Albany Civic Theater announces auditions for “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh. Directed by Ellen Cribbs.
Audition dates: Monday, Dec 9th and Tuesday, Dec 10th at 7pm at Albany Civic Theater, 235 Second Ave, Albany
Show dates: February 14th – March 2nd 2024 (Friday – Sunday performances)
Rehearsals will start in December, with a break for the holidays. Rehearsal days are flexible to work around actor conflicts.
Roles available:
KATURIAN – 20’s – 30’s. A very talented writer who doesn’t like to rock the boat, but is passionate about telling stories.
TUPPOLSKI – Mid 30’s – 70’s. An investigator. The “good” cop. Sardonic, funny, straightforward, intelligent, and controlled.
ARIEL – Mid 20’s – 50’s. The “bad” cop – Explosive, physically powerful, self-righteous, violent, and brutal.
MICHAL – 20’s – 30’s. Katurian’s sibling who is intellectually disabled and has a childlike innocence.
MOTHER/FATHER – Minor roles to appear as shadows in the storytelling parts of the play. These roles may be double cast. Puppetry experience a plus!
All genders, abilities, and ethnicities are encouraged to audition.
Although this is written by an Irish playwright, it will be performed with Standard American accents.
Synopsis: In an interrogation room in an unnamed totalitarian dictatorship, Katurian, a writer, is being interrogated by two detectives. Next door, Katurian’s intellectually disabled sibling Michal waits. The detectives want to know why Katurian’s stories feature gruesome plots about child murder and torture, and in particular, why they seem to mirror a string of recent child murders in the area. This brutal dark comedy from Martin McDonagh, the master of the horror-comedy, poses unanswerable questions: Can stories hold the power to cause atrocities? Where is the line between truth and fairy tale? Is a life of horror worth living at all? Drawing on inspiration as diverse as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Kafka, and Antonin Artaud, The Pillowman is a dark, twisty, and utterly unforgettable masterpiece from one of Ireland’s most treasured writers.
Auditions will consist of cold readings from the play. If you would like to see the audition sides before auditions, please email the director, Ellen Cribbs, at ellencribbs@gmail.com for digital copies. If you are unable to attend either audition day, please email Ellen to arrange a virtual audition at another time.
Come audition for the production Steve Barnes from the Times Union listed as 1 of 5 “best bets” from community theater this season! https://www.timesunion.com/theater/article/community-theater-best-bets-misbegotten-albany-19815166.php