(Click image for more info on this play.)

Drama
5 men, 4 women

Audition Dates:
Monday and Tuesday, October 11 and 12
6:30-8:30 PM  
WRCT Studio Theatre  

Performance Dates:
December 3-5; 9-11
7:30 PM
(Sunday afternoon Matinee: 2:00 PM)

Scripts are available at the WRCT office.

From the director, Susan Edgren:
THE STORY: Don't let G. Bernard Shaw's subtitle ( anti-romantic) for his play, Arms and the Man, fool you. This show is full of lovers trying to find the right partners: Raina, the heroine, thinks that she can only find true love with her country's buffoonish hero/soldier until she meets a real soldier who dismantels all of her ideas of the glories of war. Louka, a servant girl, wants more from life and marriage than a servant's existance and is not shy about getting what she wants. Sergius, the blundering hero of the latest battle, discovers that being in love with the high-maintenance daughter of his commanding officer isn't all it's cracked up to be. Bluntschli, the "chocolate cream soldier", believes romance is for fools until he finds himself falling for a "foolish" young lady. This is Shaw's funniest comedy of manners and more`s.

*The cast list is as follows:
   
Capt. Bluntschli - male, 30-40 yrs old  
Pragmatic and rational, Bluntchly is the voice of reason in a ridiculously emotional world. He relies on his brain rather than his brawn to survive a war where he fights for money instead of theology. He considers himself above romance, but winds up realizing that he, too, can fall for a young heroine and behave, at least a bit, irrationally (at times).  
 
Raina - female, 20-30 yrs old
Pampered only child of doting parents, Raina's idea of romance is based on rules of ancient chivalry. Through her ultra-dramatic behavior she appears to be much younger than she actually is, but deep down she is clever, sensitive and rational.

Catherine Petkoff - (Raina's mother) female, 40-60 yrs old
Loving wife and mother, extremely loyal patriot, Catherine is of peasant stock, but her husband's successful farming has made her one of the wealthiest women in her village. Her household is an eclectic mixture of old habits and new acquisitions.    

Louka - female, 20-30 yrs old   
Young servant of the Petkoff's who has no intention of remaining a household servant. She likes Sergius enough to use him for her own gain.  

Nicola - male, 30-40 yrs old       
The Petkoff's houseman. He brought Louka into the Petkoff's service to train her for a better life than she would have had if left to her own devices and plans to marry her for HER sake, not his. He is content to manipulate his employers from a lowly position rather than raise his own social status.

Major Paul Petkoff - (Rain's father) male, 40-60 yrs old  
Loving husband and father, Paul Petkoff is an extremely successful farmer, but not so successful major in his country's military. One of the village's nouveau riche, Paul likes the comfort and prestige that money brings, but would rather live his new life like his old one, only with money.   

Major Sergius Saranoff - male, 25-35 yrs old    
Young buffoon who thinks having the handsomest pose and the best looks in town automatically guarantees him success. He is not a coward, but not an asset to the cavalry either. He is set to marry Raina because she is the best choice around for a military hero's wife, but he would rather dally with the no-nonsense maid.

Russian officer - male, any age

*Please note that ages are approximate guidelines only.

You need not be exactly the stated age to audition for any role. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 715-423-4416 or sedgren@solarus.net .