The Hothouse Audition Pack

THE HOTHOUSE AUDITION PACK

Parts available:  Tubb Part information: Tubb finds himself amidst the escalating tensions of the murderous middle-management of a shady government organisation. Ambassador for the understaff and tasked with the honour of conveying Seasons Greetings to the higher realms, Tubb is awe-struck and awkward as he watches the disturbing power politics unfold. This is a deeply comic role: Tubb is the naïve invader of the alien world of the demented Colonel Roote and his staff.

The part is a smaller, supportive role, which offers all the excitement of being involved whilst keeping your overall commitment manageable. This is a fantastic opportunity to appear in a high profile show on the ADC stage without the demands of a larger role. Audition details: Auditions will take place on Saturday October 11th in ADC Dressing Room 2 from 6pm- 8pm. Please arrive before 7.30pm to guarantee being seen.

You will be asked to fill out an Audition Form and to prepare two extracts.

The form is enclosed in this pack for you to fill out in advance if you are in a hurry.

The extracts are enclosed in this pack for you to prepare in advance if you prefer not to sight-read. However, there will be plenty of copies available outside the audition room on the day, so there is no need to prepare in advance if you do not wish to do so.

For more information, please e-mail Veronica and Joe at [email protected] PRODUCER TO AFFIX CLOAKROOM TICKET HERE THE HOTHOUSE Audition Form

Before filling out this form, please ensure that you have taken the next available cloakroom ticket. Please wait outside for the time being and prepare the two extracts. We will emerge regularly to answer any questions you may have, and will come and call you when we’re ready for your audition. Please bring your cloakroom ticket with you. Thanks a lot! 

Name ______

College ______

Subject ______

E-mail ______

Mobile ______

Home Postal Address ______

______

College Postal Address ______

______

Preferred Role (delete as necessary) TUBB / LOBB

Details of your availability and other commitments during term-time: ______

Previous Experience Feel free to leave this box blank if you wish. Decisions will be made solely on your audition. EXTRACT A SHAKESPEARE, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (c. 1594)

THE CONTEXT

WHO. Lance, the clownish servant of Proteus, a Veronese gentleman. Late teens.

WHERE. A street in Verona.

TO WHOM. The audience.

WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED. Lance is not involved with the plot of this play, though his stories illustrate the themes of the plot. He has had to leave his family in order to travel to Milan with his master Proteus, but Crab, his dog, much to his consternation, has shown no distress at his departure.

WHAT HE WANTS/OBJECTIVES TO PLAY (just a springboard…)  To share with the audience how let down he feels by Crab, who has no strength of feeling.  To paint the picture of his home-leaving as specifically and as romantically as possible. He takes great pride in his abilities as a story- teller.  To cheer himself up in the telling of the story. EXTRACT A SHAKESPEARE, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (c. 1594)

THE SPEECH

“Nay, ‘twill be this hour ere I have done weeping. All the kind of the Lances have this very fault. I have received my proportion, like the prodigious son, and am going with Sir Proteus to the Imperial’s court. I think Crab, my dog, be the sourest-natured dog that lives. My mother weeping, my father wailing, my sister crying, our maid howling, our cat wringing her hands, and all our house in a great perplexity, yet did not this cruel-hearted cur shed one tear. He is a stone, a very pebble-stone, and has no more pity in him than a dog. A Jew would have wept to have seen our parting. Why, my grandam, having no eyes, look you, wept herself blind at my parting. Nay, I’ll show you the manner of it. This shoe is my father. No, this left shoe is my father. No, no, this left shoe is my mother. Nay, that cannot be so, neither. Yes, it is so, it is so, it hath the worser sole. This shoe with the hole in it is my mother, and this my father. A vengeance on’t, there ‘tis. Now, sir, this staff is my sister, for, look you, she is as white as a lily and as small as a wand. This hat is Nan our maid, I am the dog. No, the dog is himself, and I am the dog. O, the dog is me, and I am myself. Ay, so, so. Now come I to my father: ‘Father, your blessing.’ Now should not the shoe speak a word for weeping. Now should I kiss my father. Well, he weeps on. Now come I to my mother. O that she could speak now, like a moved woman. Well, I kiss her. Why, there ‘tis. Here’s my mother’s breath up and down. Now come I to my sister. Mark the moan she makes. – Now the dog all this while sheds not a tear nor speaks a word. But see how I lay the dust with my tears.”

GLOSSARY proportion i.e. ‘portion’: the proper inheritance of… the prodigious son i.e. the Prodigal Son (Luke 15, 11-32) grandam grandmother sole pun on ‘soul’ EXTRACT B HAROLD PINTER, The Hothouse (Tubb)

THE CONTEXT

WHO. Ambassador for the understaff.

WHERE. Roote’s organisation for people who have lost their way.

WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED. Tensions are rising amongst the management of the organisation. Seeds of paranoia have been planted in the mind of Roote, who believes that his colleague, Gibbs, intends to murder him.

WHAT HE WANTS/OBJECTIVES TO PLAY (just a springboard…)  To deliver Roote his Christmas present on behalf of the understaff.  To convey seasons greetings from the understaff to the management.  To encourage Roote to a give a Christmas address over the intercom.

He is proud and honoured to be doing all of the above, and remains in slight awe throughout the scene, almost as though he can’t quite believe his luck to have dealings with Roote and the management of the organisation. EXTRACT B HAROLD PINTER, The Hothouse (Tubb)

ROOTE. Come in.

Enter Tubb, carrying a small box.

ROOTE. Tubb! I thought you were on the intercom.

TUBB. Merry Christmas to you, Colonel.

ROOTE. Thank you, Tubb. And to you.

TUBB. How did you enjoy your Christmas dinner, sir?

ROOTE. Disappointing.

TUBB. Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Colonel.

ROOTE. Too much gravy.

LUSH. Really? Mine was bone dry.

ROOTE. What?

LUSH. Honestly. Bone dry.

ROOTE. Well, mine was swimming in gravy.

LUSH. That’s funny, isn’t it, Gibbs? His was swimming in gravy and mine was bone dry.

TUBB. I’m surprised to hear yours was wet, Colonel.

ROOTE. Well, it was. Very wet. What have you got there, Tubb?

TUBB. It’s a Christmas present for you, Colonel.

ROOTE. A present?

TUBB. Just a little token of the understaff’s regard, Colonel. Just a little something for Christmas.

ROOTE. Not a duck, by any chance?

TUBB. A duck, Colonel?

ROOTE. I just wondered whether it might have been a duck. TUBB. Oh no, we haven’t got any duck, sir.

ROOTE. No duck?

TUBB. No, sir?

ROOTE. What about number 84 then? Eh? Unclaimed. Ready for the oven. What? That was a duck, wasn’t it? And what’s more it was unclaimed.

TUBB. Oh, that duck. Oh, that was claimed.

ROOTE. Claimed? Who by?

TUBB. Well, it wasn’t exactly claimed, sir. But we found out who owned the ticket, so we’re keeping it for him till he turns up, it’s only fair.

ROOTE. Who is it?

TUBB. A man called Lamb, sir. (pause) But anyway, what I’ve got here, Colonel, is a little token of regard from the understaff and the compliments of the season from all of us in the understaff, wishing you all the very best of luck in the year to come.

ROOTE. Thanks very much, Tubb. What is it?

TUBB. It’s a Christmas cake, Colonel, cooked by the cook.

ROOTE. A cake? For me?

TUBB. For you, sir.

ROOTE. How kind. How very kind. I’m most touched. Most touched. More than touched. Deeply moved. It’s a long time, a very long time, since I had a Christmas cake. A long long time. (pause) This…was from the cook?

TUBB. From the cook, sir, from me, sir, from the kitchen staff, sir, from the portering staff, sir, from the cleaning staff, sir, from the very whole of the understaff, sir, from the very all of us…to you, sir.

ROOTE. How very kind. How very very kind. I’m deeply moved. Deeply moved. More than moved…

TUBB. The understaff, Colonel, and I’m sure the patients, would be even more deeply moved if you were to give them a Christmas address, sir. ROOTE. An address?

TUBB. They would be most touched, sir. They’re all clustered up now in the canteen and I’ve fitted up the loudspeaker system with an extension to all the corridors leading onto the patients’ rooms as well. ROOTE. An address? Your people would appreciate an address, would they?

TUBB. Oh, they would, sir. I know they would. Just a little word for Christmas.

ROOTE. And the patients…they haven’t expressed any desire…themselves… have they?

TUBB. Well, not exactly expressed one, sir, as far as I know, but I’ve fitted up the loudspeaker system to their rooms and I’m sure they’d be deeply moved.

(pause)

ROOTE. What do you think, Gibbs?

(pause)

Gibbs!

GIBBS. I beg pardon, sir?

ROOTE. I said what do you think?

GIBBS. I…I think it’s an excellent idea, sir.

Pause.

ROOTE. Where’s the mike?

TUBB. In the cake, sir.

ROOTE. In the cake!

TUBB. I just shoved it in with the cake, sir.

ROOTE. Well, it’s got no business to be anywhere near the cake! What’s the matter with you? What a place to put a mike! Well, plug it in, let’s get on with it.

Tubb plugs in the mike.

TUBB. Switch this switch when you’re ready, Colonel.

ROOTE. (slowly) Yes.

TUBB. They’re all ready. They’re all clustered up in the understaff canteen.

Pause.

ROOTE. What are you looking at, Gibbs?