A weekend of auditions for cast
The cast of Ringing the Changes: Jamie O'Hagen, Mikayla Walker, Caius Wrigglesworth (former WHS student), Reuben Janes (former WHS student), Jess Alder, Cathy Gribble, Brie Parkinson (former WHS student) and Meynell Smith. Missing: Meg McPhail and Chris Stedman.
PHOTO / Ashleigh Morris
Ted Charlton is elated that he's been able to cast his play Ringing the Changes after a busy weekend at Repertory Theatre.
Auditions were held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and were well attended.
"We had a good response for the auditions and it was exciting to see the enthusiasm and quality of the candidates," Ted says.
Different directors take different approaches to running auditions as they attempt to visualise how each person will portray different characters.
"I workshop first," says Ted. "By workshopping I mean I like to see how people look on stage and how they work together. I have four different exercises which become increasingly challenging. I always run auditions like this. I watch out for acting skills and the interaction between the actors because those interactions are often vital in a play, especially a play like this. First of all I get people in pairs, then in a group of three and a larger group after that. I give them a situation, eg — I'll ask them to banter with each other then I might ask them to be distressed. How convincing are they? I might then try changing one person in a group to see how that works out.
"That's the first part of the audition, then I audition by scene using the scenes where the interactions between characters are really important."
Grandma will be played by Meg McPhail, Buck by Chris Stedman while Cathy Gribble will play Buck's wife, Helen. Playing the roles of their children will be Caius Wrigglesworth as Andrew, Jessica Alder will play Jessie, Brie Parkinson will play the role of Heather and the youngest in the family, Richard will be played by Jamie O'Hagan. Their partners when five years have elapsed will be played by Meynell Smith (Celia), Rueben Janes (Brad), and Michaela Walker will play Maxine.
What is Ringing the Changes about? I quote from playwright and director Ted Charlton: "Think back to the 1980s when leg warmers, lip gloss and David Bowie were the epitome of 'cool'… Remember the days when microwave ovens, brick-sized mobiles and Avon products were the latest novelties? These were the days before most homes had any concept of such a thing as a personalised computer…throw in references to Laurie Mains, David Lange and a cat fight and you have a comical story…"
It seems as if the cast of Ringing the Changes can look forward to a roller coaster ride of laughs.
By Nadine Rayner
Wanganui Midweek 16/5/18