Casting call beyond the Fringe
Grads audition dates for November show
The Grads have announced July 2018 audition dates for their production of Samuel Adamson’s 2007 adaptation of Pedro Almodovar’s movie, All About My Mother.
This is the fourth of the Grads full length shows this year and will be directed by Ross Hope who is realising a long-held ambition to stage the play in what will be only its second outing since the original production at The Old Vic in 2007.
There will be three audition opportunities, all at the Grads’s rehearsal space at 18 Buccleuch Place. These will be on the Mondays July 16 and 23 at 7.30pm, and on Saturday July 21 2018.
The script follows Amodovar’s original film: Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels to Barcelona in search of his estranged father. There she gets caught up in the lives of three women: Agrado, a transsexual prostitute and old friend; Rosa, a terminally ill nun and Huma Rojo, a famous actress long idolised by Manuela’s dead son.
As Manuela begins to rebuild her life in a new city with new friends and a new job working on a stage production of Streetcar Named Desire, her late son’s father returns to her life with tragic and life changing consequences for them all.
Hope told Æ: “I loved Almodovar’s film version when I saw it back in 1999 at the Filmhouse and have made it my mission to get the rights to direct the play version since it debuted at the Old Vic. Also who doesn’t love a play that deals with death, religion, gender and existentialism, all in equal measure!”
The production will run from Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24 November 2018, with rehearsals three nights a week, usually on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The first rehearsal is expected to take place on Tuesday 28 August 2018, subject to cast agreement and availability.
The Grads describe the play as a “very challenging project to work on for everyone involved. It is fantastically well written and will be amazing to both rehearse and perform. It also continues in the Grads tradition of putting on the most interesting drama projects in the city of Edinburgh.”
For further details contact the Grads through their facebook page: @edingrads.
Listings
Auditions for All About My Mother
The Grads Rehearsal Rooms, 18 Buccleuch Place, EH8 9LN
Monday 16 July and Monday 23 July 2018 at 7.30pm; Saturday 21 July at 2pm.
Event facebook page: The Grads All About My Mother Auditions.
Cast Outlines
Thirteen performers: 8 Female, 3 Male, 2 Any gender.
Both the characters of Agrado and Lola in the play identify as trans women and these roles are open to all who wish to audition for them. Members of the trans community are welcome and encouraged to audition.
Scenes from A Streetcar Named Desire take place during the play. Several of the cast will have the opportunity to take on roles in this production within a production as indicated.
ESTEBAN (male: 17 – 25). The character celebrates his 17th birthday during the play so ideally needs to look like he is in his late teens.
MANUELA (female, late 30’s or 40’s). Esteban’s mother; Opportunity to play Stella Kowalski.
AGRADO (trans woman, 30’s or 40’s). Manuela’s best friend and a prostitute.
HUMA ROJO (female, “of a certain age”). An actress and grande dame of Spanish theatre, also Nina’s girlfriend. Opportunity to play Blanche DuBois.
SISTER ROSE (female, 20’s or 30’s). A nun.
NINE CRUZ (female 20’s or 30′). An actress and Huma Rojo’s girlfriend. Opportunity to play Stella Kowalski.
MOTHER (female, 50’s or 60’s). Rosa’s mother and art forger.
MARIO DEL TORO (male, 20’s to 30’s). Also playing the role of the Gynaecologist. Opportunity to play Stanley Kowalski
ALEX (male, 20’s to 40’s). The stage manager of the theatre where A Streetcar Named Desire is taking place. Doubling as Agrado’s client.
LOLA (trans woman, late 30’s or 40’s). Also playing the Doctor, as well as the third role of the Doctor (again) in A Streetcar Named Desire.
ISABEL (female, 30’s or 40’s). An actress. Opportunity to play Eunice Hull.
ALICIA (female, 30’s to 50’s). A psychologist. Also be playing the role of the Nurse.
NUN (female, 40’s to 60’s). Also playing the Matron in A Streetcar Named Desire.
ENDS
