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Auditioning for ‘Four Play’

April 25, 2013   ·   0 Comments

The South Simcoe Theatre was holding auditions this past weekend for their upcoming showcase of play readings, “Four Play.”

Actors, directors and writers all met up to meet and greet and audition.

It’s the sixth year for Four Play, in which scripts with strong dialogue are selected from all over Canada and the US and then simply read by actors on stage – no elaborate sets or costumes. This year eight playwrights were chosen from 30 entries.

One of the selected plays was dark comedy, “Boris and Herman,” written by Minesing resident Raymond James Holmes.

“The inspiration really is the issue of mental illness, which is a pretty serious problem in our society,” said Holmes. “Boris and Herman is about a man’s decent into insanity.”

It’s the first time Holmes will hear is writing read on stage, but considering he has only been writing two years, it’s a big accomplishment for the self-proclaimed “new writer.”

“It’s a wonderful thing to have a small theatre like this and it’s a part of culture. Theatre like this where they highlight new writers every year and give them the opportunity to have their work read, that’s really a wonderful thing. I feel fortunate as a new writer to have this opportunity with this theatre. It’s a wonderful thing to hear your work read.”

Derek Bradley’s “The Avalon Vignettes,” was also chosen as one of Four Play’s readings. An Alliston resident, Bradley wrote a series of stories based in a fictitious town called Avalon East.

The stories and its characters, according to Bradley, stemmed from real events and people he met over the years, but of course with some added imagination and plot twists.

Actress Chelsea Stephen was out for the auditions, reading from a variety of plays that day.

Originally from Great Britain, Stephen has traveled all over the world, honing her craft and getting involved in theatre.

The 20-year-old, who now lives in Alcona, said she is looking to get into local community theatre.

“Theatre takes very driven, passionate people to keep it alive. It has had a lot of scrutiny in recent years and community theatre is playing a very vital role in keeping it alive,” she said. “We have the big theatres in the major cities like London, New York and Toronto, but it’s the smaller areas where we’ve got to keep it alive and keep coming to the theatre.”

Holmes also gave his two cents on the importance of theatre.

“The theatre is a wonderful place,” he said. “It’s a real microcosm of life. It’s not only dialogue, but visual. It’s such an interesting thing, to create a world that doesn’t exist.”

Other plays on the roster include: “Causa Mortis or the Medical Student,” by Jacob Appel (New York), “The Author’s Autopsy,” by Stacy Lane (Ohio), “Our Living Space,” by Patrick Nicol (Montreal), “Of Mice and Men (Apologies to John Steinbeck),” by Rosaleen Egan (Alliston), “The Watcher,” by Lori McIntyre (Barrie) and “Life in a Leaf,” by Graham Ducker (Oshawa).

You can catch all of these great plays at the South Simcoe Theatre in Cookstown from May 30 to June 2. For more information visit www.southsimcoetheatre.com

By Jeff Doner

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