Jonesborough Repertory Theatre will hold auditions for the Southern comedy “Dearly Departed” written by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones.
AUDITION DATES: Sunday, January 26, and Monday, January 27, at 7 p.m. at Jonesborough Repertory Theatre.
PERFORMANCE DATES: May 14-31 (Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m.). Tech week (mandatory) is May 10-13.
AUDITION PROCESS: Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script. Copies of the script will be provided at the audition.
REHEARSALS: A read-through/company meeting will be scheduled sometime in February. Rehearsals will not begin until late March, possibly around March 29. Cast members will be asked to be off-book (or very close to such) upon arriving for the first rehearsal.
Though the rehearsal schedule will not be finalized until casting is complete and calendar conflicts have been identified, the format will likely be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-9:30 p.m. Not every cast member will be called every night, particularly during the first few weeks of rehearsals.
Please note:
The first day of tech week is Sunday, May 10, which is Mother’s Day. Attendance for tech week is mandatory; however, call-time that day will likely be around 4:30 p.m.
Though there is no performance on Memorial Day, productions are scheduled for the weekend leading up to that holiday.
ROLES AVAILALBE*:
LEADS:
Raynelle – 40s-60s (female) – the family matriarch whose husband has just passed way.

Royce – late teen – 40s (male) – son of Marguerite; unemployed, no goals in life; his “plan” is to get on welfare.

Marguerite – 50s-60s (female) – feisty Bible-thumping woman who despite claiming to be a devout Christian is constantly insulting her son

Ray Bud- 30s-40s (male) – the “responsible” one of the Turpin brothers; uncomfortable at the thought of being at a funeral

Lucille – 30s-40s (female) – Ray-Bud’s wife; practical, but she has some PTSD issues with a KFC chicken bucket.

Junior – 30s-40s (male) – the other Turpin son; let’s just say entrepreneurialism isn’t his best quality; at the top of the show, a secret about Junior is exposed

Suzanne – 30s-40s (female) – loud, high-maintenance, drama queen, etc. etc. etc.

SUPPORTING:
Reverend Hooker – 40s-60s (male) – the town minister; has his own radio show; needs to stay away from Mexican food

Delightful – 20s (female) – the only Turpin daughter; for her, life is just fine as long as she has a bag of chips…or a corn dog…or a coke…or M&Ms…or a Dilly Bar

Veda – 50s-60s (female) – a round-the-clock caregiver to her husband, Norval

Nadine – 20s-30s (female) – not your typical “mother of the year” despite having an unspecified number of children, all named for celebrities. But she still is looking for Mr. Right!

Clyde – 20-40s (male) – owns a body repair shop where Ray-Bud works. Think “The Sopranos” below the Mason- Dixon line.

Norval/Bud – 40s – 60s (male) – Last I checked Norval was still breathing; Bud…not so much.

Juanita - 40s - 60s (female) – Though she is quite wealthy, I would not describe her as high class.
* ages may vary

ARTISTIC TEAM: The show will be directed by Joe Smith, with Bennett Little as assistant director/stage manager; Karen Elb as set designer; Ian Shockley as lighting designer; and Lucas Schmidt as sound designer.

QUESTIONS: Joe Smith, wrenmarston37601@gmail.com