By Mary Zuzik Andrechik
Play Synopsis
A light-hearted comedy, Sleight of Hand, follows 95-year-old Harvey as he looks to add some excitement to his life by robbing a bank. His wife, Esther, and best friends, Arthur and Mildred, all think he is crazy, but Harvey forges ahead on his adventure. While in the bank, he must confront the flaws in his plan, along with the Bank President and Bank Security, until his beloved Esther rushes in. Sleight of Hand is a delightful, short comedy that proves that you are never too old to cross something off your bucket list.
Providence Players of Fairfax is:
- A non-profit community theater troupe. All participation is on a volunteer basis. No members of the cast or crew are compensated.
- A membership organization. Membership is not required to audition. but if you are cast or agree to assist in the production, you are required to join. Membership is $25 per individual or $60 per family – three or more. Memberships are for one year, and renewable.
Casting Announcement
Providence Players is casting seven (7) roles. Unless specified, roles are completely race/gender/age neutral. All backgrounds, ages, ethnicities welcome and encouraged to audition!
For the senior characters, actors should be 50 or older, but willing to “age-up” with make-up/costumes. Couples, Partners, Families in the same household are encouraged to submit. No roles are precast, and all roles are OPEN.
Providence Players is a company dedicated to representing our diverse community through expansion. We welcome current and new talent with a variety of experiences and backgrounds.
TO SUBMIT: Please fill out the audition form (in pdf, in Word) and make a video reading one of the attached character sides:
To begin the video, you should state your name and the character that you are reading (actors may read other characters in the scene if they have no one in their home to read with them). Email form and video to info@providenceplayers.org with the subject “Sleight of Hand.” Submissions will be accepted until August 3, 2020.
If cast, you must register for a free Zoom account. Basic ability to use Zoom encouraged, including how to join a meeting, and how to choose a background. No Zoom experience? We can teach you!
Rehearsals will normally be 60-90 minutes long on weeknights between 5pm-8pm and on weekends as desired by the cast and director. This schedule is flexible based on cast availability.
This entire rehearsal and recording process will take place virtually. We will rehearse and do table work through video chat, and the performance will be pre-recorded via a number of scenes that will then be edited together.
Questions? Email info@providenceplayers.org.
Characters
- Harvey (50 or older) – a 95-year-old man, a bit neurotic, married to Esther
- Esther (50 or older) – 95-year-old woman, sweet and content, married to Harvey
- Arthur (50 or older) – 95-year-old man, a loud jokester, married to Mildred
- Mildred (50 or older) – 95-year-old woman, a loud, somewhat bawdy jokester, married to Arthur
- Bank Teller – calm, polite
- Leland/Leila Trumbold – Bank president
- Officer Linda/Lyle Bakri – Head of bank security
About the Playwright and Director
Mary Zuzik Andrechik is a veteran actor, having over 25 years of experience on stages all across the country. Most recently, she performed in Providence Players’ The Librarian as the Clown.
When the pandemic hit, she began to explore other creative outlets, accepting a writing challenge from Cone Man Running Productions in Houston, TX, and Sleight of Hand was born! Since the start of quarantine, Mary has written three short plays. Among them, Sleight of Hand and Alexandra’s Second Act, or How Tamora Saved My Life have been performed as audio plays on The War of the Words podcast. Her holiday play, Tingle Saves Hanumas will be read as part of Adventure Theatre’s Jingle in July festival.
Mary is also thrilled to take the reins as Director on this very personal project. Mary completed this play the day before her aunt, Iris Zuzik, passed away at the fabulous age of 97! Iris was a FORCE – the original Esther/Mildred/Harvey/Arthur – a WWII Vet and a lady who truly LIVED. This play is dedicated, with much love, to her.