We “auditioned” the fellow for Georgie. I think we could have made it work in terms of his abilities, but he appears to be too old. He’s late teen-aged years, but almost looks older, and it wasn’t until he was working with the other kids in the family that it became clear that he simply appears too old. George is actually supposed to be 13, though there is no actual reference in the text/lines. He is almost the “family pet” in the sense of “teacher’s pet,” the favored one by the others, the darling of the family; and in my mind the actor needs to be younger….early teen or even pre-teen. I couldn’t see this until we worked on Friday with this fellow.
After going through his scenes with the rest of the cast, I am reminded again that we may have some complaint about the language in this play. Georgie and the parents all use some words that some will find offensive, and I’m sensitive particularly to comments about the wisdom of presenting a play that allows children to use such words. Ten years ago we probably wouldn’t have presented this play. The fact that we are presenting it now indicates…what? That I’ve changed? Perhaps. That the board has changed? That audiences have changed?
I remember at one audition about six years ago that one senior citizen indicated that she was using words (in the audition) that she had never spoken in her life. She’s a woman I respect greatly and has a deep and abiding faith and is compassionate and gracious…and I’ve never heard her use such language. I did not cast her in the role. She attended a performance of the play.
Context, I believe, is next to everything. I’d love to discuss this further, and welcome any responses. In the meantime I’ll stand with the decision to produce the script as written, and urge the audience to be aware of the context of the play. I made sure that parents of every child who auditioned had read the play and are ok with their child being in it.
And the hunt for Georgie continues.
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