Auditions for “Other Desert Cities”

Ramona Hillside Players will hold open auditions for “Other Desert Cities”.
Directed by C.A. Conn

Auditions January 9th-10th, 2017
All auditions begin at 7:00 PM

Performance dates are March 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, & 12, 2017.

The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. Please come prepared with a resume, head shot, pen/pencil, and list of conflicts.

PLOT:
Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas with her parents, her brother, and her aunt. Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family’s history—a wound they don’t want reopened. In effect, she draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

BROOKE WYETH – (Age: 40’s – 50’s) Brooke is the central character. She has now recovered from a serious clinical breakdown which led to her being hospitalized and for which she is still taking medication. She has written a tell-all memoir about her family, specifically about her older brother Henry. Brooke and Henry were very close and she found her brother’s death incredibly difficult. She loves her family and doesn’t know if she can publish her book without their approval. She is also similar to her mother, as she doesn’t like any weakness though she doesn’t admit this to herself.

POLLY WYETH – (Age: 70’s) Polly is Lyman’s wife and mother to Brooke and Trip. She is elegant, outspoken and very smart. She is also controlling, calculating and observes people’s behavior. She has strong conservative views and is a believer in tough love, though members of the family feel that she is often harsh and makes people nervous. She is confident and says that she ‘knows who she is’. Polly also feels that she is constantly supporting other people, particularly her sister Silda who is a recovering alcoholic. She is a realist and fiercely dedicated to her family’s survival.

LYMAN WYETH – (Age: 70’s) The head of the family, Lyman is a sturdy man and a strong believer in American traditions and values. Lyman used to be a movie actor but then turned to politics and became an ambassador of the Republican Party. He communicates his opinions in a more diplomatic way than Polly. He is overprotective and worries for Brooke since her breakdown. He often tries to relieve moments of tension within the family, though shocks Brooke a few times when he rallies against her.

SILDA GRAUMAN – (Age: 70’s) Silda is Polly’s sister. She is a recovering alcoholic and is currently staying with Polly and Lyman. Silda stands up to her sister several times, pointing out how harsh she is. Silda has helped Brooke to write her memoir and provided her with more detail about Polly and Lyman. Silda encourages Brooke to publish her book in the face of Brooke’s doubts. However, she does not tell Brooke that when Henry turned to her for help she was too drunk to be able to do anything. Silda has a volatile but loving relationship with her sister.

TRIP WYETH – (Age: Late 30’s to early 40’s) Trip is Brooke’s brother, roughly ten years her junior. He is a bright, funny man and is a TV producer. Caught in the middle between Brooke and his parents he wants to protect Brooke and believes she has the right to publish whatever she wants but also understands why their parents are pushing back. Baitz has stated that Trip’s way of surviving is to adopt a ‘let it go, it’s all fine’ attitude which is partly the reason why he is constantly called upon to make peace between Brooke and Polly. Trip feels that he has always lived in the shadow of his older brother Henry whom he never knew. He also isn’t actually as happy as he seems.

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Hemet, CA 92544

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