Audition dates for the 2024 season
| Production | Read-through | Audition 1 | Audition 2 |
| A Tomb with a View | completed | completed | |
| Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime | completed | completed | |
| Entertaining Angels | completed | completed | |
| Funny Money | Thursday 16 May at 8pm | Sunday 26th May at 3pm | – |
| Around the World in 80 Days | Sunday 25th August at 3 p.m. | Sunday 1st September at 3 p.m. |
Audition details for each production will be published here ahead of the audition dates.
In the meantime, for a brief synopsis please see ‘What’s On’.
Audition for Funny Money
by Ray Cooney, directed by Charles Marriott
Read-through: Thursday 16th May at 8 p.m. at Theatre 62
Audition Sunday 26th May at 3 p.m. at Theatre 62
Performance dates: Sunday 29th September to Saturday 5th October
This is a classic Ray Cooney farce which is relentlessly funny. For those not familiar with Ray’s style, it’s difficult to describe the play without actually reading it, as it’s very dialogue driven with lots of action and the customary timing in abundance.
Unlike many plays the official character descriptions are very brief, but when we have the read-through – which will be well in advance of the auditions – you will get a good idea of the different characters.
At the read-through, I will have a short piece of dialogue for each character to audition with. I will be very keen for everyone to audition in “character” so if you are a good learner you may want to audition without reading it too much as the pace, delivery and nuances of each character will come out. However, if you want to read it that’s fine. It won’t in any way disadvantage you.
The plot/synopsis
I’ll try to convey this in a few lines as what unfolds during the play is hard to condense in this brief overview.
Set in the Perkins house in Fulham, Jean is preparing a dinner for good friends Betty and Vic, when extremely late Henry Perkins comes in looking harassed and on edge. He is clutching his briefcase. It’s quite apparent that he’s been drinking. Why is he so late?
What follows is his explanation of a briefcase mix up and somehow he has acquired an exact matching briefcase that obviously belongs to someone else. What is the panic? Well on opening the case that Henry has in his possession, his personal files, diary and papers aren’t in there……but £750,000 in cash bundles is! Realizing that the cash probably belongs to a criminal, he suspects that whoever has got his identical briefcase will undoubtedly open it and discover the contents belong to a Henry Perkins living at his house in Fulham.
Convinced his life is in mortal danger, he decides….never mind about the dinner for Betty and Vic……he and Jean need to leave the country asap with the cash. Imagine that whilst Henry is on the phone to BA to book one way flights from Heathrow, there’s an ominous doorbell ring.
Enter Detective Sergeant Davenport of Fulham CID. The plot thickens, especially as a little later, enter Detective Sergeant Slater from Putney Police Station carrying the identical very soggy briefcase belonging to a Henry Perkins. It gets worse…….it was found in the River Thames along with the dead body of a man who has been shot in the head. Suddenly Henry’s plan to leave the UK with the £750,000 which apart from Betty nobody knows about, is in jeopardy.
Characters
| Jean Perkins | a pretty but ordinary woman ideally in her late 40s. Middle class type. |
| Henry Perkins | a fairly insignificant man in his early 50s. Middle class type. (works 9-5 in an office in central London) |
| Bill | archetypal middle aged London taxi driver of spirit. (Age range anything between 40 and 55) |
| Davenport | a sparse middle aged man (50-60 age range). He is a Detective Sergeant based at Fulham Police Station |
| Slater | a Detective Sergeant based at Putney Police Station. He is a solicitous and kindly soul – until provoked. |
| Betty Johnson | a buxom and cheerful woman in her 40s. She and her husband Vic are best mates with Jean and Henry Perkins. |
| Vic Johnson | a brash man with feet of clay. (late 40s – late 50s) Probably is a manual worker unlike Henry who would be considered to be a “white collar” type. |
| Passer-by | a largish man. (a small part) |
if you are interested in taking part, or have any questions, then please email me with your name etc. so that I/we can contact you as soon as the read-through date is known. chasm@supervision.co.uk. Please put Funny Money in the subject box. Thank you.
How are auditions organised at Theatre 62?
Theatre 62 sometimes holds a read-through ahead of auditions to allow interested and prospective auditionees to better familiarise themselves with the play and to meet the Director.
Each Director has their own way of auditioning; some prefer to read straight from the text sometimes sitting down, sometimes moving around. Others choose to try improvisation; some a mixture of both. Directors are keen for auditionees to try out for whichever parts they are interested. Although auditions can sometimes be a little nerve-wracking, but they’re often a lot of fun. After the auditions have taken place auditionees will be contacted by the Director with the outcome.
At Theatre 62 we like to welcome new faces to the stage, as well as longer-standing regulars. Almost all auditions are ‘open’, which means non-members are welcome to audition. However, if you are a successful, and a non-member, you will be required to join Theatre 62 as a Full Member at £15.
Auditions are held at Theatre 62 (Wickham Theatre Centre), located here.
Theatre 62 (Wickham Theatre Centre) 