must be 18+ at time of audition.
Audition dates:
· Monday 16th June (19:00 – studio)
· Tuesday 17th June (19:00 – studio)
· Friday 20th June (19:00 – bar)
· Saturday 21st June (11:30, or 13.30 – studio)
· Sunday 22nd June (11:30, or 13.30 – studio)
Callbacks will be arranged directly with auditionees as required.
Given the ensemble nature of this production, auditions will take the form of small group workshops, these will include warm-ups and improvisation exercises to explore characterisation, storytelling, movement, and voice, followed by text work in small groups/pairs or individually. Auditions will be held at the Maddermarket Theatre, either in the Emmerson Studio or the Madder Bar – please be prepared to stay on site for 60-90 minutes.
Excerpts from the text will be provided by email when your audition time is confirmed, you do not need to learn this.
Jekyll and Hyde will be performed on the main stage; therefore performers will need to be able to vocally project with clarity, diction, and nuance. This play is not a musical, but there will moments when singing and other ways of using voice, besides speaking, is used – perfect singing voices are not necessary, but performers will need to confidently engage in speaking in choric unison, as well as whispering, gibbering, groaning and singing a capella, be it a raucous music hall number or bloodthirsty hymn!
Please download the Auditions Submission Form below. Complete and return it as an attachment to jen.alexander@maddermarket.org
The Maddermarket Theatre is committed to making its audition process as accessible as possible. Auditionees may request that reasonable adjustments are made to the audition process in order for them to attend and participate, please contact the director about this in the first instance at jen.alexander@maddermarket.org
REHEARSALS
The below rehearsal schedule (subject to final confirmation) illustrates the level of commitment required. Please carefully consider your availability before auditioning – if you know there are any times when you absolutely cannot attend please let the director know when submitting your audition form and this will be accommodated if possible.
· Readthrough: Tuesday 22nd July.
· Weeks 1 – 5: Three evenings a week Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays (19:00 – 21:30), except w/c w/c 4th August when rehearsals will be on Thursday and Friday evenings (no Tuesday), plus Sunday afternoon on 10th August (13:00-15:30).
· Weeks 6 – 8: Three evenings a week Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays (19:00 – 21:30), and also Sunday afternoons (13:00-15:30).
· Week 9 – w/c 15th September: Technical/Production week; exact times tbc but cast potentially required every evening except Saturday. Cast may be required Sunday afternoon AND evening.
· Week 10 – w/c 22nd September: Final dress rehearsal (Monday 22nd) and show week. Cast to arrive no later than 18:30 for a 19:30 curtain up (and no later than 13:30 for a 14:30 curtain up on Saturday 27th ). All cast to assist with get-out after final performance.
OTHER NOTES
This is not a straightforward retelling of the original story in play format. As well as new characters and the use of the Greek Chorus of gentlemen, various storytelling techniques will be employed to take us on a journey through a number of specific locations, sometimes back and forth through time, without ever really leaving the Victorian hospital where we first discover Dr Stevenson.
It will be useful to read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (available at a reasonable price at most book retailers or viewed for free here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43/43-h/43-h.htm). Not only is this good research into the story, period, and general atmosphere we will be exploring, but the differences between the novella and this play will give you an understanding of why the playwright chose to adapt the piece in this way.
Copies of this playscript (ISBN: 1839041234) will be issued to those successfully cast, a perusal copy will be available at the theatre prior to auditions – please do not take this off the premises.
Copies of the script are £10. If possible, we ask that a discretionary contribution is paid by successful cast members towards the cost of the script at the time of issue, this will go towards the costs of staging the play.
There is no audition fee or show fee for actors.
AUDITION SUBMISSION FORM
THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Adapted and Directed by Christine Lloyd
THE PLAY
The play is a fast moving, witty, romp of a satirical Comedy of Manners, first performed in 1770. Set in 18th Century London, with some contemporary twists, it has an elaborate plot involving disguise, mistaken identity, deception, attempts at seduction and adultery, and most of all scandal and malicious gossip used orchestrate intrigue and ruin reputations. However, in the time-honoured tradition of the best comedy, the deceptions, conspiracies and hypocrisy are eventually revealed and the perpetrators are uncovered. The original play has been adapted to make allusions and references in the text more relevant and to make the language used more accessible to actors and audience. The plot, however, remains unchanged.
