Auditions for ‘Scheming of Scapin’

VICTORY TWP. — The West Shore Community College Performing Arts Series announces auditions for the classic Moliere comedy, “The Scheming of Scapin.” Auditions will be held on January 28 and 29 at the Center Stage Theater at 7:30 p.m.

The knock-about 17th century farce, calls for 7-8 men and 2-3 women, according to the play’s director, Dr. Rick Plummer.

Actors wishing to audition are asked to prepare and be ready to perform a one-minute comic pantomime without words and also perform a brief joke that shows off the actor’s ability to use both physical comedy and comic language and timing.

“Our production will rely heavily on broad comic physical sight gags, the kind popularized in silent films by comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, as well as slightly more sophisticated verbal humor,” says Plummer.

Professional actor and playwright Tim Mooney, who has created the translation for the WSCC production, will be a guest artist playing the title role of the witty servant Scapin.

Other characters in the comedy include two to three other young funny servants (aged 16-25), two sets of young lovers (two men and two women, aged 16-20), two foolish old fathers (aged 40-60), and two athletic porters (aged 16-25).

Plummer is also looking for acrobats, magicians, and a couple of French speakers for the production. “I have two excellent musicians who specialize in Baroque music to play live during the show, but I am also seeking other performers in addition to actors,” he adds.

Moliere, considered by scholars and audiences alike as the greatest comic playwright of all times, creates a comedy of enormous proportions in “Scapin,” says Plummer.

First staged in 1671, the play draws heavily on the Italian tradition of the Commedia dell’arte, a form of masked comedy that influenced not only Moliere and Shakespeare, but many writers across Europe for over 200 years.

“It is also where we get so many stock comic characters that we have seen for centuries, including most of the recognizable characters from TV situation comedies. Foolish old men, clever servants, braggart warriors, young lovers, these are the characters from the Commedia and the kind of ridiculous characters who people Moliere’s farce,” says Plummer.

“The Scheming of Scapin” plays one week only at WSCC’s Center Stage Theater, Thursday through Saturday, March 6-8 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 9, at 2 p.m.

For additional information about auditions, call Plummer at 843-5507 or email him at rjplummer@westshore.edu.