Audition Information
NIGHT WATCH
by TERRY PRATCHETT
Directed by Ben Zagami
Performed by Gemco Players Community Theatre
Night Watch, set in the city of Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld, follows grizzled commander and career copper Sam Vimes. Vimes is flung back in time 30 years in a magical accident while pursuing the murderous Carcer, and now has to apprehend the bad guy, teach his younger self how to be a Good Copper, and find his way back home to be a father to his newborn son. Of course, all of this would likely be easier if Ankh-Morpork weren’t in the middle of a full-on revolution.
Performances
Friday July 12th – Sunday July 28th
The Gem Theatre
19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald VIC 3782
Rehearsal commitment
One weeknight, and one weekend afternoon, per week, beginning May 4th
Will be discussed around cast availability
The Gem Theatre
19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald VIC 3782
Auditions
April 13 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
April 16 - 7:45pm - 9:45pm
The Gem Theatre
19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald VIC 3782
For your audition please prepare a short monologue of your choice. There will also be a group audition portion using sections of the Night Watch script. If you register for an audition, we will provide you with some of this material before the audition date. This will give you the chance to consider how you might perform characters, but you should not feel the need to memorise these scenes.
Character Brief
Sam Vimes
Commander of the City Watch in the present, and the protagonist of the story. A grizzled and cynical, but ultimately honest and upright copper, Vimes is dedicated to justice and has a general dislike for inegalitarian ideas like “authority”.
Young Sam Vimes
An impressionable youth just joined the watch and taking guidance from his fellow coppers. What kind of man he will become will depend on the kind of mentors he has in the days to come.
Sergeant Fred Colon/Young Colon
A sixty-something/thirty-something year old career copper who, whilst not really approaching anything like true competence, has a lifetime of experience in the watch and a knack knowing which way the wind is blowing and can even occasionally read the writing on the wall.
Carcer
A murderous psychopath who thoroughly enjoys his work. Carcer always wears a smile and laughs as if he’s privy to a joke you simply haven’t gotten yet. Viciously cunning, and willing to lie, cheat and gods-know what else if it means he gets the chance to indulge his love of violence.
Reg Shoe
A zombie and member of the City Watch in the present. In the past he is a fervent revolutionary who believes in the Common Good, and hates The Fascist Oppressors. He still occasionally plays protest songs on his guitar.
Billy Wiglet
A member of the City Watch in the past. He joined for a regular salary and the relaxed working conditions of the day. He has no plan to actually protect and serve though.
Cecil 'Snouty' Clapman
The jailor at the Treacle Mine Road Watch House in the past. His nickname comes from the fact that his nose was once broken and never set properly, leaving it half the length and twice the width of a normal nose. He has a tendency to interject a nasal inhalation ("hnah!") during his speech.
Rosie Palm
A seamstress in Ank-Morpork, she lives is a big house with a lot of younger ladies, whose occupations are generally understood. She and her ‘seamstresses’ are also at the centre of the rebellion to oust the tyrannical Lord Winder.
Young Nobby
At this stage of his life, Nobby is an odd-looking little street urchin. He has a near-compulsive urge to steal anything that isn’t nailed down, a knack for sneaking around unnoticed, and an undeniable talent for snooping.
Lady Meserole
A noblewoman who at least claims to be from Genua. She is currently conspiring to have Lord Winder ‘removed.’ Very clever and supremely confident, she is a mysterious character who prefers to pull strings in the background.
Sergeant Knock
A crooked watchman in the past, Knock is a nasty little man who despises anyone better than him (which is most people) and has a vindictive streak a mile wide.
Lu-Tze/Lord Winder
● Lu-Tze is one of the History Monks, an order of mystics who make sure History proceeds as it is meant to. He is the play’s narrator and helps Vimes make his way back to the future.
● Lord Winder is Patrician of Ankh Morpork in the past. The very model of the paranoid tyrant, he has his own ‘secret police force’ to root out malcontents and thinks nothing of torturing and ‘disappearing’ those he perceives as his enemies.
Ned Coates/CMOT Dibbler/Mr Rutherford
● Ned is a watchman, who moved to Ankh-Morpork for the better pay. He’s also secretly a revolutionary, plotting to remove Lord Winder from power.
● CMOT Dibbler is an entrepreneur, willing to try and sell people anything. And truly, his pies and sausages might just contain anything.
● Mr Rutherford is a middle-aged middle-class man. Certainly not one of the proletariat, thank you very much.
Young Vetinari/Leggie/Henry the Hamster
● Vetinari in the past is an assassin-in-training who has recently failed his Stealth class due to inattendance: after all, nobody ever saw turn up. He lives with his aunt Lady Roberta Meserole, who has given him the task of assassinating Lord Winder.
● Leggie (short for Legitimate) works at the Ankh-Morpork cemetery in the present day. Fancies himself as the Comic Gravedigger ala Hamlet, though it’s rare anyone lets him do it.
