Performances 11-16 November 2024 in the Studio
Directed by Cynthia Marsh
Variously described as ‘a serious heartfelt 90 minutes’ (The Guardian) and a ‘ferociously gripping play’ (Nick Hern edition), Bully Boy deals with post war trauma. The younger soldier Eddie is under investigation for serious misconduct involving the death of an Afghan boy, while Oscar, middle aged, is still carrying the weight of his experiences in the Falklands war some thirty years before. Oscar has been sent out to investigate Eddie’s role in the death of the boy. Eddie was part of a tight unit of 6 men. They were the ‘bully boys’. These are people who ‘put things right’ according to their own rules, with a conspicuous amount of aggression, urged on by a closely felt and expressed camaraderie.
The play tells the raw stories of both soldiers and explores the changing relationship between them during their encounters. It reaches a conclusion that is both surprising and heart-breaking.
Roles
Oscar: early 50s*, a major, damaged, physically and mentally, by Falklands service. Intelligent, articulate, polished, cultivated, implicitly homosexual. Beneath it all, as angry as Eddie.
Eddie: about 20*: despite war service and experiences, still young and ebullient; a low achiever at school; had joined up out of bravado; very fit; comes from Burnley (Lancashire) so accent required. Given to outbursts
of anger and erratic behaviour.
*Not necessarily your actual age. You need to be able to give a convincing portrayal of the role.
The audition will be based on the following extracts from the play:
Scene Two, pp18-19, beginning to ‘…. pointless pigging investigation’.
Scene Four b, pp27-29
Scene Eight, pp35-37
Scene Fourteen, pp53-55
Photocopies of audition pieces and of this notice are available at Box Office (drawer on left hand side). You will find master copies of the pieces. Please make a fresh photocopy, should all the photocopies in the folder be taken. There is a photocopier in the office at the far end of the bar area. If you are new to the Lace Market Theatre, ask someone to help you. It is best to come on a Friday evening or Saturday lunchtime for this purpose. There are also a couple of scripts, which should not be removed from the theatre, please.
The audition.
You do not need to learn the audition pieces. It will be fine to read them at the audition. The most important aspect at this stage is to grasp an understanding of the whole play, and how the role that interests you develops in the play.
Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes so that you can move about easily. There will be some group work as part of the process of selection, involving movement and vocals.
And please let me know confidentially if you have difficulty in reading or if there are any other circumstances which may impede you at the audition.
Contact details
Any questions to Cynthia here.
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