Things My Mother Taught Me
Auditions
Saturday 21 March 2015 1:30 pm
AUDITION - Saturday 21 March 2015 at 1.30pm
LOCATION - Stables Theatre, Corner Arthur St & Main Highway, Ellerslie
THINGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
written by Katherine DiSavino
directed by Barry Spring
Olivia and Gabe are moving into their first apartment together. They've just packed up all of their belongings and driven halfway across the country, to start a new life in Chicago. Their moving day doesn't go exactly as planned, though, and things become slightly more complicated when all of their parents show up to help! Can a two bedroom apartment contain all of the love, laughs, worry, and wisdom that's about to happen?
This brand new comedy from the author of Nana's Naughty Knickers takes a generational look at relationships, and how sometimes parents pass their best lessons on to their children without meaning to. Funny and touching, this play will make you laugh out loud and fall in love all over again.
“Things My Mother Taught Me is superbly written... [it's] a wonderful, sentimental, true-to-life comedy about love and family, guaranteed to leave young and old with knowing smiles, because we've all had mothers of our own.” Intelligencer Journal
Overview
THINGS is as close to a Neil Simon comedy as can be imagined. As with Simon, the people and events that occur are always kept within the bounds of reality because in the final analysis, everyday life is as funny as anything that can be conjured up by an inventive writer.
A critic once said 'The best theater has three main themes, family, family and family' and this one more than reflects that belief with its inter-generational base.
The plight of a young couple moving from one large city to another, the pitfalls that befall them on their moving-in day, the spats that are endemic to every couple, are the stuff of life. And then to further complicate their day, both sets of parents arrive unexpectedly, full of uninvited helpful hints & directives.
Then you throw in a Polish building supervisor who speaks English only when it suits and who has penchant for Polish honey liqueur, a chair that can't get through the door, a moving van full of furniture that is stolen and fathers who have obviously spent a little too long at the local watering hole, and THINGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME becomes a wonderful nostalgia trip for all of us of whatever age.
Contact details
Barry Spring
email: eagle10@vodafone.co.nz
telephone: 09 537 3956 mobile: 027 359 5463
Rehearsals
Commence Tuesday 31 March 2015 *see notes below, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week from 7.30pm, Sundays from 12.30pm
Season
Thursday 4 to Saturday 13 June 2015 - 10 performances (including 2 matinees)
About the Director
The States is the only country I have actually lived in apart from New Zealand and during the many visits there since, I have seen much of the country and met many of its people, from California to New York, New England to Florida. I guess then it is only natural that I usually direct and act in plays from these two countries. A director must not only feel at ease with the rhythm of the language, the characteristics unique to a particular geographic area but also to genuinely admire and feel akin to them.
In over sixty years of theatre, and having directed almost forty shows for Pilgrim, Howick Little Theater, and Dolphin I was pleased to be approached by ETS to direct my second show here. The first was the popular 'Five Women Wearing the Same Dress' back in 2010 which drew an audition of over thirty actresses. The magnet of live theater still retains the same fascination for me and I have enjoyed success both as an actor winning many awards and a director with awards from Dolphin, ACTT and the old British Drama League.
'Things my Mother Taught Me' is very similar to a good TV sit-com. A young couple, their in-laws, the misunderstandings, reconciliations....not of Shakespearean stature but simply very recognisable people, with recognisable foibles, living very recognisable lives. It is funny, moving and lovable and I hope my cast and crew will be able to present a great evening to an audience who will leave with a smile on their faces and perhaps recalling similar memories of their own.
Cast Required
The cast requirements listed below are a general outline. All age ranges are only suggestions and should be treated as guidelines. If you are onside of the age range but feel you are perfect for the role, please come along to audition.
A light American accent is required for all but Max who seems to turn his Polish accent on and off.
Following the audition and casting, *cast will have approx four weeks to study their scripts before rehearsals commence in May by which time all actors should be VERY familiar with their lines.
Direction will be light: the play speaks for itself. It requires neither over-dramatisation nor a farcical presentation. The relationships between child and respective parents must be real and recognisable, at ease in each other's company even during arguments and friction.
