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  • Making God Laugh
    15 minutes
    Elmwood Auditorium
    Making God LaughBy Sean GrennanDirected by Pat HannahPresented by Elmwood PlayersAuditionsSunday 8th February 10am - 3:30pm,Elmwood Auditorium,31 Aikmans Road,Merivale- Auditions will be in 15 minute slots- Please prepare a monologue that suits the character(s) for which you are auditioning, no more than 2 minutes long (does not need to be memorised)- There will also be a cold read of the script, copies of which will be available when you arriveSynopsisComedy/Drama, 2F 3MAs Woody Allen once said “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans…”Making God Laugh follows one typical family over the course of thirty years' worth of Holidays. Starting in 1980, Ruthie and Bill's grown children -- a priest, an aspiring actress, and a former football star -- all return home, where we learn of their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives. The empty-nester parents contend with their own changes, too, as old family rituals are trotted out and ancient tensions flare up. As time passes, the family discovers that, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations.Note: the play is set in the USA, but will be New Zealandised CharactersRuthieThe matriarch of the family. She starts the play in her late forties or early fifties and ages thirty years as does everyone. She's bossy, authoritative, means well but tries to steer the world more than is humanly possible. She needles each of her children and even her husband, Bill, to an extent but at the bottom, way down there, truly loves them all.BillOur patriarch. He loves everyone and is a go-with-the-flow sort. Easy going, wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings, desperately in love with his kids and wife. Being the dad of these people and Ruthie's husband is his life's work and he's successful at it. he lives a little in fear of Ruthie but the worm turns when it must.RichardEldest son. Mid to late twenties as we start. He wants to conquer the world and is always looking for ways to do that. Not a plugger, more of an entrepreneur. He buys the latest everything and dresses "up to the second" stylish. He's a good guy but has perhaps seen too many movies of how men behave rather than behaving as he would. A one-time football hero, he misses that kind of spotlight.Maddie​Second child. Mid-twenties at the top. She's an aspiring actress. A strong-willed person who loves her family. She's closest to Thomas and the two of them have a long-standing habit of picking on their big brother as a team. It's good-natured except when it's not. Of all the kids, she's the only one to have moved away from her hometown. She lives in New York and struggles with the artist's life as well as her life-life. She and her mother have a difficult relationship.ThomasSon two, the baby of the family and the "good"' son. A nice, even-tempered guy, in the style of his father, who thought his life was on a plan. A devoutly religious man studying for the priesthood at the beginning he's nonetheless funny, warm and not at all rigid in his approach to life. He means very well but like everyone has his life turn out differently than he planned.

    Making God Laugh

    By Sean Grennan


    Directed by Pat Hannah

    Presented by Elmwood Players


    Auditions

    Sunday 8th February 10am - 3:30pm,

    Elmwood Auditorium,

    31 Aikmans Road,

    Merivale


    - Auditions will be in 15 minute slots

    - Please prepare a monologue that suits the character(s) for which you are auditioning, no more than 2 minutes long (does not need to be memorised)

    - There will also be a cold read of the script, copies of which will be available when you arrive




    Synopsis

    Comedy/Drama, 2F 3M


    As Woody Allen once said “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans…”


    Making God Laugh follows one typical family over the course of thirty years' worth of Holidays. Starting in 1980, Ruthie and Bill's grown children -- a priest, an aspiring actress, and a former football star -- all return home, where we learn of their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives. The empty-nester parents contend with their own changes, too, as old family rituals are trotted out and ancient tensions flare up. As time passes, the family discovers that, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations.


    Note: the play is set in the USA, but will be New Zealandised

    Characters

    Ruthie

    The matriarch of the family. She starts the play in her late forties or early fifties and ages thirty years as does everyone. She's bossy, authoritative, means well but tries to steer the world more than is humanly possible. She needles each of her children and even her husband, Bill, to an extent but at the bottom, way down there, truly loves them all.


    Bill

    Our patriarch. He loves everyone and is a go-with-the-flow sort. Easy going, wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings, desperately in love with his kids and wife. Being the dad of these people and Ruthie's husband is his life's work and he's successful at it. he lives a little in fear of Ruthie but the worm turns when it must.


    Richard

    Eldest son. Mid to late twenties as we start. He wants to conquer the world and is always looking for ways to do that. Not a plugger, more of an entrepreneur. He buys the latest everything and dresses "up to the second" stylish. He's a good guy but has perhaps seen too many movies of how men behave rather than behaving as he would. A one-time football hero, he misses that kind of spotlight.


    Maddie

    ​Second child. Mid-twenties at the top. She's an aspiring actress. A strong-willed person who loves her family. She's closest to Thomas and the two of them have a long-standing habit of picking on their big brother as a team. It's good-natured except when it's not. Of all the kids, she's the only one to have moved away from her hometown. She lives in New York and struggles with the artist's life as well as her life-life. She and her mother have a difficult relationship.


    Thomas

    Son two, the baby of the family and the "good"' son. A nice, even-tempered guy, in the style of his father, who thought his life was on a plan. A devoutly religious man studying for the priesthood at the beginning he's nonetheless funny, warm and not at all rigid in his approach to life. He means very well but like everyone has his life turn out differently than he planned.

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