We will hold auditions for the next show of our 70th Anniversary season, as listed below. Auditions
begin at 7:00 p.m. and consist of cold readings from
the scripts. All parts are open unless noted. For more information, call our audition line at 610-622-5773 and listen to the prompts. For directions, check the sidebar at left for Driving Directions and Map.
THE BOYS NEXT DOOR
Comedy by by Tom Griffin at Colonial Playhouse, Ridley and Magnolia Avenues
in Aldan, one block off of Oak Avenue.
Monday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Director Todd Holtsberry needs 5 men (including one African American male)
and 2 women of various ages for the March 2010 production.
PLOT DESCRIPTION
The place is a communal residence in a New England
city, where four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social
worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great
pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines
that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive,
compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic
who is devastated by the unfeeling rejection of his brutal father, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from
the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great
poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love
and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they, like their more fortunate brothers, are allotted
on this earth.
THE REVIEWS: An Off-Broadway success, this very funny yet very touching play focuses on the lives
of four retarded men who live in a communal residence under the watchful eye of a sincere, but increasingly despairing, social
worker. Filled with humor, the play is also marked by the compassion and understanding with which it peers into the half-lit
world of its handicapped protagonists. "THE BOYS NEXT DOOR is one of the most unusual…and one of the most rewarding
plays in town." —BackStage. "Griffin's play hits squarely on the truth of life with its constant interplays and shadings
of triumphs and tears." —NY Daily News. "THE BOYS NEXT DOOR moves the audience to an awareness of how many things in
everyday life we take for granted…" —NY Times.
The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. For more information
or directions, call 267-231-8394, send an e-mail to toddzz@hotmail.com, or visit www.colonialplayhouse.org