The Catskill Community Players are pleased to announce auditions for our production of “Birthday Candles” by Noah Haidle, directed by Rosemary Summers.
Audition details
General Auditions: September 3 & 5, 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Institute for Spiritual Development
297 River Street Service Road, Suite 3, Oneonta
(between Corning and Hampton Inn)
Youth Auditions: September 16 & 18, 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Location TBA
Rehearsals: September 8 – November 13
(mostly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings)
Performances: November 14, 15, & 16
at the Worcester Wieting Theatre
About the play
The play opens on Ernestine Ashworth’s 17th birthday, where she is agonizing about her place in the universe and her plans for a meaningful life. Soon, it is her 18th birthday, then her 41st, her 70th, her 101st. It’s a play, not just about one woman’s life, but also about what changes, what stays the same, and the things that make a lifetime a life. Every scene takes place on her birthday as she bakes a cake in her kitchen.
And yes, we actually bake a cake onstage!
Characters
Ernestine: Travels from age 17 to 101. In that time, she will evolve from a teenager full of energy and visions of her future to an aged woman full of memories of her path as a daughter, a neighbor, a girlfriend, a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a widow, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. (already cast)
Alice: Ernestine’s mother, who launches her on her life’s journey; selfless and wise. Age anywhere from 35–50.
Kenneth: Ernestine’s awkward neighbor who loves her from afar for over seventy years. Hopeful, sweet, romantic. (already cast)
Matt: Middle linebacker on the high school football team who is Ernestine’s boyfriend, then husband. Ages from 18 to 72, becomes disabled from a stroke.
Madeline: Ernestine’s and Matt’s beautiful, brilliant, and troubled daughter. Ages from 20 to 28.
Billy: Ernestine’s and Matt’s son. Sensitive, piano player. Ages from 17 to 72, developing signs of dementia in adulthood.
Joan: Girlfriend, then wife, of Billy; highly anxious. Mother of Ernie and William. Age early 20’s.
Alex: Youth role; daughter of Billie and Joan, granddaughter of Ernestine. Takes no bull, age 17.
Ernie: Youth role; Alex’s daughter, great-granddaughter of Ernestine. Ethereal, vivacious, age 15. Reminiscent of Ernestine as a teenager.
William: Youth role; Alex’s son, great-grandson of Ernestine, age 13.
John: Awakened in his house at 3:00 in the morning by 101-year-old Ernestine. Practical, interested in Ernestine’s story. Age mid-30s +/-.
Beth: John’s domestic partner. Quit smoking ten years ago and hasn’t been in a good mood since. Age mod-30s +/-.
For more information:
Contact director Rosemary Summers.
Birthday Candles is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Originally Produced on Broadway in 2022 by Roundabout Theatre Company.
Birthday Candles was originally commissioned and produced by Detroit Public Theatre, Detroit MI. Producing Artistic Directors: Courtney Burkett, Sarah Clare Corporandy and Sarah Winkler
Developed as part of Chautauqua Theater Company’s New Play Workshop series, 2017,
underwritten by the Roe Green Foundation.
For more info on The Catskill Community Players, go to www.catskillplayers.org, or visit Catskill Community Players on Facebook.
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The Catskill Community Players are a recipient of a Community Events Grant administered by the Otsego County Government.
CCP events are made possible with public funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the NYS Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by The Earlville Opera House.
CCP are a recipient of a Community Events Grant administered by the Otsego County Government.
