OPEN AUDITIONS FOR FEBRUARY PRODUCTION
Monday, November 16, 2026, 7 to 9 pm
Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 7 to 9 pm
The Little Theatre of Manchester announces open auditions for its February production of The Cottage, by Sandy Rustin. Auditions will be held on Monday and Wednesday, November 16 and 18 from 7-9 pm at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester, CT. Callbacks will be held November 19 only if needed. All roles are open.
Actors should be prepared for readings from the script. Joe Keach-Longo is directing the show. Please direct any questions to him at jlongo3rd@gmail.com.
LTM is committed to building diversity and inclusion throughout our organization. Actors of all ethnicities, gender identities, ages, and abilities are highly encouraged to audition.
The Show:
We are looking for 7 actors (3 female, 4 male) playing ages 20s to 50s. Actors of all ages, races, gender identities, and experience levels are encouraged to audition
Production dates: February 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21
Rehearsals will begin in December and will be Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. (Additional days and hours during tech week.)
Play Summary: Set in the English countryside in 1923, The Cottage is a fast-paced romantic comedy inspired by classic British drawing-room farces.
Sylvia has decided it's time to reveal her secret affair with Beau—to both her husband, Clarke, and Beau’s wife, Marjorie. Everyone meets at Beau’s family cottage, expecting honesty will finally let her and Beau begin their new life together.
Instead, one revelation leads to another as spouses, lovers, unexpected guests, and surprising secrets collide. As relationships unravel and new ones emerge, the characters find themselves caught in an increasingly outrageous web of love, lust, marriage, jealousy, betrayal, mistaken assumptions, and unexpected romance.
Filled with rapid-fire dialogue, physical comedy, surprising entrances, and escalating complications, The Cottage is a modern comedy written in the style of a classic 1920s English farce—where almost everyone has a secret, no relationship is quite what it seems, and love may be found in the most unexpected places.
One thing I'd emphasize to auditioners: I am not casting seven people who are all "good at farce" in the same way. The play becomes much funnier when Sylvia's emotional intensity, Beau's confidence, Marjorie's dryness, Clarke's dignity, Dierdre's innocence, and Richard's seriousness collide. I am looking for a true ensemble of actors that can listen and play off each other without falling into a bad SNL sketch. These are real people. The playwright notes that the characters can be on different wavelengths in the same moment, but must work cohesively.
Character Breakdown:
All characters have a British (RP - Received Pronunciation – think Downton Abby, upstairs) accent unless specified otherwise. Working class (think Downton Abby downstairs)
SYLVIA — “A lovely and rash romantic.”
Playing age: roughly 30s–40s
Type: Romantic leading lady / emotional center of the play
Sylvia begins the play convinced that she has finally figured out what she wants. She is passionate, glamorous, impulsive, dramatic, and completely committed to the idea of true love. Her affair with Beau has become more than an annual romantic escape, and she expects him to share her vision for their future.
Sylvia is especially interesting because she changes more than anyone else. As the morning becomes increasingly ridiculous, her romantic assumptions are stripped away. Beneath the comedy, a woman begins to realize she doesn't have to define herself through the man she loves.
Actor needs: Strong leading-lady presence, excellent comic timing, emotional honesty, sophistication, and the ability to make Sylvia's increasingly outrageous circumstances believable. The audience should root for her rather than simply laugh at her.
* This role requires moments of physical intimacy (kissing, intimate touch, moments of romantic chemistry/passion when touch is not needed)
* This role also requires moments of physical violence (slapping)
BEAU — “Perhaps the best-looking man in Britain.”
Playing age: roughly late 30s–50s
Type: Handsome romantic lead who gradually reveals himself to be something of a cad
Beau is charming, polished, attractive, confident, and accustomed to getting what he wants. Sylvia views their affair romantically; Beau is considerably more comfortable with the arrangement exactly as it is.
His comedy works best when he doesn't think he's funny. Beau considers himself reasonable even as he behaves outrageously. His vanity and self-assurance keep him strangely composed as his romantic life collapses around him.
Actor needs: Genuine charisma is important—the audience has to understand why people fall for him. He needs strong dry comedy, sophistication, physical confidence, and the ability to play self-absorption without turning Beau into a cartoon.
