By Vanessa Di Feo

Attention all actors: auditions for Thorneloe University’s winter main stage play, Noel Coward’s Hay Fever, are happening soon.

All Laurentian University students, as well as actors in the Greater Sudbury Area, are welcomed to audition next week, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 7-10 p.m. at Thorneloe University.

Auditions will be taking place this day only, and those auditioning are asked to prepare a short (approximately 90 second) comic monologue, preferably with a British accent. Actors must also be prepared to cold read if asked – meaning actors may be asked to read an excerpt of the play during their audition.

Under the direction of Thorneloe Theatre Arts Chair, Dr. Ian Maclennan, the cast will comprise nine actors, five women and four men.

For those unfamiliar with Hay Fever, it is a highly popular British domestic comedy written by Noel Coward in 1924. Coward, a popular playwright of his time, wrote a myriad of works, including Easy Virtue, Blithe Spirit, and Fallen Angels.

A comedy of manners, Hay Fever is set in the 1920’s in the English countryside. Its plot concerns the eccentric and highly theatrical Bliss family. In the play, each member of the Bliss family invites a guest for the weekend, only to result in various clashes and complications between all those involved.

The upcoming production is in contrast to Thorneloe University’s current main stage production, The Memory of Water, by Shelagh Stephenson.

Professor Patricia Tedford directed this dark comedy, comprising a double cast: the production runs until Saturday, Nov. 8.

Hay Fever will be performed between March 5 and 14, with seven performances in total.

An audition signup sheet has been posted outside the greenroom at Thorneloe University.