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Translations Audition Packet Theatre Ink Proudly Presents… Translations “It’s easier to stamp out learning than recall it.” by Brian Friel Directed by Tim Finnegan February 6th, 7th and 8th, and 9th 2013 at 7:30pm in the Little Theatre Tech Day on February 2, 9am – 6pm GENERAL INTEREST MEETING: Thursday, October 11th at 3:30pm in Room 171 AUDITIONS will be held on Monday, October 22nd from 3:30-5:30pm and Tuesday, October 23rd from 4- 6pm in the Little Theatre Sign up for a slot at the Translations Callboard by room 171. Pick up a callback packet or get one at theatreink.net! Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, October 24th from 3-6pm Questions? Contact us! [email protected] [email protected] “Vesperal Salutations To You All!” Thank you, and welcome to the audition process for Brian Friel’s “Translations”: the story of a small group of local tenant farmers who are unwittingly being forced to give up their land rights under the façade of “mapping” by the English government. The show will prove rewarding by giving its actors the honor of bringing it to life through their own decisions, and indecisions, on the stage. It’s a minimal show, which gives each character the challenge of holding the play up with his wit, or her sharp tongue, or their overall inability to just live life the way they want to live it. Read through the packet carefully and follow its suggestions. This will ensure the best possible audition experience. Tips for Pre-Audition -Please read the play in advance. Understanding the character’s overall arc in the play will help you make more informed decisions about your audition monologue. The summary is basic, and will only help supplement the play itself. Read it. Please. -Make use of your “teachable” resources. Talk to myself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Barrington- Haber, or someone about the show and get clarity, get excited, or just plain get mad! We can’t tell you how to audition, but we can talk about stuff that make you more confident in the show and its characters. That’s a pretty good start! Please Post: Go BIG, or Go Home! -Own your choices. While you are in the spotlight, I am looking for a lot of what I call “intangibles”—decisions that show you are willing to go deep, or search into this character. Getting the words right is great, but turning into someone else takes guts. Use ‘em! -Move with The Meaning of Life. Do your characters have “a-ha” moments? What are they searching for? Help them find it by moving around when you feel it appropriate. Nerves are all over this play, so a few nicely selected nervous “tics” may make you real in the role. But rule them! If you let them rule you, then you’re just being nervous.... -Fall in line, soldier! A-tten-tion! Speak up (unless your character doesn’t), own your voice, loud and clear, and don’t forget the basics: what do you want to get out of the moment (intention), why do you want it (motivation), and what’s standing in your way (obstacle)? -Relax. Prepare the part and it will show in everything you do. You’re already a winner for showing up choosing such a sweet show! So have a little fun with it, too. -Accents Encouraged. The show will utilize both Irish and English accents, so why not try it out as you prepare your audition. Not only could it add to the speeches / your sense of the characters, but it shows an actor who is ready and willing to “go big” with his/her choices. AUDITIONS: Sign up for a 30-minute audition slot on the callboard. Make sure you fill out your audition card and conflict information before hand. You will be called in with the rest of the people in your slot, and we will introduce ourselves, warm you up, and remind you of what we are looking for. You will be dismissed and called in based on the order on the signup sheet. Please “Slate Yourself” before you bring your monologues—tell us your name and which monologue/character you will be reading for. Once you have finished the first reading, in all likelihood, we will give you a note (something we would like you to try, something you could improve upon), and ask you to read again, keeping that note in mind. We may or may not ask you to read your second monologue, again with the possibility of doing it once more with our notes in mind. Since good actors try things out, a better actor is willing to try different things out each time. CALLBACKS: If we feel that we need more information about you as an actor in order to make good casting choices, we will call you back. This means that you will be put into pairs or groups of people and asked to read selected scenes from the play as a specific character. If you are called back you may be reading for more than one role or you may be asked to read a given scene more than once. Basically, the callback process is going to help us as directors see the full extent of your acting ability so that we can make the most informed casting decisions. To help you prepare for the possibility of a callback, please pick up a callback packet at the callboard or get it from www.theatreink.net as early as possible. So What’s This “Translations” All About, Sir? ACT I The play opens with a man, apparently a teacher, working with a student who is struggling to learn to pronounce words, though she’s fully grown. Already translation and communication is happening. While this happens, Jimmy Jack Cassie, the Infant Prodigy, reads Homer in the corner to himself. He loves the concept of “the Classics” and reads Latin and Greek almost exclusively. He and Manus, the teacher, talk about Athene and how much Jimmy loves her. Maire, a young field hand, arrives and starts preparing for class as she talks to Jimmy and Manus. The group continues to grow. Bridget and “Doalty” enter and spill all the local gossip, including the apparent drunkenness of Hugh, Manus’s father and the teacher of this apparent school. A community takes shape as they all share jokes, stories, and flirtation – this is how Ireland is. Simple, but romantic. Hugh enters the scene, drunk but fully functional, and begins immediately conducting his own particular “brand” of education, incorporating Mathematics, Geography, and Latin into his stories of the baptism of Nelly Ruadh’s baby and the concurrent party at the local pub. It is here that the plot of the play starts to take shape, when Hugh mentions several English officers, “Royal Engineers” he calls them, and their task to rename the entire country of Ireland piece by piece from its original Gaelic into a more Anglo-friendly English version of the name. As soon as Hugh leaves, Owen, his older, more enterprising son, enters and mingles with everyone at the school, which he hasn’t seen in six years. Apparently, after introductions, he comes on business to introduce the very English officers Hugh just spoke of, and they enter. Captain Lancey comes in and tries to tell the people about the renaming process and what it means for the people of Ireland. In his words, it means nothing will change but the names, but to the very few who understand any English, Owen and Manus, he is also telling them that changing the names means “re-deeding” the land, which would ultimately take the people’s land ownership rights away. “Roland,” as Lancey mistakenly keeps calling him, tries to translate all of the Captain’s speech, but oversimplifies it, which puts the class at ease, but upsets Manus, who knows the proclamation intends something worse. At this moment, Lietenant Yolland, a young, recently enlisted, bumbling English soldier, tries to say a few words, but fails and embarrasses himself. The act ends with Manus and Owen arguing over what Lancey meant. ACT II The act opens with Owen and Yolland undertaking the process of renaming, becoming tired and bored with how meticulous everything is, and frustrated by how Yolland’s superiors are yelling at them to move faster. It is here that Yolland starts to show his infatuation with Ireland—its land, its people, its culture, and even its language, and shows a willingness to learn Irish himself. Owen tries to encourage him in following his whim, but both Manus and Doalty seem baffled by Yolland’s apparent contradictory behaviors: “I understand the Lanceys perfectly but people like you puzzle me.” Yolland continues to open up after Manus and Doalty leave and talks about his father and how he never related to him because he was cold and calculating, “like Lancey,” while Yolland himself feels much warmer, much more “Irish.” He reveals here that he was supposed to go to Bombay, India for his military assignment but “missed the boat. Literally,” and ended up being shipped to Dublin for this map renaming duty. Hugh enters at this point and provides Yolland with a beautiful lecture about what Ireland is, and what its problems are. Owen dismisses him, and then gets upset, telling Yolland about how his father represents Ireland, too, their stubbornness in resisting change and only appreciating their past and staying blind to the future. It is also here that Owen is so upset that he sets Yolland straight about constantly misnaming of him: “For God’s sake! My name is not Roland!” This brings them back on the positive and joins them together in a moment.
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