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Audition dates:

SUN 1st NOV – 7:15pm – 9:30pm

MON 2nd Nov – 7:15pm – 9:30pm

(You only need to attend one of the audition dates, not both!)

 

 Location: Bath Scouts District HQ, 7 Grove Street, BA2 6PJ

(please note that this venue is in central Bath, so please make time to get parked if making your way in by car).​​​​

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Chaucer’s lively, raunchy, characterful and very funny story of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury in the Middle Ages , telling stories to entertain each other as they go, has been updated – in language and also content -  to the early 1950s in this adaptation by Gill Morrell, with songs and music by Laurie Parnell, which was first performed in Frome in 2022, and is now becoming The Bath to Canterbury Tales for performance by Bath Drama, at the Rondo Theatre, from 22nd – 25th April 2027.

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The play opens in a Bath pub, where fourteen key characters based on the pilgrims  – seven men and seven women – become 1950s icons taking a mystery coach tour, among them, the perfect housewife, the ex-RAF pilot, the dodgy dealer cheating rationing, the would-be Marilyn Monroe, and the much-married Wife of Bath. All have their personal reasons, which unfold as the play progresses, for taking the trip. All also take part in the Tales – all very funny and often bawdy, all adapted from the Chaucer originals – which are acted out in front of the motor coach as they take breaks in their journey, with their luggage and camping gear providing the props needed for the Tales.

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The coach driver – Geoff Chaucer – is also a musician, and leads the many 1950s style songs that punctuate the tales. Laurie will therefore be taking this role. Everyone needs to be able to sing confidently in a group, and the actor playing Diana has solo pieces.

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The auditions will involve some improvisation and some sections of the script, available on request. You’ll be asked to learn and sing at least one of the songs as a group, and anyone auditioning for Diana should prepare a solo to sing at the audition. Ages below are an indication only.

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Rehearsals won’t start till late January / early February, and will generally be twice a week, probably including Sunday evenings, in our rehearsal space in central Bath. There will also be a readthrough before Christmas if at all possible.

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Please contact Gill on gillmorrell1@gmail.com to get a copy of the audition pieces, if you want more information or if you can't make the audition dates.

 

You only need come to one audition, but please arrive promptly at 7.15pm.

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**Please note: this is a community theatre production and as such all actors will take part on a volunteer basis.

 

CAST LIST:

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MEN (not including Geoff Chaucer – see above):

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Colonel Knight:            

Age 60+, a relic of the British Army in colonial India, endlessly reminiscing about his past and expecting his son to follow in his military footsteps. In the Tales, he has two sizeable roles and a smaller one

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Simon Knight:               

Aged early 20s, just finished National Service, determined not to join the Army but putting off telling his father. A nice young man. Four parts in the Tales

 

Eric Summoner:          

Any age, probably around 40. Fundamentally dishonest, spends his life on the edge of the law selling whatever he can get hold of at a profit. In the Tales, three main roles

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Percy Miller:                   

Probably over 50, a heavy drinker, always at the pub, likes to provoke a fight and to tell a rude joke, especially about women, never married. He tells a Tale and has two main roles in other Tales

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Basil Merchant:           

Under 35. Ex-RAF, now in business, but both less successfully than he pretends. Takes two main roles and a smaller one in the Tales

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Oswald Reeve:             

Over 40, could be up to 60. Highly respectable and convinced of his worth, but has just discovered that his long-held job has disappeared beneath him, and has come on the trip to find a time to explain to his wife. He tells a Tale and also takes two main roles

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WOMEN:

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Rose Reeve (the Prioress):

Mid-20s to early 40s, married to Oswald and firmly in her place as the perfect housewife, romantic, develops some inner strength as the play goes on. She takes two good roles and a smaller one

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Freda Monk:                  

Mid-20s, from a 'good' family suffering from post-war change, and now runs a small riding school. Tells one Tale and has one good role and two smaller ones

 

Gwen Host:                    

Late middle-age, landlady of the Bath pub and organiser of the trip, efficient, capable. Takes several small roles in the Tales

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Brenda Shipman:       

Any age, works as a housekeeper and originally from Devon. A natural leader, sees through people's pretensions, friendly. Tells one Tale and has three other roles

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Agnes Pardoner:         

Young, no more than 30. Pious - a chapel-goer - and easily shocked. Three smallish roles in Tales and tells one, too

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Diana Friar:                    

The same age as Agnes but the opposite in character! An aspiring film star - think Diana Dors. Very sexy. Tells a Tale and takes two big parts and a smaller one

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Alison Bath:                   

40s+. The Wife of Frome / Bath - many times married. Tells her own Prologue which shows her as a much less attractive character than we perhaps expect. Practical, selfish - an older version of Diana. Tells her Tale and takes two smallish parts

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