Please find below a comprehensive character list followed by detailed information on the audition process.

Cast

The play can be performed with a cast of 10 + with scope for doubling.

Main Characters

Halder | Male. Late 30s/early 40s. He is a liberal but living in a fog. Only eventually does it slowly dawn on him that he is on the brink of something horrible. And that he is culpable.

Maurice | Male. Late 30s/early 40s. Halder’s friend. He is at first ebullient in his banter with his mate but then needs to convey a sense of panic. He appears unfed, his clothes start getting grubby, missing buttons etc. and he grows ever more desperate (and his language reflects this) until forced into hiding. He finally appears in an imaginary sequence by which time he is one of the ‘disappeared.’

Freddie | Male. Late 40s. SS Major and becomes Halder’s friend. Has a secret passion for Jazz (he puts fake labels on his 78s collection) and therefore tolerates Halder secretly hoarding books on the banned list. Freddie’s other secret is his infertility making him plan to have a blond-haired blue-eyed youth impregnate his wife as people are beginning to talk.

Doctor | Male. Any age 20s + .Plans the death camp for mental defectives with Halder. Always, as with Halder, looking for the most humane solution.

Bouller | Male. Any age 20s +.The first Nazi to invite Halder in to discuss his novel and the Fuhrer’s love of it.

Hitler | Male. Any age 20s +. A fantasy figure which appears in a recounted dream-like hallucinatory sequence. Played very much like the Chaplin version from The Great Dictator.

Bok | Male. Any age 20s +.The only dyed in the wool Nazi-thug in the entire play

Dispatch Rider | Male. Early 20s. A young member of the SS and potentially part of Freddie’s plan.

Eichmann | Male. Any age 40s +.The historical Eichmann, he sends Halder off to investigate the death camps to ensure they are being run in a humane fashion.

Hoss | Male. Any age 30s +.Auschwitz Camp Commandant. Again, an historical character - a small scene but he needs to convey that he knows what is going on.

Mother | Female. 60s. Suffering from senile dementia – a gradual decline.

Helen | Female. 30s. A neurotic, unable to cope with life, she represents the clutter that Halder secretly desires to escape from.

Anne | Student, later Halder’s second wife. Ages from 20-28 in the play. Must look Aryan (she is the Nazi May Queen at one point) but does not share the ideology. But like Halder convinces herself that they are right, that most of the Jews will have left by now etc.

Elizabeth | Female. 30s. Freddie’s Wife. A Magda Goebbels look-alike.

Sister | Female. Any age 20s+ In hospital Halder’s mother is in.

Supernumeraries | concentration camp victims (perhaps miming instruments in the band Halder hears at the end), book burners, Nazis, singing SS Officers in The ‘Student Prince sequence’ etc. Say about half a dozen at most.

Auditions

Auditions will be held in the Everyman Clubroom in group workshops/readings which will last 1.5 hours at the most. There is no need to prepare anything.

The dates/times are as follows:

Saturday 3 September: 10-11.30; 1-2.30; 3-5.30
Sunday 4 September: 10-11.30; 1-2.30; 3-5.30
Tuesday 6 September: 6.30- 8; 8.30-10

In addition there will be call-backs:

Saturday 10 September
Sunday 11 September

If you cannot make the audition weekend but would still like to audition then please contact me to arrange a time during the call backs.

Please note that the performance dates for this production are 15-19 November 2011.

To book an audition please contact me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thank you,

Simon Futty
(Director)