Auditions Announced for Picketwire’s “The Haunting of Hill House”
The Picketwire Players are holding auditions for their 2022 fall production of “The Haunting of Hill House” on August 29th & 30th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Production dates for the show are October 27-29 at 7:30 p.m.
Directed by Heather Pidcock-Reed, this adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s classic novel is a terrifying psychological horror story centered around a small group of people brought together to research paranormal phenomena within the sinister and frequently fatal confines of Hill House.
Roles are available for men and women ages 16 and up. Auditions will consist of selected readings from the script that will be provided at auditions.
Roles
Note: All ages listed are stage ages; in other words, the age that the performing artist appears, not the performer’s actual age.
DR. MONTAGUE – 40s-60s, an anthropologist with a belief in parapsychology. He has rented Hill House for the summer to further his studies away from the judgmental eyes of his colleagues. He is protective of the people he has invited to Hill House but is determined to learn its secrets.
ELEANOR VANCE – Late 20s-30s, a troubled young woman. She hopes her visit to Hill House will help her break away from her controlling sister and enable her to start a new life. Once Eleanor arrives though, the house seems to focus its attentions on her.
THEODORA – 20s-40s, young bohemian who comes to Hill House at the invitation of Dr. Montague. Light-hearted and open-minded. She is believed to have a psychic sensitivity which the Dr. hopes will deepen his understanding of Hill House.
LUKE SANDERSON – 20s-30s, a rakish young man who is a member of the family that owns Hill House. He is quick to make a joke and maintains a positive attitude throughout the events he encounters during the investigation.
MRS. MONTAGUE – 40s-60s, she has her own ideas about the paranormal presence at Hill House and little regard for her husband’s methods or companions. She only trusts her companion Arthur Parker and is determined to get to the bottom of the goings on at Hill House using her own methods.
MRS. DUDLEY – 40s-60s, the housekeeper and cook at Hill House. She is not interested in the ongoing investigations at Hill House. Her only concern is sticking to the letter of her agreement as caretaker of Hill House and leaving the house before nightfall.
ARTHUR PARKER – 30s-40s, Mrs. Montague’s “traveling companion.” He is a brash, imposing man who only listens to Mrs. Montague. He is the polar opposite of Dr. Montague.
Show Synopsis
A chilling and mystifying study in mounting terror in which a small group of psychically receptive people are brought together in Hill House, a brooding, mid-Victorian mansion known as a place of evil and contained ill will. Led by the learned Dr. Montague, who is conducting research in supernatural phenomena, the visitors have come to probe the secrets of the old house and to draw forth the mysterious powers that it is alleged to possess – powers which have brought madness and death to those who have lived therein in the past.