● Henry the Hamster is one of the Cable Street Particulars, Winder’s secret policemen. Almost certainly not his real name.
Doctor Lawn/Lord Snapcase
● Doctor Lawn is quiet, if a little sarcastic, and quite possibly the only doctor in Ankh-Morpork actually capable of healing people. He has lots of funny ideas like “washing your hands” and “keeping patients alive even after they’ve had the chance to pay you.”
● Lord Snapcase is considered by those trying to depose Lord Winder as ‘a man of the people’ and his ideal replacement. In actual fact, he’s every bit the tyrant that Winder ever was.
Vetinari/Captain Swing
● Vetinari is Patrician of Ankh Morpork in the present. Heard of Machiavelli? A Moron. Vetinari genuinely cares for the city and wants it to function at its best. He rules Ankh-Morpork using a sharp mind and even sharper cunning.
● Captain Swing leads the Cable Street Particulars, Winder’s secret police. He has a strangely modulating pace to his walk and his speech, and believes strongly in craniometrics, where a person's character traits and propensity for law-breaking can be ascertained by the measuring of the features of their head.
Willikins/Joss Gappy/Sergeant Dickins
● Willikins is Sam Vimes’ dutiful butler in the present day.
● Joss Gappy is a drunk Aknh-Morporkian who is out to cause trouble with the watchmen of Treacle Mine Road.
● Dickins is every pop-culture drill-sergeant. A member of the city watch and second-in-command once the Glorious Revolution begins, he whips the watchmen into shape, and even teaches them their marching song “All the little angels.”
Young Dibbler/Captain Rust/Doctor Follet
● Dibbler in the past has all the lofty entrepreneurial ambitions of his later life, he just hasn’t quite sorted out his sales pitch yet. He’s also secretly a revolutionary trying to depose Lord Winder.
● Captain Rust is a supercilious snob, utterly assured of his own superiority and competence, and also utterly stupid. At least his moustache is very curly.
● Doctor Follet is head of the Assassin’s Guild in the past, and a conspirator in the plot to remove Winder.
Young Sybil/Waddy/Lady Selachii/Mrs Soupson
● Young Sybil is a forthright noble girl of sixteen.
● Waddy is a member of the City Watch.
● Lady Selachii is a noble lady of Ankh-Morpork, involved in the plot to kill Lord Winder. She despises Lady Venturi.
● Mrs Soupson is a citizen of Ankh-Morpork, who finds herself in the right wool shop at the wrong time.
Sadie/Heppelwhite/Captain Wrangle/Mr. Slant
● Sadie is one of the Agony Aunts, who protect the Seamstresses of Ankh-Morpork when nobody else will. Despite her ‘kindly-little-old-lady’ façade, she is deadly with her parrot-topped umbrella.
● Heppelwhite is a Trooper in one of Ankh-Morpork’s many armies.
● Captain Wrangle is an officer in one of Ankh-Morpork’s many armies, and is helping lead the effort to suppress the Glorious Revolution
● Mr. Slant is a lawyer who just happens to be a zombie. He know Ankh-Morpork’s laws front-to-back and was likely involved in setting much of the judiciary precedent of the city’s legal system.
Drumknott/Dotsie/Mrs Rutherford/Lady Venturi/Corporal Quirke
● Drumknott is Vetinari’s personal secretary, and is loyal, efficient and studious.
● Dotsie is the other Agony Aunt, who protect the Seamstresses of Ankh-Morpork when nobody else will. While she might appear as sweet as sugar, in reality she’s mastered every way to hurt a man with a weighted handbag.
● Mrs Rutherford is a middle-aged middle-class woman. A proud member of the Bourgeoisie if you don’t mind.
● Lady Venturi is a noble lady of Ankh-Morpork, involved in the plot to kill Lord Winder. She despises Lady Selachii.
● Corporal Quirke is a crooked watchman at Treacle Mine Road. A typical bullying copper of the sort that makes small businesses pay him protection to make sure that they don't have any trouble, and who never pays for meals at city restaurants because otherwise he would make trouble for them.
Nobby Nobbs/Captain Tilden/Gabbitass/Major Mountjoy-Standfast/Carrot
● Nobby is a member of the Watch and… umm… human, I think? It’s hard to tell. Nobby is a street wise copper who has a habit of petty theft.
● Captain Tilden is spending his autumn years as head of the Night Watch in the past. An ex-soldier, he puts a lot of stock in shiny breastplates and well-fitted uniforms but is ultimately a pretty rubbish copper.
● Gabbitass is a Trooper in one of Ankh-Morpork’s many armies.
● Major Mountjoy-Standfast is an officer in one of Ankh-Morpork’s many armies, and is helping lead the effort to suppress the Glorious Revolution
● Carrot is a member of the City Watch. Decent, honourable, good-natured, and honest to a fault, Carrot is an exemplary copper and an eternal optimist.
Assorted Citizenry of Ankh-Morpork, including malcontents, soldiery, seamstresses and sundries
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