Auditions for "HOLMES & WATSON"

by JEFFREY HATCHER

Directed by Stephen Kay

Auditions:
Sunday, 11 July, at 1:30 pm
Monday 12 July at 7:30 pm

Callbacks, if needed, will be on 14 July at 7:30.

PERFORMANCES: September 17, 18, 24, 25, 26 (matinee), October 1 & 2

NEEDED: 6 Men and 1 Woman minimum, parts may be doubled depending on audition turnout.

PLOT: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Or so it is assumed. The world knows the great detective went over the falls at Reichenbach with his nemesis Professor Moriarty. But as Holmes’ body was never retrieved, a number of frauds, fakes and charlatans have come forward since to lay claim to his identity, and it falls to Dr. Watson to disprove them. Then a telegram arrives informing Watson that three men, each claiming to be Holmes, have been committed to a remote asylum off the coast of Scotland. Now Watson must discover if one of the mad men is the real Sherlock Holmes.

• Three men are masquerading as Sherlock. We’re hoping to find a few men of similar build, tall and thin.
• The script calls for one of the would-be Holmeses to have a shaved head.
• All ethnicities will be considered.
• We will try to keep people socially distanced during auditions. If there are people who prefer to audition via Zoom or some other method, that can be arranged.
• We will have the first table read at 1:30 on Sunday 18 July.
• Rehearsals will begin a few weeks later, at the beginning of August. All rehearsals and performances will be in person.

CHARACTERS

Dr. Evans: Male, 40-59
clean-shaven; silky, officious; intelligent and is divulged at the end of the play as being the true Dr. Watson; must have expertise in British Dialects.

Watson: Male, 40-59
Similar to Evans, but with a mustache

Holmes 1: Male, 40-59
tall, thin, angular; acerbic and aggressive; quite insistent; he is divulged at the end to be a Captain in the navy, but makes and extremely convincing Holmes; also plays: Signor Fonseca, a masked character; must have expertise in British Dialects as well as Spanish/’European’ accent for Fonseca

Holmes 2: Male, 40-59
tall, thin, angular; anxious; vulnerable at times as he believes he has committed a murder; in the end he is divulged to be an actor who is very convincing in playing Holmes; must have expertise in British Dialects.

Holmes 3 : Male, 40-59
tall, thin, angular; cool, impenetrable; apparently suffering from hysterical deafness due to trauma. He is able to speak through hypnosis; later in the story it is revealed that he is only acting under the pretense of being deaf; he is not actually Holmes, but a distant cousin; also plays: The Client, a masked character; does not speak; must have expertise in British Dialects.

Orderly: Male, 40-59
tall, thin, angular; but with physical power; mustache, sideburns; rough, abrupt; most likely a working class accent as orderly; also plays: Moriarty: 60s; tall, cold, menacing; at end or the story is revealed to be the real Sherlock Holmes; must have expertise in British Dialects.

Matron: Female, 40-59
prim, chilly and efficient; also plays: The Woman, a beautiful, tortured femme fatale; elevated British accent; at the end of the play is revealed to be Irene Adler, the love of Sherlock’s life; must have expertise in British Dialects.

The Inspector: Male, 50-59
bulky, menacing; muttonchops; must have expertise in British Dialects.