Performances will take place on the main stage at the Theatre at 19.30, from the 11th of November until the 15th of November, with a 14.30 matinee on the 15th
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will begin on the 13th of September and will take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 18.45 – 21.30 and on Saturday mornings from 10.30 – 13.00 or Sunday afternoons from 13.00 – 15.30, increasing to both days at the weekends from the 18th of October. You will not be required to attend every rehearsal, as none of the characters appear in every scene of the play, until Get In week, beginning the on the 2nd of November. A fully detailed Rehearsal Schedule will be provided if you are offered a part and you will be expected to commit to those rehearsals where you are needed if you accept a role.
Please note – We are aware that there may be some overlap between the starting date of rehearsals for The School for Scandal and the preceding production, Jekyll and Hyde. It is possible to be in both plays should you wish as accommodation will be made for rehearsals during the period of overlap.
AUDITIONS
Auditions will take place at the Maddermarket Theatre on;
12/07/25 – 10.30 -13.00
15/07/25 – 18.45 – 21.15
16/07/25 – 18.45 – 21.15
17/07/25 – 18.45 – 21.15
19/07/25 – 10.30 – 13.00
Call backs may be arranged for 27/07/25 if necessary
Auditions will take the form of group activities, to enable participants to become familiar with, and try out aspects of the genre, and group readings of unseen short sample scenes from the play. You will have time to prepare them within the audition. Expect the auditions to last for about an hour.
The play has been adapted from the original to make the language and references more accessible and relevant but the plot and style remain essentially the same. A copy of the adapted play will be available to consult at the theatre Box Office and a brief extract will be sent with your audition slot to give a flavour of the style of the play. N.B. The readings used in the auditions may be different so do not learn them.
To book an audition please contact Christine Lloyd at christinemlloyd@me.com and return the completed audition form below.
AUDITION FORM
THE CHARACTERS
N.B. The names of the characters generally provide strong clues to their personalities and roles in the plot !
The Gossips – all devotees of the very latest fashions in high society !
LADY SNEERWELL (Playing age 30s – 40) – The Headteacher of the School for Scandal. She has been crossed in love by Charles Surface and bears a dangerous grudge. She is determined, with the aid of her friends and confidantes, including Charles’ brother Joseph Surface, to ruin his reputation and ensure that he does not win the hand of Maria, who he loves.
MISTRESS SNAKE (Playing age any) – Chief confidante of Lady Sneerwell who lives up to her name in every sense, fermenting and relaying scandal and intrigue and betraying even her closest allies.
MISTRESS CANDOUR (Playing age any) – She purports to be a woman of integrity and high sentiment who is shocked by scandal but who engages wholeheartedly in the pursuit of ruining the reputations of friends and strangers alike by passing on unsubstantiated stories, half-truths and gossip with mock sincerity and great gusto.
MR. CRABTREE and SIR BENJAMIN BACKBITE (Men of the Town) (Playing age 30s – 60s) Crabtree and Backbite form a sort of comedy double act in the play, and can be uncle and nephew (as in the original text), cousins or simply friends, depending on casting (Sir Benjamin should be slightly younger than Crabtree and sees himself as a suitor for Maria’s hand in marriage). They dress in exaggerated versions of the latest fashions and adopt all the affected mannerisms, speech and habits of the period and genre. Their purpose in life is to spread stories, gossip and intrigue about everyone else in fashionable society. Like the other characters in Lady Sneerwell’s School for Scandal, they love nothing more than destroying reputations and seeding intrigue.
The Teazle Family
SIR PETER TEAZLE (Playing age 50s – 60s) – Neighbour to Lady Sneerwell. A wealthy man who has married a young woman from the country rather late in life. He is somewhat blunt, has no time for the fashionable set or for the extravagancies of his young wife who is very keen to be part of Lady Sneerwell’s school. This leads to many quarrels between them. He has been guardian to Joseph and Charles Surface, after their father, who was his close friend died, and is also guardian to Maria the daughter of another deceased friend. Joseph and Charles are now independent having received their inheritances. In spite of his abhorrence of gossip and scandal Sir Peter has been convinced that the scandal and gossip being spread about Charles, and his young wife, are true.
LADY TEAZLE – (Playing age 20s – 30s) Sir Peter’s young wife. Newly arrived in London from the country she has fallen in with Lady Sneerwell and her companions, particularly Joseph who, in trying to seduce Maria, has instead captured Lady Teazle’s interest and has decided to use her to get closer to Maria. She is easily persuaded to engage in Joseph’s intrigues in the mistaken belief that they are necessary for her entrance into fashionable society.
