Auditions

This classic American play follows a group of strangers who become stranded at a small-town Kansas diner during a snowstorm. This drama explores love, loneliness, and the search for meaning and connection in a seemingly meaningless world.

Character Breakdown:

(Please note age ranges are just a reference, the directors may adjust ages as necessary.)

Grace Hoylard – Owner of the diner. She is fortyish, and pretty in a fading, hard-bitten way. She has a passionate side to her nature, loving a good fight and the attentions of a good man. Age: 35-45

Elma Duckworth – An intelligent, but naive and impressionable high school girl. She is Grace's waitress. Age: 18-25

Will Masters – The local sheriff. Tough as nails and brusque in manner, but goodhearted and a staunch Christian, described as a "deacon of his church". A highly "moral" man in the general sense of the word. Age: 30-50

Dr. Gerald Lyman – A college philosophy professor who is articulate and charming but cannot hold a position, partially due to his resistance to any kind of authority, and partially due to his unfortunate taste for young women. He also has an obvious drinking problem. Age: 40-60

Cherie – A pretty young woman who comes from a difficult "hill folk" background, and has left her innocence far behind. She is an aspiring nightclub singer, but has never worked in any establishment above the level of "cheap dive". Age: 20-30

Bo Decker – A brash young cowboy with boorish manners that hide a naiveté almost as profound as Elma's. He has convinced himself that Cherie will be his bride, though Cherie wants nothing to do with him. Age: 20-30

Virgil Blessing – An older, wiser cowboy who has become a father figure to Bo (who was orphaned at the age of ten) as well as Bo's head ranch hand. Plays guitar. Age: 40-60

Carl – The bus driver, who has an ongoing "just passing through" relationship with Grace. As referenced repeatedly, this is purely sexual in nature. Age: 30-40