* This role requires moments of physical intimacy (kissing, intimate touch, moments of romantic chemistry/passion)
* This role requires strong physical comedy (running up and down stairs, falling, and pratfalls)
MARJORIE — “Eight months pregnant, pragmatic, and a tad spicy.”
Playing age: roughly 30s–40s
Type: The practical realist surrounded by romantics and fools
Marjorie is Beau's very pregnant wife, but she is far from the stereotypical betrayed spouse. She is intelligent, observant, practical, sexually confident, and considerably less sentimental about marriage and fidelity than Sylvia expects.
Her advanced pregnancy offers opportunities for physical comedy, but it shouldn't become the character. Marjorie's strength is her matter-of-fact attitude toward situations that Sylvia considers catastrophic.
Marjorie is matter-of-fact with Beau and more “She wears the pants in the relationship” with Clarke.
Actor needs: Terrific deadpan timing, confidence, intelligence, grounded physical comedy, and the ability to land a line without pushing for the laugh.
* This role requires moments of physical intimacy (kissing, intimate touch, moments of romantic chemistry/passion)
CLARKE — “A distinguished gent with a lover's spirit.”
Playing age: roughly late 30s–50s
Type: Proper English gentleman with decidedly improper behavior
Clarke is Sylvia's husband and Beau's brother. He has the manners and outward appearance of a traditional English gentleman, but his romantic life is just as complicated as everyone else's.
Clarke is wonderfully contradictory: a formal exterior, a romantic interior. His ability to maintain civility while confronting absurd revelations is a major source of comedy.
His relationship with Beau also offers recognizable sibling rivalry beneath the polished English manners. He is eager to please Marjorie.
Actor needs: Strong verbal comedy, precise timing, excellent reactions, and an ability to shift rapidly between dignity and ridiculousness. A performer who can make stillness funny could be especially effective.
* This role requires moments of physical intimacy (kissing, intimate touch, moments of romantic chemistry/passion)
* This role requires strong physical comedy (running up and down stairs, falling, pratfalls, and falling downstairs)
DIERDRE — “An awfully pretty, sometimes wise, nincompoop.”
Playing age: roughly 20s–30s
Type: Beautiful comic ingénue/chaos generator
BRITISH ACCENT (RP/WORKING CLASS)
She initially seems extraordinarily naïve, excitable, emotional, and not terribly bright. But every so often she says something unexpectedly perceptive. That contradiction is essential. She should be played naïve, not as a dumb blonde. Dierdre's logic makes perfect sense to Dierdre. Her sincerity is what makes her funny.
Her background also gives the actress opportunities for vocal and character comedy, including shifts between a cultivated upper-class manner and the person underneath.
Actor needs: Fearless comic instincts, physical comedy, vocal flexibility, enormous sincerity, quick emotional shifts, and superb timing. The actress must commit fully to Dierdre's bizarre logic.
* This role also requires moments of physical violence (falling, slapping, fainting) and handling/use of a prop gun
RICHARD — “A murderous, yet gentle soul.”
Playing age: roughly 30s–40s
Type: Apparent danger dropped into a drawing-room comedy
BRITISH ACCENT (RP/WORKING CLASS)
Richard's arrival changes the play's comic engine. Until then we're watching a sophisticated romantic farce; suddenly there appears to be the possibility of an actual murder.
That contrast is the joke.
Richard can seem threatening and dangerous, yet unexpected gentleness and vulnerability lie beneath him. As more information emerges, the audience's understanding of who he is repeatedly changes.
Actor needs: A strong physical presence, exceptional comic seriousness, and the ability to appear genuinely dangerous without turning the production into a thriller. The fun comes from playing his stakes completely straight while surrounded by absurdity.
* This role requires handling/use of a prop gun
THE GARDENER “Truly the best-looking man in Britain.”
Playing age: Flexible, approximately 20s–40s
Type: Working-class English groundskeeper / small but memorable comic role
This is a perfect role for a new actor or a techie wanting to see what it is like on the other side.
Actor needs: Strong physical presence, excellent reaction timing, comfort with a working-class British dialect, and the ability to make a memorable impression with limited stage time.
* This role requires moments of physical intimacy (kissing, intimate touch, moments of romantic chemistry/passion)
