2026 Audition Details

Our 2026 Season is on the horizon, and that means it’s time to audition! Join us from 2 to 5 p.m. on March 22 and/or March 23 at Covenant Presbyterian in Staunton to audition for more than 50 roles across five productions. This season’s mix of comedy, music, mystery, and storytelling offers opportunities for performers of all kinds.

Explore each show, learn what our directors are seeking, and find the roles that speak to you below.

Can’t attend Audition Days. Submit a video audition!! Instructions here:
Video Audition Instructions

Newlyweds Peter and Frances Hunter are settling into life above Peter’s bank when a harmless mail-order mistake delivers Scandinavian pornography instead of glassware. As the illicit packages multiply, the couple, along with a panicked bank cashier, scramble to contain the chaos, dodging bosses, inspectors, in-laws, and the police in a farce that spirals wildly out of control.

CHARACTERS:

Peter Hunter (mid-20s-early-30s) – assistant branch manager who lives above the bank with his new wife, Frances. 

Frances Hunter (mid-20s) – inadvertently causes the chaos by ordering what she thinks is Scandinavian glassware via mail order. 

Brian Runnicles (30s-50s) – head cashier and Peter’s best friend, also becomes embroiled in the chaos. 

Eleanor Hunter (50s-60s) – Peter’s mother. 

Mr. Bromhead (50s-70s) – Peter’s boss.

Mr. Needham (any) – A visiting bank inspector. 

Vernon Paul (any) – police superintendent.

Susan (20+) – a working girl. Note: this character must wear risque clothing, like tap pants, halter top, hose/tights, high heels.

Barbara (20+) – another working girl. Note: this character must wear risque clothing, like tap pants, halter top, hose/tights, high heels.

Delivery Person (any)

A seemingly innocent newspaper notice announces a murder that hasn’t yet occurred. Curiosity draws the villagers of Chipping Cleghorn to the appointed place and time. When the lights go out and a gunshot rings out; the game turns deadly. Miss Marple quietly observes as secrets, disguises, and motives unravel. Agatha Christie delivers a clever, classic puzzle where nothing is quite as it seems.

CHARACTERS

Use a ‘Standard Modern British Accent’ during auditions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaTYM1XQChs
Mitzi should use an Eastern European Accent.

Miss Marple (60+): Miss Marple is an overly inquisitive, grandmotherly, but shrewd amateur detective.

Miss Letitia Blacklock (50+): Owner of Little Paddocks, Letitia is attractive and she has clearly looked after her figure and features. She is reserved and opinionated.

Inspector Craddock (40+): Craddock is the local police inspector. He is serious and business oriented.

Julia Simmons (25+): Julia is staying with her Aunt Lettie. She is studying pharmacy. Beautiful but difficult.

Patrick Simmons (25+): Julia’s brother, Patrick is a very handsome young man. A jokester who often fights with Julia.

Dora Bunner (50+): Dora is Lettie’s school chum who has become her companion. Befuddled and laughable.

Mitzi (30+): Miss Blacklock’s cook, Mitzi is Eastern European (e.g. Hungarian, Romanian, Yugoslavian) She is explosive, if not paranoid but is very funny.

Phillipa Haymes (35+): Elegant looking and classy. Phillipa is a war widow with a young son.

Edmund Swettenham (25+): A serious young man with pretensions of being a writer, Edmund is foreign looking, though very British. He is interested in Phillipa.

Mrs. Swettenham (50+): Mrs. Swettenham is new to the village; she is very pushy but easily flustered.

Sergeant Mellors (25+): Mellors is Craddock’s assistant. Sometimes not too bright but diligent.

Rudi Scherz: Rudi is a young Swiss national. This role will be doubled with Sergeant Mellors.

Audition Note: Terms of Endearment is a “funny and touching” drama that requires actors with strong comedic timing and the ability to handle deeply emotional, dramatic material. The play focuses heavily on the chemistry and “fractured bonds” between the lead characters.

