Auditions for “The Glass Menagerie”

Ramona Hillside Players in Hemet, CA will hold open auditions for “The Glass Menagerie”.
Written by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Kami Martin

Auditions January 9th & 10th, 2023
All auditions begin at 7:00 PM

Performance dates are March 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, & 12th, 2023 @ RHP in Hemet

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

PLOT:
The Glass Menagerie is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of The Gentleman Caller. Paying homage to the original script, we will be presenting an unconventional production.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

*** All Ages are Relative ***

Amanda Wingfield – A faded Southern belle who grew up in Blue Mountain, Mississippi, abandoned by her husband, and who is trying to raise her two children under harsh financial conditions. Amanda yearns for the comforts of her youth and also longs for her children to have the same comforts, but her devotion to them has made her – as she admits at one point – almost “hateful” towards them.

Tom Wingfield – Amanda’s son. Tom works at a shoe warehouse to support his family but is frustrated by his job and aspires to be a poet. He struggles to write, all the while being sleep-deprived and irritable. Yet, he escapes from reality through nightly excursions to the movies. Tom feels both obligated toward yet burdened by his family and longs to escape.

Laura Wingfield – Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s elder sister. A childhood illness has left her with a limp, and she has a mental fragility and an inferiority complex that has isolated her from the outside world. She has created a world of her own symbolized by her collection of glass figurines. The unicorn may represent Laura because it is unique and fragile.

Jim O’Connor – An old high school acquaintance of Tom and Laura. Jim was a popular athlete and actor during his days at Soldan High School. Subsequent years have been less kind to Jim; by the time of the play’s action, he is working as a shipping clerk at the same shoe warehouse as Tom. His hope to shine again is conveyed by his study of public speaking, radio engineering, and ideas of self-improvement that appear related to those of Dale Carnegie.

Mr. Wingfield – Amanda’s absent husband, and Laura’s and Tom’s father. Mr. Wingfield was a handsome man, full of charm, who worked for a telephone company and eventually “fell in love with long-distance,” abandoning his family 16 years before the play’s action. Although he does not appear onstage, Mr. Wingfield is frequently referred to by Amanda, and his picture is prominently displayed in the Wingfields’ living room. This unseen character appears to incorporate elements of Williams’ father.

27402 Ramona Bowl Road
Hemet, CA 92544