THE PLAYWRITING FESTIVAL

OPEN AUDITIONS

8th June, 10am onwards.

The Norwich Players Theatre Company Playwriting Competition was a great success! We have four winning scripts and four runners-up scripts ready to be performed and staged in July 2025.

We need actors prepared to perform a 15 – 20 minute play on the 13th and/or 20th July. Rehearsals will take place three weeks before the performances.  This will not be a big commitment, and all we ask is that you are able to be flexible with availability from the 23rd of June to the Festival dates.

The audition day will be broken into four slots:

10am, 11:15am, 1:15pm, 2:15pm

All directors will be in the room, and it will be a relaxed audition as we explore extracts from the successful plays.

Please email joe.flatt@maddermarket.org to book a slot and receive more information!

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