Auditions!

Feb. 22 & 24 for "The Good Doctor"

by Neil Simon

 

Audition Times/Dates/Location

Saturday, February 22 from 2 pm to 4pm
Monday, February 24 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
If needed, the snow day will be Tuesday, Feb. 25 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm).
All auditions will be at the Mason City Community Theater, 215 S Delaware, Mason City, IA. Auditioners will read selections from “The Good Doctor”.
 

 “The Good Doctor” is a story about a writer and all the different story ideas that he has – there are nine different one-act comedies in the play.  The writer is the narrator for the one-acts and plays some of the characters.  All the characters marked with an * will be played by the actor playing the Writer. 

 

Performers may audition for as many or as few roles as they desire! This is the perfect play for folks wishing to "Get their feet wet" on the stage or looking for a limited time commitment while still enjoying the thrill of being under the lights!

 

THE GOOD DOCTOR ONE-ACTS AND CHARACTERS LIST

“The Good Doctor” isn’t a single story, but a series of comic stories told by the character called “The Writer”, who is a composite of Neil Simon (his nickname was “Doc”) and Anton Chekhov (the 19th century Russian doctor famous for his comic stories and plays).  At the opening of the play “The Writer” is suffering from a case of writer’s block and tries to work through it by talking to the audience and telling them some of the story ideas he has (the nine one-act plays in “The Good Doctor”).

 

ACT ONE

“THE SNEEZE” – Cherdyakov (Chair-de-yah-cough) goes to the theater and gets a seat right behind the big boss of the government agency he works for, then Cherdyakov sneezes on the big boss’ bald head setting off a series of comic mistakes.

*Narrator – male

Cherdyakov – male

General Brassilhov (Brass-sill-hof) – male

Cherdayakov’s Wife – female

Madame Brassilhov – female

 

“THE GOVERNESS”- The mistress of the house tries to manipulate her governess over the governess’s salary, but becomes the one who gets manipulated.

*Narrator – male

The Mistress – female

Julia – female

 

“SURGERY” -The sexton of the local church has a terrible toothache.  Unfortunately for him, the dentist is out of town and his only chance for relief from the pain is the medical student Kuryatin (Cure-yacht-tin).  This one act is a slapstick gem! 

*Narrator/ Kuryatin – male

The Sexton – this male character could be played by a female or male

 

“TOO LATE FOR HAPPINESS”- This is a one-act musical about an elderly woman and man who meet in the park and are interested in a last chance for love, if it’s not too much trouble.

The Woman – female

The Man – male

 

“THE SEDUCTION”- Peter Semyonych (Sem-yon-nitch) is the greatest seducer of other men’s wives.  He gets the husbands to seduce their wives for him.  It’s a foolproof plan till Peter meets a wife who turns the tables on him.

*Narrator/ Peter – male

The Husband – male

The Wife – female

 

ACT TWO

“THE DROWNED MAN”-The narrator is out on a walk to clear his head, when he runs into a sailor along the docks who offers to show him a once in a lifetime entertainment – a drowned man – for only three rubles.

*Narrator – male

The Sailor – this male character could be played by a female or male

The Policeman – this male character could be played by a female or male

 

“THE AUDITION”-  An actress has walked all the way Moscow to get an audition at a prestigious theater and will say anything to get the director to let her perform all three sisters in the play “the Three Sisters”.

*The Voice – male

The Girl – female

 

“A DEFENSELESS CREATURE”- Another slapstick gem!  The banker Kistunov (Kiss-too-noff) is having a bad attack of gout today.  Too much noise sends pain raging through his body.  In comes a defenseless widow seeking justice for her recently deceased husband.

*Narrator/ Pochatkin (Poe-chat-kin) – male

Kistunav - this male character could be played by a female or male

A Woman – female

 

“THE ARRANGEMENT”-A father is going to see that his 19 year old son will become a man tonight – the boy will learn the ways of love with a woman, but the boy isn’t so sure he wants to.

*Narrator/ Father – male

A Boy – male

A Girl - female

 

 

Rehearsals begin with a readthrough on Wednesday February 26 at 6:30 pm.

 

Performance dates: Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, at 7pm; and Sunday, April 27, at 2 pm. The second week of performances are Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, at 7 pm; and Sunday, May 4 at 2 pm.  Set strike will follow the Sunday May 4 performance.

 

 

For more information:  If you have any questions or want to discuss any of the different characters in the play, please, contact the director, Ray Carver, by email at carverray472@gmail.com .