The Valley Players prep for two upcoming productions

May 11, 2023  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

The Valley Players Theater is on Main Street in Waitsfield. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

There’s little down time at the Valley Players Theater these days. Next weekend will be busy at the Waitsfield community theater with preparations for two upcoming productions – an historical dramatization in conjunction with Joslin Memorial Library and auditions for the company’s fall play, Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.”  

Celebrating the library’s 110th

The Valley Players are teaming up with the Joslin Memorial Library for an afternoon of improv June 3, from 6 to 8 p.m., to celebrate the library’s 110th birthday. 

The company is seeking 18 actors to play various roles in different vignettes portraying a variety of conversations that may have happened when the library first opened in 1913. Costumes will be provided from the Valley Players’ collection.

To prepare, there will be a workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, at the Valley Players Theater to assign roles and work on the vignettes. 

Those interested in participating do not need to prepare anything for the workshop. There will be guidance by Joslin Library staff and volunteers from the Valley Players. 

An example of a vignette would be for two actors – one person playing Flora Moriarty (the first librarian) and one person playing Lena Joslin (a patron and volunteer, and the grandmother of local resident Ted Joslin). Their discussion might take place in the main room of the library, where Flora might talk about the new library, expressing how excited she is about what’s being built. Lena might offer help with organizing the setup of the library. They could have drawings of their ideas that are shown to the “audience” as they pass through a section of the library.

For more information, or to sign up to participate in the workshop to portray prominent historical figures from Waitsfield’s past, contact Doug Bergstein at dougbergstein@gmail.com.

The theater is located at 4254 Main Street, a few doors away from the library.

Auditions for ‘The Glass Menagerie’

On Sunday and Monday, May 21-22, The Valley Players will hold auditions for “The Glass Menagerie,” Tennessee Williams’ semi-autobiographical look at a family struggling for survival during the Great Depression. 

Auditions will be held at the Valley Players Theatre at 6 p.m. on both Sunday, May 21, and Monday, May 22. If necessary, callbacks will be held on Wednesday, May 24. The play will be performed on weekends from Sept. 29 through Oct. 15. 

A synopsis of the play and descriptions of the characters is online on The Valley Players website, valleyplayers.com.

All interested actors are encouraged to audition. While the characters will be played as indicated in the script (two female presenting, two male presenting), this does not preclude the casting of actors against “type.” Prepared monologues are welcome (two minutes maximum) but not a requirement; prepared speeches should be one that the auditioner has performed before and is comfortable with. 

All actors will be asked to read at least one monologue of their choosing from the selections provided on The Valley Players website. There will be printed copies of these monologues to use at the auditions. The chosen monologue need not be memorized, but a familiarity with the selection beforehand will be helpful.
Actors will audition in groups of two. Each actor will read their monologue to their partner who acts as the silent other character in the scene. Both partners should be fully committed to the scene whether they are the speaker or the listener. The character of Amanda will be played with a Southern (Mississippi) accent; the characters of Laura and Tom need not have accents. The character of Jim speaks with a standard midwestern accent. Accents are not required at auditions.

The actor who plays Amanda should appear old enough to be Laura’s mother. Because their characters were in the same class in high school, Laura and Jim should appear to be the same age, anywhere from early 20s to early 30s. Although Tom is mentioned as being two years younger than Laura. The actor playing Tom can range anywhere from 30s to 60s (The original Tom, Eddie Dowling, was 55 when he played the part.)

At this time, the Valley Players are not requiring proof of vaccination against COVID, or the wearing of masks. However, everyone is strongly encouraged to be up to date on vaccines and boosters for COVID-19 and the flu. Anyone who wishes to rehearse masked will be supported.

Questions can be emailed to director Michael Halloran at mkhalloran@gmail.com. “The Glass Menagerie” is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc. on behalf of The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.