Auditions for Go back For Murder

Welcome to open auditions for our spring production of ‘Go back For Murder’ by Agatha Christie at 13:00 on Sunday 9 October at the Finnish-British Society, Fredrikinkatu 20 A 9, 00120 Helsinki.

What is more exciting than an Agatha Christie play based on family secrets, intrigue, suspense, romance, seduction, and murder?

Carla Crale returns to the UK from Canada carrying a disturbing secret. Her mother, Caroline Crale, died in prison serving a life sentence for poisoning her husband, Amyas Crale, Carla’s father. On receiving a letter in which Caroline pleads her innocence of the crime, Carla is determined to clear her mother’s name. With the help of a young lawyer, Justin Fogg, she assembles the people involved in the tragic drama, and together with Justin, uncovers the truth.

We are now looking for 1) a cast and 2) a production team. The available acting roles are:

Justin Fogg – a young lawyer
Turnball Justin – Fogg’s assistant
Amyas Crale – a painter
Caroline Crale – Amyas’s wife
Carla Crale – their daughter
Jeff Rogers – Carla’s fiancé
Philip Blake Amyas’s best friend
Meredith Blake – Philip’s younger brother
Lady Melksham/Elsa Greer – Amyas’s former mistress
Angela Warren – Caroline’s younger sister
Miss Williams – Angela’s former governess

IMPORTANT DATES
Rehearsals will be held every Sunday from16 October 13:00–18:00.
Opening night is 2 February 2017.
There will be 8 performances, 2–12 February 2017, at Puoli-Q.

REGISTRATION
If you wish to audition, it would help us plan a smoother day if you drop us a line, preferably before 1 October, to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Pls tell us if you’re interested in an acting role or being part of the production team.

PREPARATION
There is no need to prepare anything in advance.

ARRIVAL
Please arrive in good time to begin at 13:00. Press the FINNBRIT buzzer by the street door to be let in.

Hope to see you for the auditions! You are warmly welcome to join us!

Ulf Persson, director
John Leo, assistant director

Auditions for the autumn production – Melancholy Play

What: Auditions for Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl
When: Saturday 11 June 2016, 2:30–6:30 pm (latest)
Where: FINNBRIT, Fredrikinkatu 20 A 9, 2nd floor

Welcome to open auditions for the Finn-Brit Players' autumn production in cooperation with the Passport Theatre Company: Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Adrian Goldman.

The auditions will begin at 2:30 pm and last until the play is cast (latest 6:30 pm). Please arrive in good time to begin at 2:30. Press the FINNBRIT buzzer by the street door to be let in.

The performances will be on 21–25 September. You must be available for an intensive rehearsal period starting 6 September.

Preparation
We’d like you to prepare a short monologue of your choice in advance, preferably from a comedy. There will be some monologues available to read on the day, but advance preparation will improve your chances of being cast.

In addition, we’d like to hear you sing, as there are a couple of simple songs in the play. There's no need to prepare any songs and as long as you can keep in tune with the piano, you should be just fine!

Registration
If you’d like to audition, it would help us plan a smoother day if you register in advance to zoe (at) finnbritplayers.com.

More information & queries
You can read more about the play and characters below, but if you have any questions about the play, auditions or other arrangements, or are stuck for a monologue, please contact us at the email address above.

The Play
Tilly is melancholy. She is depressed and longing, alluring and unashamed. “She makes her unhappiness into this sexy thing.” Tilly’s therapist, Lorenzo, wants her to take pills, but instead falls madly in love with her. In fact, it seems that everyone Tilly meets falls madly in love with her melancholy. Frank, her tailor, hems her trousers, which leads to romance. Frances, her hairdresser, and Joan, France’s lesbian partner, also become infatuated. Everyone feasts off her melancholy and falls in love with her –until she becomes happy herself.

That happiness throws the world out of whack: everyone else is experiencing turmoil in their lives. Now they are unhappy: Frances becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. The streets are full of them – of almonds that used to be people. With Frances’ very existence in question, Tilly, Lorenzo, Frank and his long-lost twin sister Frances must go and find her. But how does one become so melancholy that they turn into an inanimate object? What will happen when Tilly and her friends travel to the almond state?

The Characters
Tilly (cast) – The central character of Melancholy Play. She embodies melancholia in a way that is so completely unashamed that it is considered sexy. Tilly seems to enjoy her melancholy, even though her job wants it cured. As Tilly encounters people with her melancholia, they seem to fall in love with her.

Frank – A tailor who hems Tilly’s trousers, which leads to him being her boyfriend. Frank is a typical nice guy, and Tilly is a little out of his league. He loves Tilly in spite of her constant melancholy, although he too is longing for something that is lost....

Frances – A hairdresser who gives Tilly a trim. She has moved from New Jersey to Illinois and currently resides with her partner, Joan. Frances falls in love with Tilly, which begins their whirlwind affair. When Tilly becomes happy, Frances becomes so depressed that she turns into an almond.

Joan – Frances’ partner. She is a nurse. Joan is very calm and composed. At first, she is jealous of Frances’ obvious attraction to Tilly. However, upon meeting Tilly, she too is overwhelmed by the melancholy and falls in love.