A Play by Dan Gordon Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Larry McMurtry and the Oscar-winning screenplay by James L. Brooks.  Experience the “funny and touching” masterpiece that captured the world’s heart on the silver screen. Terms of Endearment follows the life-long, whirlwind relationship between the formidable, highly opinionated Aurora Greenway and her spirited daughter, Emma. From Aurora’s unexpected late-life romance with a retired astronaut to Emma’s resilience through a troubled marriage, this story beautifully captures the delicate, sometimes fractured bonds between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and lovers both old and new. Based on the film starring Shirley MacLaine, this adaptation explores how we find the courage to face life’s greatest challenges in the people we love most.

CHARACTERS

AURORA GREENWAY (Female, 40s–60s) The matriarch. She is a beautiful, sophisticated, and fiercely independent widow. Aurora is often “exasperating” and highly opinionated, masking her deep vulnerability with a sharp wit and controlling nature. She is reluctant to become a grandmother but finds herself surprised by a late-life romance with her neighbor, Garrett.

EMMA GREENWAY (Female, 20s–30s) Aurora’s daughter. Down-to-earth, resilient, and spirited. Emma navigates the complexities of a troubled marriage and the challenges of motherhood while maintaining a daily, often chaotic, connection with her mother. She seeks independence but relies on the bond she shares with Aurora when life becomes difficult.

GARRETT BREEDLOVE (Male, 40s–60s) The neighbor. A retired astronaut with a penchant for drinking, carousing, and avoiding commitment. He is colorful, blunt, and unexpectedly charming. His unlikely relationship with Aurora provides much of the play’s humor and unexpected tenderness. (The role famously played by Jack Nicholson in the film).

FLAP HORTON (Male, 20s–30s) Emma’s husband. An academic who struggles with the responsibilities of family life. While he loves Emma, his insecurities and infidelities lead to a strained and “troubled” marriage.

PATSY CLARK / DORIS / NURSE (Female, 20s–40s) An ensemble role. Patsy is Emma’s sophisticated, high-society best friend who provides a sharp contrast to Emma’s domestic life. The actor also portrays Doris and the Nurse in later scenes. Doris is a socialite; and the Nurse provides a grounded presence in the final act.

RUDYARD / DR. MAISE (Male, 30s–50s) An ensemble role. Rudyard is one of Aurora’s many persistent (and often rejected) suitors. The actor also portrays Dr. Maise, the professional but compassionate doctor who treats the family during their moments of crisis.

OFFSTAGE VOICES
OPERATOR (Gender Neutral)
TEDDY (Emma’s son)
HEATHER (Emma’s daughter)
YOUNG WOMAN (A brief interaction)

Ned Newley doesn’t even want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking; his poll numbers are impressively bad. To his ever-supportive Chief of Staff, Ned seems destined to fail. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office. Unless the public is looking for the worst candidate to ever run for office…. A timely and hilarious comedy that skewers politics and celebrates democracy.

CHARACTERS

Paige Caldwell (age flexible) A professional pollster. A smart, confident woman with a professional view of politics. She sees it as a series of contests to be won.

Dave Riley (age flexible) The Chief of Staff to the new Governor. Very smart, but despite years of experience in government, endearingly earnest and naïve in the subject of politics.

Louise Peakes (30-50) A temporary employee hired as the Governor’s executive assistant. Personable, likable, impressively confident, and entirely inept. Without knowing it, she has the air of a politician about her. The friendliness of her smile, and the confident way she looks you in the eye would make you think, “I’d vote for her!”

Ned Newley (30-50) The new Governor. A person of impressive ability but completely lacks confidence. A man awaiting permission to enter a room in which he is already standing.

Arthur Vance (50-70) One of the most experienced and successful political consultants in the country. His overbearing personality, and confidence in his own opinions over the opinions of others, should make him dislikable but his ego is more than tempered by the joy, even glee, he brings into the room. He is a showman, but his excitement is 100% genuine, and it is contagious.

Rachel Parsons (30-50) A TV news reporter. She has the “looks” to be an on-air correspondent however, if television had never been invented, she still would have been a journalist. Straightforward, honest, and inquisitive by nature. She has seen enough of life and politics to be cynical, but she is more apt to make a wry joke.

A.C. Peterson (age flexible) A TV cameraman. A working man and, for most people, they guy you did not notice was there which is fine with him. He has a low tolerance for idiocy and would rather not interact with anyone. His silence does not make him seem unfriendly, just a bit of a mystery.