United Players of Vancouver is holding auditions for:

By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Moya O’Connell with Amber Lewis

Performance Dates:  Thursday, May 29, 2025 (preview) – Sunday, June 22, 2025. Thursdays and Fridays: 8:00 pm, first & third Saturdays (May 31, June 14): 8:00 pm, second & fourth Saturdays (June 7 & 14): 2:00 pm, Sundays: 2:00 pm

REHEARSALS will be at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, 2490 West 37th Avenue (37th & Larch), starting Saturday, April 12, 2025 and will be Tuesday & Thursday evenings, 6:00 – 10:00 pm, Saturdays from 2:00 – 6:00 pm, Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. (Times may be adjusted slightly.) Please indicate if you have any time conflicts or will be unavailable for any of those days.

Performance Venue: Jericho Arts Centre

AUDITION DATES:
Wednesday, January 8, 2025      5:00 – 9:00 pm
Thursday, January 9, 2025    5:00 – 9:00 pm

CALLBACKS:
Saturday, January 11, 2025     11:00 am – 3:00 pm

AUDITION VENUE: St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, 2490 West 37th Avenue (37th & Larch), Vancouver

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Saturday, January 4, 2025

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Synopsis:

A celebrated classic of dizzying wit with a side of knives. Set in London in the 1890s. Highly respected politician Robert Chiltern enjoys a reputation beyond reproach until a dazzling stranger holding a secret wafts into his party and threatens to upend his life. In a society where masks are necessary for survival, and marriages are built on ideals, who can risk being truly known? Starring an array of ‘beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics’, Wilde’s play sharply examines themes of morality, power, truth and love.

“The God of this Century is Wealth. To succeed one must have Wealth. At all costs one must have Wealth… I fought the Century with its own weapons and won.”

CASTING: We are looking for strong actors and we welcome applications from artists of all backgrounds, identities 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:

LORD GORING ~ LEAD
Age: 30s. Open gender. Impossibly charming. A party animal. Elusive, witty, sexy and viciously truthful. An OG dandy. One senses Lord Goring is tired of society and dying to escape its vapidity. But where to escape to? Has spent most of their life creating a perfect bubble of impeccable taste and wit but longs for someone to pop it.

LADY GERTRUDE CHILTERN ~ LEAD
Female presenting. Age: late 20s – late 30s. Political. Idealistic. Opinionated. Righteous. Wears her “good conduct prize” with pride. Not one to forgive and forget. She idolizes her husband, Sir Robert Chiltern, and holds him to an impossibly high moral standard. She is “pitiless in her perfection.”

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN ~ LEAD
Male presenting. Age: mid 30s – late 40s. A highly respected politician of seemingly impeccable ideals. Has learned the fine art of self-protection through deflection.

MRS. CHEVELEY ~ LEAD
Female presenting. Age: late 20s – late 30s. Fiercely intelligent, unscrupulous, daring, charming, sexy. An outsider holding a valuable secret. ‘Bombshell’ in every sense of the word. Mrs. Cheveley uses words, ideas and sexuality to destabilize the status quo.

MISS MABEL CHILTERN ~ SUPPORTING LEAD
Female presenting. Age: mid 20s. Loves being the centre of attention. Flirtatious, full of vitality, sharp as a tack. Pretty as a picture, but not to be messed with. Sir Robert Chiltern’s younger sister.

VICOMTE DE NANJAC ~ FEATURED
Male presenting. Age: 20s – 40s. A foreigner who loves a good time.

MR. MONTFORD ~ FEATURED
Any gender/age. Young up-and-coming politician – a dreadful bore.

MASON
Any gender/age. Butler to Sir Robert Chiltern. Sees everything and hears even more.

PHIPPS
Any gender/age. Lord Goring’s butler. Possibly the best butler there ever was. Expertly impassive.

JAMES
Any gender/age. Sir Robert’s Footman.

HAROLD
Any gender/age. Lord Goring’s Footman.

LADY MARKBY
Female presenting. Age: 60s – 80s. A chatterbox socialite who loves making the rounds. Gets the inside scoop wherever she goes.

THE COUNTESS OF BASILDON
Female presenting. Age: 20s. Witty, fashionable, filthy rich. One half of the friend duo that includes Mrs. Marchmont. A Wildean confection.

MRS. MARCHMONT
Female presenting. Age: 20s. Also witty, fashionable, filthy rich. The other half of the friend duo that includes Lady Basildon. Another Wildean confection.

TO AUDITION:

Please prepare the side for the character(s) of your choice. Sides are posted below.
To secure an audition time slot, please submit a resumé and headshot to Fran Burnside at franjohnb@yahoo.com, letting us know which character or characters you wish to audition for, and if you have any time restrictions. Please also bring hard copies of your headshot and resumé to the audition.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  Saturday, January 4, 2025.

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

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.