Auditions for Cedar Beach

Sunday, May 23, 1:00-6:00pm

Cedar Beach
Written by Mark Howland
Directed by John Heavey

The Marion Art Center has announced open auditions for all roles in the upcoming production of Cedar Beach, written by local playwright Mark Howland and directed by John Heavey. Auditions will be held on Sunday, May 23 between 1:00-6:00pm by scheduled appointment at the Marion Art Center at 80 Pleasant Street in Marion, MA OR by Zoom audition. IF AUDITIONING IN PERSON, SOCIAL DISTANCING WILL BE OBSERVED. PLEASE WEAR A MASK.

Synopsis

Cedar Beach is about family and a family-owned property. Spanning several generations that covers fifty years, the play attempts to chronicle the history of a vacation home and the vicissitudes of the people who inhabit it. The action follows the lines of entropy, from order to disorder, simplicity to complexity, and tradition to innovation. As such, the home represents both the luxury of privilege and the burden of responsibility. The play is comprised of eight scenes that span from the mid 1950’s to 2007.

Director John Heavey will be casting 6-7 females and 6-7 males: The characters are clustered in family groups for clarity. Character doubling will be used extensively. Also, actors may need to play certain characters* as children who then mature into adults. Characters include:

• William Nickerson, late 30’s, patriarch of the family with the untimely death of his father
• Sarah Denham, sister of William, mid-30’s
• Betty Brown, sister of William, mid-30’s
• Rebecca, mother of William, Sarah, and Betty, mid-50’s in first scene, 80’s in second scene
• Cornelia Nickerson, wife of William, mid-late 30’s
• *Charles Nickerson, oldest child of William & Cornelia, 12-13, ages to mid-50’s
• *Henry Nickerson, brother of Charles, 8-9, ages to late 40’s
• *George Nickerson, brother of Charles, 9-10, ages to 50ish
• *Lucy Nickerson, sister of Charles 2-3, ages to early 40’s
• Matt Denham, husband of Sarah, late 30’s
• Eddie Denham, oldest child of Sarah & Matt, 10-11; Sally Denham, sister of Eddie, 8-9
• Tommy Denham, brother of Eddie, 5-6
• David Brown, husband of Betty, mid-30’s
• Billy Brown, son of David and Betty, early teen 13-15
• June Brown, daughter of David and Betty, 10, ages to late teen 18-19
• Richard Davis, husband of Lucy, mid-late 40’s
• Sam Davis, son of Lucy and Richard, 10-12
• Mary Nickerson, wife of Charles, mid-late 40’s
• Peter Nickerson, son of Charles and Mary, 12-15
• Sharon, wife of George Nickerson, mid 20’s

Material

Please bring any memorized monologue. You will be asked to do a cold reading from the script as well. Performances are currently scheduled outdoors, August 20-22, 26-29. Performance times will be scheduled at later date depending on state regulations and other considerations for operating outside.

To Audition

Email jheavey@taboracademy.org to schedule an audition appointment. Callbacks TBD. Rehearsal schedule to be determined once the show is cast. For more information, please contact the Marion Art Center at info@marionartcenter.org or 508-748-1266.