MARIA – (Sir Peter’s ward) – (Playing are 20s – 30s) Not at all interested in the scandal and gossip herself, Maria is in love with Charles but has been deterred from getting involved with him because of the rumours circulating about his reputation. She is also being pursued by Sir Benjamin Backbite and Joseph but has no interest in either. She makes her views clear and is not prepared to be forced into a match with Joseph in spite of Sir Peter’s efforts to do so.
The Surface Family
MR. JOSEPH SURFACE (Playing age 30s – 40s) – Purports to be a man of Sentiment, who is sensitive, highly moral, lives an exemplary life and is the antithesis of his younger brother Charles. He is, however a devious hypocrite and a liar who is prepared to do anything to ruin his younger brother, win Maria and inherit his Uncle Oliver’s money. This includes attempting to seduce Lady Teazle and engaging in a dangerous collaboration with Lady Sneerwell in her campaign against Charles..
CHARLES SURFACE – (His younger brother) (Playing age 30s – 40s but younger than Joseph) Charles enjoys his life and spends his money liberally on entertaining, drinking, gambling and generally having fun. He has, it seems, frittered away his inheritance, all the family treasures and is in debt to moneylenders. However, it is revealed that he has used a considerable amount of his money to buy and maintain his father’s house, to keep it in the family, and is very generous to those less fortunate than himself including distant relatives. He loves Maria and also feels strong family ties to his Uncle Oliver who he has not seen in many years.
SIR OLIVER SURFACE – (Uncle to Charles and Joseph) (Playing age 50s – 60s) He has been away in the far East since his nephews were young. He returns secretly to London and hearing about the reputations of both his nephews from Sir Peter, decides to disguise himself and visit them both to find out if the rumours are true. Much of the comedy in the play revolves around his disguised visits to the brothers.
MR. ROWLEY – (Friend of Sir Peter and Sir Oliver) (Playing age 50s – 60s) A strong supporter of Charles he does not trust Joseph or any of the scandal and gossip and sees through Joseph’s portrayal of himself as a man of Sentiment. He assists Sir Oliver with his deceptions and disguises in the hope that he will form a view of the bothers as they really are rather than how they are perceived.
(Charles’ (Drinking Companions)
MR. CARELESS (Playing age 30s 40s), GENTLEMAN 1 [TOM] (Playing age 30s – 40s), GENTLEMAN 2 [HARRY] (Playing age 30s – 40s) – All three are drinking and gambling companions of Charles. Careless also acts as the auctioneer when Charles sells the family portraits to raise money. Although they are fairly minor roles, there is scope to develop these characters into comedy cameos. It is also likely that doubling up of William, Joseph’s servant, with Tom or Harry of these could be possible.
MR. TRIP – (Servant to Charles Surface) (30s – any) – Affected and attempting to be a version of Sir Benjamin Backbite and Mr Crabtree. Over dressed, with exaggerated mannerisms and aspirations, he is happy to purloin and/or mortgage his master’s belongings in order to present himself as a man of fashion. A comic cameo role with lots of scope for development.
MR MORRIS (A Money Lender) (Playing age 40s – any) A successful money lender who is sympathetic with Charles as he knows Charles uses some of the money he borrows to give to others. He assists Sir Oliver with his disguise as a broker so that he can visit Charles and observe him.
Servants
LAPPET – (Servant to Lady Sneerwell), SUSAN – (Servant to Sir Peter and Lady Teazle) WILLIAM – (Servant to Joseph Surface) (Playing age any) – Small roles which have the potential for, and will be developed, as comedy cameos.
OLD TYME MUSIC HALL
We at Dreamcast Productions are delighted to join hands with the Maddermarket Theatre to invite you to step back to a golden era of the classic live entertainment and spectacle that delighted our forebears. We are holding auditions in July for people who wish to be involved in the production and presentation of a classic “Old Tyme Music Hall”.
We are very much looking forward to seeing the wealth of talent on offer, and whilst we’d love to see singers, actors, and performers who already have experience in the genre of ‘Music Hall’, it’s not an essential requirement. What is most important is a willingness to learn, to embrace the format, and to enjoy being involved.
If you would like to come forward for audition or involvement, please bring along your music, spoken word or act for consideration.
We’re hoping that Norwich Players are keen to take part in this co-production, and will bring their wide range of experience and skills to what will be a wonderful evening reviving the traditions of the past Maddermarket Old Tyme productions.