THE WESTERN RESERVE PLAYHOUSE IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE: AUDITIONS FOR *FRAGMENTS OF FARCE:* *A Night of Comedic Sketches by Anton Chekhov* A virtual production with WRP Connect By Anton Chekhov Directed by August Scarpelli *From a man whose speech about the evils of tobacco turns into a complaint about his overbearing wife; to a man and a widow whose argument over money turns into a duel to the death, and also falling in love; and with a finale of an aged stage actor and a servant discussing the life of theatre, these comedies about the errors of being human are sure to brighten up this dreary winter. All performed in one night, “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco,” “The Bear,” and “The Swan Song” by Anton Chekhov will run about an hour.* We are looking for a diverse group of actors to portray these characters and bring these stories to life virtually. This show will encourage fluidity in gender, race, and age. *Virtual auditions* will be held via Zoom on *Thursday, 1/14/2021 *from 7pm-10pm and *Saturday, 1/16/2021 *from 1pm-4pm. Email august@thewrp.org for a 15-minute audition slot. When you have secured a slot, you will receive a response about the link to the Zoom meeting. Please prepare one approximately 90-second speech from Chekhov or one of his contemporaries (i.e. plays from about 1860-1910). If you are not able to attend one of the above audition times, pre-recorded auditions will be accepted to august@thewrp.org no later than Sunday, 1/17/2021 @ 7pm. *Performance Dates* will be February 19th and 20th, at 7:30pm each night. Each night of shows will be live-streamed through Zoom. *Production Schedule:* We will be rehearsing weekdays (typically 7pm-10pm) and potentially weekend afternoons, depending on the actor's availability. This will be a fairly minimal time commitment. *Available roles:* (Roles may be doubled if seen fit) Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin, a man giving a speech (*“On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco”*) Elena Ivanovna Popova, a landowning widow (*“The Bear”*) Grigory Stepanovitch Smirnov, a middle-aged landowner (*“The Bear”*) Luka, an aged servant (*“The Bear”*) Nikita Ivanitch, a prompter, an old man (*“The Swan Song”*) Vasili Svietlovidoff, a comedian, 68 years old (*“The Swan Song”*) *Production requirements:* A free Zoom account, a stable wifi connection, a clean and quiet room to record in, a microphone that picks up speech cleanly, a camera with a clear image, and the ability to have at least one isolated light source that you are able to control. If you have any questions, or would like more information about the play or project, please email august@thewrp.org. -- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.