Lorenzo – He is Tilly’s therapist and hails from an unspecified European country. Lorenzo was raised in a sweet shop and grew up so happily that he did not fit in with his European heritage, so he moved to Illinois. He is happy here. As he falls in love with Tilly, we begin to see a less happy side to Lorenzo.

Julian (cast) – He plays the clarinet at various points during the play. The other characters do not notice him until the final scene, and everyone comes together.

The Dramatist
Sarah Ruhl is a modern American dramatist, winner of a MacArthur award, and a Tony Award nominee (for In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play).

Submissions and auditions for Face to Face

The Finn-Brit Players is launching Face to Face, a new spoken-word event in the style of Poetry & Jazz, but without music.

Face to Face will focus on monologues (first-person only) and dialogues, either stand-alone pieces or excerpts from longer works. Pieces should be in the range of about 1–6 minutes in length.

All texts must either be a) your own work, b) out of copyright, or c) otherwise available for performance without royalties. The focus will be on more modern works and you are usually able to perform a short monologue from a play under copyright as long as no entrance fee is charged. Please submit your suggestions freely – we will check copyright.

There will be one performance at Arkadia International Bookshop on Tuesday 31 May 2016. There will be three or four rehearsals starting in the second week of May, exact dates TBC with the cast, but probably a mixture of Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

If you’ve performed in Poetry & Jazz before, just email your suggested texts – in full – to Zoë (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by Sunday 1 May. If you’ve never performed in Poetry & Jazz before, please contact Zoë to arrange an audition time for your suggested texts, and also if you need any further information.

Auditions for our main spring production, There’s no F in Finnish

Welcome to our open auditions for the Finn-Brit Players’ main spring production, There’s No F in Finnish by Ian Eastment with Graham Lees, at FINNBRIT (Fredrikinkatu 20 A 9, 2nd floor) on Sunday 28 February at 12–16 pm. (Please arrive in good time to begin at 12.)

The performances will be held on 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 & 8 June 2016.

The play
This delightfully provocative comedy examines the relationships between ex-pats and the local population. Set in a Helsinki apartment during a dinner party, it follows the pre-dinner banter and the post-prandial aftermath of too much wine and too many exposed nerves.

The characters
Gerald Walker-Krisp (40–70) – a terminal British ex-pat with a PhD from Oxford. (Pseudo) ‘posh’ UK accent required.

Elaine Aminoff (30­–70) – an American import, attracted to Europe and living with Gerald. North American accent required.

Norman Perks (20–50) – a recent Northern UK import. Northern UK accent required.

Heidi Kilpeläinen (20–50) – Norman’s Finnish girlfriend. Slight Finnish accent with strong English skills required.

Note: some adaptations can be made with regard to accents, but Gerald and Norman should be from different sides of the North/South UK divide and Elaine should be from another native English-speaking country.

Registration & more information
If you’re interested in auditioning, it would help us to plan smoother auditions if you registered in advance to: ulfskribent(at)gmail.com.

There is no need to prepare an audition piece in advance.

If you’d like more information about the characters or script, or if you have any other questions about the audition arrangements, please also contact Ulf at the above address.

Working backstage
If you’d like to be involved with the production off stage, please contact Ulf at: ulfskribent(at)gmail.com.

Auditions for María of the Light

Welcome to open auditions for María of the Light, written and directed by Jarkko Mikkola.

María of the Light is a one-act dark comedy about a young woman who by a series of misunderstandings ends up in a mental institution. The play is based on the short story Sólo vine a llamar por teléfono by Gabriel García Márquez. Themes of the play: mental health, technology, immigration, institutions, freedom.

ROLES
María, female, around 30
Saturno, male, around 30
Doctor, female/male, 40+
Nurse, female/male, 35+

AVAILABILITY FOR PERFORMANCES
You must be available for the final rehearsals and performances, which will be held in the period 6–19 June (exact dates to be determined after the auditions). You must be available for rehearsals on most Tuesday evenings, Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons in the period 25 April–15 May. Rehearsals during the period 16 May–5 June will be decided on after the auditions on the basis of other productions that will be in performance at that time. It is expected that you will have reasonably good availability for rehearsals in this period.

AVAILABILITY IN GENERAL
There is unfortunately very little flexibility in rehearsal schedules this spring. Although one or two tweaks may be possible, please do not audition for something if the planned timetable really does not suit your schedule.

ADVANCE PREPARATION
You will be asked to read some short scenes from the play and do some improvisation. The scenes will be emailed to you in advance. There is no need to memorise any of the lines, and how much you prepare is up to you.

YOU MUST BOOK AN AUDITION TIME
You will be asked to choose your preferred one-hour audition slot when you fill out the audition form. However, we cannot guarantee that you will get your preferred time, and preferences will be considered on a first-come-first-served basis. We will confirm your allocated audition slot when we send the audition texts a few days before the auditions.

AUDITON FORM
Please fill out the audition form. The deadline for registration is 10 pm on 22 April 2022. Please email the producer (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you have any issues with booking an audition time.