‘Ah Wilderness’

The Armonk Players are casting for their Spring Production of "Ah Wilderness", written by the great Eugene O’Neill.

Auditions will be held February 2^nd, 2010 from 7:00-9:00 at the Hergenehan Recreational Center, 40 Maple Ave in Armonk, NY.  Please look up your own directions to the audition.  Sides will be provided at the audition.  Have a headshot (if you have one) and resume ready.

Callbacks, if necessary, will be held on February 3^rd, 2010 from 7:00-9:00.

If you can not attend the audition but are still interested in being seen for one of the roles, please email Chris at christineditota@msn.com.  Please put “Ah Wilderness” in the subject line.

Please no emails about directions, character ideas or side requests.  This is a cold reading for all.

ALL ROLES OPEN EXCEPT FOR AUNT LILY

Rehearsals begin in late March/Early April.

Show dates are June 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 & 12

Rehearsals are Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays.  As we get closer to opening we will add some Monday & Wednesdays

***Plot Summary is listed below all other info.

Seeking-Characters

• Nat Miller: The head of the Miller household and the owner of the local newspaper, a warm, wise, and understanding man.
• Essie: Nat's wife, and the mother of four. She runs a well kept but lived-in house, in a “bustling, mother-of-a-family way.”
• Arthur: The oldest of the Miller children, and a football player at Yale University. While home from college he has been dating a girl named Elsie Rand.
• Richard: The second son of Nat and Essie.  He sees himself as a radical and a poet, although most of his words and actions are quite tame. He is in throes of first love, and is sure he loves Muriel McComber with a passion and depth that no one has experienced before.
• Mildred: The only daughter of Nat and Essie, considered attractive and vivacious. She is just old enough to be a great tease to her older brothers.
• Tommy: The youngest child in the Miller family, bursting with energy.
• Sid Davis: Essie's older brother, a gambler and an alcoholic. He was once engaged to Lily, who broke off the engagement because of his drinking.
• David McComber: Muriel's father, a local businessman who advertises in Nat’s newspaper. At first he disapproves of Richard and Muriel’s relationship, but later accepts it. He is a “thin, dried-up little man.”
• Muriel McComber: The daughter of David McComber, a pretty girl who is in love with Richard.
• Wint Selby: A classmate of Arthur's at Yale, and a bit of a “hell-raiser.”
• Belle: Belle is a pretty, peroxide-blonde prostitute.
• Nora: Mrs. Miller's Irish maid
• Bartender
• Salesman
• Aunt Lily; this role has already been cast.

Plot

On the Fourth of July 1906 in a small Connecticut town, the Miller family is finishing breakfast. Nat Miller owns the local newspaper and, with his wife Essie, is raising a family of four. Sharing the breakfast are Nat's sister Lily and Essie's brother Sid, who have had an on-and-off relationship for years, currently off because of Sid’s drinking.

Richard is the one member of the family who has not come in from breakfast. His mother worries about the “subversive” books he is reading by the likes of Swinburne, Shaw, Oscar Wilde and the poet Omar Khayyam. She wonders if he will become an anarchist. Richard is passionately in love with Muriel, the girl next door.

The family gathering is broken up by Muriel's father, McComber, who accuses Richard of corrupting his daughter with love letters featuring quotations from the books. Miller defends his son, even though McComber is one of the paper’s biggest advertisers. McComber has punished Muriel, and presents her letter to Richard ending their relationship. Richard is devastated.

Later, Wint Selby, Arthur’s classmate at Yale, is looking for someone to go with him on a double date. With Arthur unavailable, Wint hesitantly agrees to take Richard. The “date” turns out to be a rendezvous with prostitutes. While Wint is upstairs Richard sits in the bar, drinking with Belle, unsure what to do. He starts a fight with a salesman who has insulted Belle.

Richard’s parents fret about his late hour and, when he finally arrives, drunk and disheveled, Sid, expert in such matters, puts him to bed while his parents discuss his punishment. The next day, Nat comes home for lunch to punish Richard, who is still asleep. He and Essie disagree about what to do, and Nat goes back to work, secretly happy to postpone the confrontation. When Richard does come downstairs, his mother tells him that he must stay in the house. Almost immediately his sister Mildred arrives with a letter from Muriel promising her love and offering to sneak out that night to meet on the beach.

That evening, the young couple review the events of the holiday, and their future, and they kiss for the first time.

Back home, Nat and Essie discuss possible punishments, and the news that Muriel’s father has changed his mind about Richard. Richard arrives looking lovestruck, and Essie leaves him with his father. They talk about the dangers of drinking and loose women, and the play ends happily with Richard gazing at the moon while his parents enjoy a kiss.