United Players of Vancouver is holding auditions for:

By Catherine Léger
Translated by Leanna Brodie, directed by Diane Brown
A United Players production, in association with Ruby Slippers
Theatre. Translation commissioned by Ruby Slippers Theatre.

Performance Dates:  Thursday, March 20, 2025 (preview) – Sunday, April 13, 2025. Thursdays and Fridays: 8:00 pm, first & third Saturdays (March 22, April 5): 8:00 pm, second & fourth Saturdays (March 29, April 12): 2:00 pm, Sundays: 2:00 pm

Rehearsals will be at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, 2490 West 37th Avenue (37th & Larch).

Performance Venue: Jericho Arts Centre

AUDITION DATES:
Monday, October 7, 2024      5:00 – 10:00 pm
Tuesday, October 8, 2024      Noon – 5:00 pm

CALLBACKS:
Friday, October 11, 2024     Noon – 5:00 pm

AUDITION VENUE: Jericho Arts Centre, 1675 Discovery Street, Vancouver

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Saturday, October 5, 2024

United Players has a Communicable Diseases Plan in place – learn more here.
United Players acknowledges that mask-wearing is a personal choice.

Synopsis:

Violet is on mat leave. She hears birds in the walls. Florence is on sick leave. She’s decided to stop taking her Prozac. Both of them are moms, tied to their young children by invisible wires of steel… while their spouses barely notice they’re alive. One day these two bored, abandoned, and dissatisfied women join forces to fight back in the most hilarious way possible: by going on a mission to seduce a string of lovers… all without walking out the front door.

Catherine Léger brings us a very free, modern, smash hit adaptation of one of the most popular films in Canadian history, the 1970s erotic comedy Deux femmes en or. In a culture still obsessed with female sexuality and terrified by women’s power, what happens when two “nice girls” take full ownership of their own pleasure? How far will their quest for freedom take them? And how can they ever go back?

SETTING: Present day Canadian city, a nice condo in a nice neighbourhood.

CASTING: We welcome applications from artists of all backgrounds, orientations, identities, abilities and ethnicities.

NOTE: This is a non-union production with the option to cast one union member on an amateur contract. Please indicate if you have any union affiliations.

Auditioning for these roles:

FLORENCE (40-ish): Neither particularly flirty nor especially scruffy, she is a normal middle-class suburban woman with fond memories of a normal, slightly freer (and more unstable) youth. She aspires to read Simone de Beauvoir: instead, she lives blandly in an eco-responsible housing complex with her husband and their 11-year-old son, Matt. She is on leave from work. She is on antidepressants. She really hates her son’s hamster.

VIOLET (30-ish): A tired new mom, still on mat leave while nursing her six-month-old daughter Emma… which makes her feel increasingly like nothing more than a lactation machine. Her salesman husband is increasingly inattentive and indifferent… at least, to her. At the beginning of the play she is obsessed with what she is convinced is the sound of a crow in the wall of her bedroom… or is it the neighbours having sex again?

BENOIT (35-ish): A pharmaceutical rep who spends a lot of time on the road. Charming, impeccably chic. Knows what he wants and expects to get it. Protective of his child. Even if he’s not using his property, it still belongs to him… and the same goes for his wife.

DAVID (40-ish): A nice guy: increasingly inattentive to Florence, but very involved with raising their 11-year-old son, Matt. As Florence explores her sexual freedom, he feels more and more like the grown-up in the room, the one who must keep his mouth shut and do whatever it takes to keep the family together. Except for, you know, showing any sexual interest in Florence whatsoever.

MISS YOUTUBE (mid-20s): Benoit’s lover. As far as we know, she is absolutely liberated from all the usual fears and hang-ups and sentimentality about sex. Can respect and sympathize with other women, but not with moral orthodoxies or conventional relationships. Knows she’s desirable, strong, and smart; knows what gives her pleasure; goes out and gets it.

All of the other characters are doubled by the 5 actors who play the characters above.
1. Florence
2. Violet
3. David, The Exterminator, The Carpet Cleaner
4. Miss YouTube, The Vegetable Delivery Person
5. Benoit, The Guy from Shaw, The Guy from Craigslist, The Guy from Telus

TO AUDITION:

Please prepare the side(s) for the character(s) of your choice. Sides are posted below.
You will be asked to read with other actors.

To secure an audition time slot please submit a headshot and resume to Fran Burnside at franjohnb@yahoo.com letting us know which character or characters you wish to audition for.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  Saturday, October 5, 2024.

Please let us know if you have access needs for the audition process.

Multi-award-winning Ruby Slippers Theatre has been producing ground-breaking theatre for over three decades. We envision a world where diversity is celebrated through a deeper understanding of each other and achieve this by producing works from diverse artists from across the country, including Quebec works in English translation. www.rubyslippers.ca

United Players is a community theatre company which has been producing high quality theatre for Vancouver audiences for 65 years. It is dedicated to offering classical and critically-recognized contemporary plays. It showcases talented emerging actors, directors and designers, and provides opportunities for members of the community in the many technical and artistic aspects of theatre. www.unitedplayers.com