“streetcar named desire” audition information ·  · 2015-01-06blanche dubois the protagonist...

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Page 1: “Streetcar Named Desire” audition information ·  · 2015-01-06Blanche DuBois The protagonist of the play. After ... Stanley Kowalski The antagonist of the play and the husband

“Streetcar Named Desire” audition information

The Uwharrie Players will present Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire April 17, 18, 24, 25 at 7:30 PM and April 19 and 26 at 3:00 PM at Albemarle High School

AUDITIONS WILL BE HELD FEBRUARY 8TH AND 9TH AT 7 PM AT 594 E MAIN ST. ALBEMARLE, NC 28001

Director: Lena Olson

Stage Manager/Production Manager: Bradley Eudy

ALL ROLES ARE OPEN. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. All are welcome.

General character information

Regarding age: The script calls for Stella to be about 25 and Blanche to be about 30. It’s not necessary that these ages be strictly adhered to but Stella should appear to be in her mid to late 20s or early 30s and Blanche should appear to be about 5 or more years older. Stanley and his friends should seem to also be in their mid 20s to mid to late 30s. Eunice and Steve may look as if they are a bit older. The Young Collector character should appear to be in his late teens to early 20s.

Characters:

Blanche DuBois ­ The protagonist of the play. After her family's once opulent estate falls into financial ruin, she resorts to living with her younger sister, Stella, creating tension between herself and Stella’s rugged, abusive husband (Stanley). She was a high school English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi, until she was forced to leave her post. Blanche is a talkative and delicate woman, she puts on the airs of a woman who has never known indignity. She avoids reality, preferring to live in her own imagination. As the play progresses, Blanche’s instability grows along with her misfortune. She is proud yet emotionally fragile, in part because she has lost everything, but also because of her regretful past.

Blanche is a lead role with many lines including monologue/soliloquy type passages.

Stella Kowalski ­ Blanche’s younger sister and of a mild disposition that visibly sets her apart from her more vulgar neighbors. Stella possesses the same timeworn aristocratic heritage as Blanche, but she married lower­class Stanley. Stella’s union with Stanley is both animal and spiritual, violent but renewing. After Blanche’s arrival, Stella is torn between her sister and her husband, she loves her husband, but still feels a nagging loyalty to her high­maintenance sister. When Stanley hits her, she is quick to forgive him. Whereas Blanche claims to be repulsed by Stanley's animal magnetism, Stella is drawn to it.

A lead role with many lines.

Page 2: “Streetcar Named Desire” audition information ·  · 2015-01-06Blanche DuBois The protagonist of the play. After ... Stanley Kowalski The antagonist of the play and the husband

Stanley Kowalski ­ The antagonist of the play and the husband of Stella. Stanley is the epitome of vital force; strong, tough, arrogant, he loves to drink, play poker, and have sex with his wife. He is loyal to his friends, passionate to his wife, and heartlessly cruel to Blanche. He sees himself as a social leveler, and wishes to destroy Blanche’s social pretensions. He has no patience for Blanche’s distortions of the truth for now that she has intruded, Stanley feels his home life and his habits are under attack. He lacks ideals and imagination. By the play’s end, he is a disturbing degenerate. A lead role with many lines.

Harold “Mitch” Mitchell ­ Stanley’s army friend, coworker, and poker buddy, who courts Blanche. Though he is clumsy, Mitch is more sensitive and more gentlemanly than Stanley and his other friends, perhaps because he lives with his dying mother. Blanche and Mitch are an unlikely match: Mitch doesn’t fit the bill of the chivalric hero, the man Blanche dreams will come to rescue her. A supporting role with a medium to large amount of lines.

Eunice ­ Stella’s friend, upstairs neighbor, and landlady. Eunice and her husband, Steve, represent the low­class, carnal life that Stella has chosen for herself. Like Stella, Eunice accepts her husband’s affections despite his physical abuse of her. A supporting role with a medium amount of lines.

Steve ­ Stanley’s poker buddy who lives upstairs with his wife, Eunice. Like Stanley, Steve is a brutish, hot­blooded male and an abusive husband. A supporting role with a small to medium amount of lines.

A Young Collector ­ A teenager who comes to the Kowalskis’ door to collect for the newspaper when Blanche is home alone. A small, but very important, role with few lines.

Pablo ­ Stanley’s poker buddy. Pablo is Hispanic, and his friendship with Steve, Stanley, and Mitch emphasizes the culturally diverse nature of their neighborhood. A supporting role with a small to medium amount of lines.

A Negro Woman ­ In Scene One, the Negro woman is sitting on the steps talking to Eunice when Blanche arrives, and she finds Stanley’s openly sexual gestures toward Stella hilarious. A small role with few lines.

A Doctor ­ At the play’s finale, the doctor arrives to whisk Blanche off to an asylum. A small role with few lines.

A Nurse ­ Also called the “Matron,” she accompanies the doctor to collect Blanche and bring her to an institution. A small role with few lines.