CASTING CALLOUT

Early/mid 40’s to early 50’s. White. Strong musical theatre vocals. Submitted actresses need to also be mums.

‘Busy Bea’ - immaculately presented, upper-middle class - is the self-appointed leader of the playgroup, from the outside her life looks perfect - three beautiful children, a large house with THAT instagrammable open plan kitchen, a handsome husband, a non-threatening nanny and multiple overseas holidays. What you don’t see is her husband’s affairs, her heartbreaking loneliness, and her desperate need to keep busy making everything because if she stops for even a second everything will fall apart. She desperately wants to be accepted by the group but her highly critical behaviour often makes that difficult.

Height: Any height

Gender: Female

Appearance: White

Disability: I welcome submissions from all performers including D/deaf, disabled or neurodiverse performers.

FEE

• £700/week x 3 weeks rehearsal

• 3 weeks holiday pay (rehearsals) £253.47

• 5 x performance weeks @ £700 (delivered over 6 calendar weeks)

• Holiday pay for total performance period = £422.45

• We will also book & cover travel, accommodation & provide per diems.

• We have a small childcare budget to be shared amongst the team which will be assessed on a case by case basis.

28 - 42, Black (actress must be dark-skinned, ie not mixed race). Strong musical theatre vocals. Submitted actresses need to also be mums.

Michelle - can be any class - is a very involved helicopter parent, she’s always worried about safety and cleanliness as a way to control her environment. She has twin black boys and she carries all the worry and anxiety of what that means for them in our world. Michelle is educated, and had a good career before having kids, but with suddenly facing double childcare costs it's not practical to go back to work as she'd hoped. She's protective, loving, encouraging, sincere, and compassionate, a hidden activist who stands up for herself when she needs to. She has the most patience for the group’s self-appointed organiser, Bea.

Height: Any height

Gender: Female

Appearance: Black-Other Areas, Black-Caribbean, Black-African, African-American

Disability: I welcome submissions from all performers including D/deaf, disabled or neurodiverse performers.

FEE

• £700/week x 3 weeks rehearsal

• 3 weeks holiday pay (rehearsals) £253.47

• 5 x performance weeks @ £700 (delivered over 6 calendar weeks)

• Holiday pay for total performance period = £422.45

• We will also book & cover travel, accommodation & provide per diems.

• We have a small childcare budget to be shared amongst the team which will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Could be any age between 20-45. Any ethnic appearance. Strong musical theatre vocals. Submitted actresses must also be mums. Not posh.

Sophie seems like the life and soul of the party but she is hiding the grief of losing her first child and having to mother another child post the loss. She keeps that to herself as this is the one place she can be a mother to Maisie without everyone treating her with great sadness.

Height: Any height

Gender: Female

Appearance: Any appearance

Disability: I welcome submissions from all performers including D/deaf, disabled or neurodiverse performers.

FEE

• £700/week x 3 weeks rehearsal

• 3 weeks holiday pay (rehearsals) £253.47

• 5 x performance weeks @ £700 (delivered over 6 calendar weeks)

• Holiday pay for total performance period = £422.45

• We will also book & cover travel, accommodation & provide per diems.

• We have a small childcare budget to be shared amongst the team which will be assessed on a case by case basis.

20-32. Black mum/mum-to-be who will take on a SWING position to cover the roles of MICHELLE and CHANTEL.

NB SWINGS will not be required to be in the building unless they are going on in one of the cover positions during performance period.

Actress needs both a strong musical theatre voice and the ability to rap/willingness to learn a rap (this is for the Chantel cover specifically).

CHANTEL

In her 20’s, working or benefits class. Mother to: Ruby (4 years), Ben (9 months). In many ways the heroine of the piece, she is warm, inviting and of the area. She struggles financially and is aware of the way society (in some ways represented by Pam) views her.

MICHELLE

Any age or class, Black. Mother to: Twins Ezra & Leon (3). Strong, articulate, acutely aware of society's views of black boys and already feels that she has to "perfect" motherhood to prove these stereotypes wrong.

Height: Any height

Gender: Female

Appearance: Any appearance

Disability: I welcome submissions from all performers including D/deaf, disabled or neurodiverse performers.

SWING FEE BREAKDOWN:

• Rehearsals: £700/week x 3 weeks = £2100

• Understudy Standby Fee: £482/week x 5 weeks (delivered over 6 calendar weeks) = £2410

• Holiday Pay: £544.36

• TOTAL = £5054.36

• We won't be expecting our two swings to be physically touring with us but to be called up if needed

• We will also book & cover travel, accommodation & provide per diems.

• We have a small childcare budget to be shared amongst the team which will be assessed on a case by case basis.