Olympic Theatre Arts in Sequim is looking to fill key roles during open auditions for “Silent Sky,” a production written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Josh Sutcliffe.
Auditions are slated for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, and 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17.
“Silent Sky” is a story based on the real life of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and her fellow female “computers” who persisted against the patriarchal scientific community of the early 1900s to make groundbreaking discoveries.
Characters include:
• Henrietta Leavitt — brilliant, meticulous, excited … and almost always wearing a period hearing-aid.
• Margaret Leavitt — a homebody, creative, sweet, sister.
• Peter Shaw — the head astronomer’s apprentice … and the man.
• Annie Cannon — the leader, terse and sure, who grows into firebrand.
• Williamina Fleming — smart as a whip and fun, Scottish.
Sutcliffe says that the person filling the Henrietta Leavitt roles must be available for all rehearsals, as she is onstage the entire show and had a heavy line load, and that Margaret Leavitt’s character sings and, ideally, can also play piano.
Annie Cannon needs to carry a commanding stage presence, Williamina Fleming would preferably have a light Scottish accent and Peter Shaw should be a bit bumbling and unintentionally handsome, Sutcliff says.
The play spans 20 years, so older actors will play younger in the beginning of the show while younger actors will play older towards the end, OTA officials note. All characters are adults, with Henrietta, Margaret, and Peter being roughly the same age and younger than the Annie and Williamina characters, who are also roughly the same age.
Production organizers ask auditioners to read “The Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman (memorization is not required), so pre-reading is suggested. Scripts are available at OTA.
There may be a callback audition scheduled the following week, OTA officials say, depending on turnout.
OTA is also looking for creative people to fill out the production team.
“Silent Sky” runs Nov. 8-24, and rehearsals start in the beginning of September.
Call Olympic Theatre Arts at 360-683-7326 for more information.
