Press Releases

August 31, 2004

Audition Notice: The Southampton Players to Stage "Not About Nightingales"
Lost Tennessee Williams Play’s Subject Matter Ripped From 1930s Headlines;
Politically-Charged Piece Reflects Plight of Outcasts During The Great Depression

Contact:
Amanda Olsen
631-287-8313

Southampton, NY – In a radical departure from their usual musical comedy offerings, The Southampton Players will bring a lesser-known Tennessee Williams play to the Avram stage this fall. Auditions for the passionate and politically-charged "Not About Nightingales" will be held on Sunday, September 19 at 4 p.m. and Monday, September 20 at 6 p.m. The stage production will open on Friday, November 5, 2004.

"Not About Nightingales" focuses on a scandal which shocked the nation in the late 1930s when convicts, many incarcerated for petty crimes and misdemeanors during the Depression, staged a hunger strike in a Pennsylvania prison and were subsequently locked in a boiler room and left to fates of scalding, dehydration and, ultimately, death.

Numerous roles are available for this production including three women: Eve Crane (20s) the hopeful prison secretary cast into the middle of this chaotic situation, Goldie (20s) an apparition of one of the inmates, and Mrs. Bristol (40s) mother of an inmate brutalized into a life of insanity. Fifteen men will be cast including Boss Whalen (40s) the despicable warden, Butch O’Fallon (late 20s/early 30s) authoritative instigator of the revolt, gruff, leader of the inmates, Canary Jim Allison (late 20s) the ill-fated, misunderstood stool pigeon for the warden, other inmates of varied ages, persuasions and ethnicities, a chaplain and a reverend (both 40s) and extra guards and convicts.

The play, full of passion about social injustices, reflects the plight of outcasts and victims in Depression era America. "Although written in the 1930s, the gripping story resonates with many current events and scenarios," said Players Director Michael Disher, who just finished heading up an intensive theater workshop with acclaimed actor Alec Baldwin on the works of Williams.

"Not About Nightingales" is the first play to carry the signature "Tennessee" Williams. As a University of Iowa drama student, Tom Williams wrote the horrific piece as a class assignment and developed it into a full-length play in 1938. Unproduced in its own time, perhaps because of its sympathetic treatment of black and homosexual characters, the play was brought to the attention of the theater community by stage and film actress Vanessa Redgrave. It made its world premiere at the Royal National Theater in London in 1998.

Monologues are not necessary; those auditioning will read from the script. For further information, call Michael Disher, Avram Theater Director at (631) 287-8088. For information on Southampton Players, go to www.southamptonplayers.com