LOCATION - Stables Theatre, Corner Arthur St & Main Highway, Ellerslie
THINGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
written by Katherine DiSavino
directed by Barry Spring
Olivia and Gabe are moving into their first apartment together. They've just packed up all of their belongings and driven halfway across the country, to start a new life in Chicago. Their moving day doesn't go exactly as planned, though, and things become slightly more complicated when all of their parents show up to help! Can a two bedroom apartment contain all of the love, laughs, worry, and wisdom that's about to happen?
This brand new comedy from the author of Nana's Naughty Knickers takes a generational look at relationships, and how sometimes parents pass their best lessons on to their children without meaning to. Funny and touching, this play will make you laugh out loud and fall in love all over again.
“Things My Mother Taught Me is superbly written... [it's] a wonderful, sentimental, true-to-life comedy about love and family, guaranteed to leave young and old with knowing smiles, because we've all had mothers of our own.” Intelligencer Journal
Overview
THINGS is as close to a Neil Simon comedy as can be imagined. As with Simon, the people and events that occur are always kept within the bounds of reality because in the final analysis, everyday life is as funny as anything that can be conjured up by an inventive writer.
A critic once said 'The best theater has three main themes, family, family and family' and this one more than reflects that belief with its inter-generational base.
The plight of a young couple moving from one large city to another, the pitfalls that befall them on their moving-in day, the spats that are endemic to every couple, are the stuff of life. And then to further complicate their day, both sets of parents arrive unexpectedly, full of uninvited helpful hints & directives.
Then you throw in a Polish building supervisor who speaks English only when it suits and who has penchant for Polish honey liqueur, a chair that can't get through the door, a moving van full of furniture that is stolen and fathers who have obviously spent a little too long at the local watering hole, and THINGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME becomes a wonderful nostalgia trip for all of us of whatever age.
Contact details
Barry Spring
email: eagle10@vodafone.co.nz
telephone: 09 537 3956 mobile: 027 359 5463
Rehearsals
Commence Tuesday 31 March 2015 *see notes below, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week from 7.30pm, Sundays from 12.30pm
Season
Thursday 4 to Saturday 13 June 2015 - 10 performances (including 2 matinees)
About the Director
The States is the only country I have actually lived in apart from New Zealand and during the many visits there since, I have seen much of the country and met many of its people, from California to New York, New England to Florida. I guess then it is only natural that I usually direct and act in plays from these two countries. A director must not only feel at ease with the rhythm of the language, the characteristics unique to a particular geographic area but also to genuinely admire and feel akin to them.
In over sixty years of theatre, and having directed almost forty shows for Pilgrim, Howick Little Theater, and Dolphin I was pleased to be approached by ETS to direct my second show here. The first was the popular 'Five Women Wearing the Same Dress' back in 2010 which drew an audition of over thirty actresses. The magnet of live theater still retains the same fascination for me and I have enjoyed success both as an actor winning many awards and a director with awards from Dolphin, ACTT and the old British Drama League.
'Things my Mother Taught Me' is very similar to a good TV sit-com. A young couple, their in-laws, the misunderstandings, reconciliations....not of Shakespearean stature but simply very recognisable people, with recognisable foibles, living very recognisable lives. It is funny, moving and lovable and I hope my cast and crew will be able to present a great evening to an audience who will leave with a smile on their faces and perhaps recalling similar memories of their own.
Cast Required
The cast requirements listed below are a general outline. All age ranges are only suggestions and should be treated as guidelines. If you are onside of the age range but feel you are perfect for the role, please come along to audition.
A light American accent is required for all but Max who seems to turn his Polish accent on and off.
Following the audition and casting, *cast will have approx four weeks to study their scripts before rehearsals commence in May by which time all actors should be VERY familiar with their lines.
Direction will be light: the play speaks for itself. It requires neither over-dramatisation nor a farcical presentation. The relationships between child and respective parents must be real and recognisable, at ease in each other's company even during arguments and friction.
No characters are listed for this production.