Grosse Pointe Theatre to Hold Auditions for 'Bartleby the Scrivener, A Story of Wall Street'

Grosse Pointe Theatre will hold auditions for 'Bartleby the Scrivener, A Story of Wall Street' from 10 a.m. - noon  Saturday, Nov. 23, at 315 Fisher Rd., Grosse Pointe.

The audition will consist of group scene readings from the script. Performance dates will be Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 27-March 1, 2014, at the Visitor Center of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores. 

For more information contact director Sal Demercurio at mailto: aldemer@comcast.net saldemer@comcast.net or call him at 313-882-0479.

About the play

'Bartleby the Scrivener,' by R. L. Lane, is adapted from the story by Herman Melville.  It is the enduring tale of an 1850’s law firm. A successful lawyer, Mr. Standard, in need of assistance, hires a new scrivener (a kind of human photocopy machine) to join his small firm. Enter Bartleby, a quiet, initially efficient, but anti-social man. The mysterious Bartleby proceeds to work well as a copyist, but refuses to help out with any other office tasks, he simply states, “I prefer not to.” His continued and increasingly bizarre behavior brings chaos to the formerly well-ordered office.

Character descriptions:

STANDARD: male, 50+, a good hearted, prosperous attorney, contented with his firm and his station; a gentleman of 1850 New York’s Wall Street

BARTLEBY: male, 30+, an impoverished scrivener; troubled, melancholy, quiet, blunt, a man of few words

TURKEY: male, 40+, portly, untidy, energetic, an Oliver Hardy type

NIPPERS: male, 25+, grim, sallow, whiskered; an unfunny Stan Laurel,

GINGER NUT: male or female, 10+, the office trainee; may have been a street urchin if not for Standard

FAIRCHILD: male or female, 40+, (as male) a civic leader, an attorney, (as female) the wife of a civic leader, the wife of an attorney

LANDLORD: male, 20+

KEEPER: male, 30+, a policeman type; a cop on the beat

GRUBMAN: male or female, 50+, portly, dressed in filthy sweaters, and filthy apron, a person who loves feeding the prisoners of the Tombs

This is a community theatre production. Actors are unpaid, but head shots, costumes, makeup and refreshments are provided. Actors must be members of Grosse Pointe Theatre to perform in the show. Membership in Grosse Pointe Theatre is open to all persons over age 18 with an interest in theatre. The annual membership fee is $45. Actors under age 18 must have a parent who is a member of Grosse Pointe Theatre.

Information for this story was provided by Donna DiSante.