Hauptmann

 

Sunday March 9, 2008 and Monday March 10, 2008 at 7pm each evening.

Auditions consist of cold readings from the script.
Call backs March 11/12, 2008, as determined

Written by John Logan
Directed by Beth Terranova 

All auditions will be held at our Annex

2132 Renard Court, Annapolis, MD

Directions to the Annex
 

The show runs  –  April 25th - May 24th, 2008

with performances Thursdays through Sundays

There will be TWO performances on the 4th Sunday (May 18, 2008)

Casting Information:

Please note: Colonial Players is an all volunteer organization
All roles are open and non-paying

Hauptmann is a study of “truth, justice, and the American Way”. Filtered through the experiences of the defendant, “Bruno” Richard Hauptmann, John Logan examines our system of justice in the context of America’s first significant celebrity court case: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial.

Dubbed “The Trial of the Century”, the case as presented by Logan is less about truth in the matter of Hauptmann’s guilt or innocence than it is about justice in weighing the sufficiency of the evidence against him. With an eerie foreshadowing of recent historic events, the Hauptmann case touches on issues such as patriotism, xenophobia, and the role and integrity of the media in reporting news.

Logan allows the audience members to form their own opinions as to whether or not Hauptmann committed the crime for which he was convicted – an outcome debated to this day. But he also asks them to take a hard look at  “the American Way” and decide whether the court of popular opinion prevailed over that of the American judiciary system.

This production of Hauptmann will have a minimalist set and costumes. Because of the static nature of the action – virtually all of Act II is in the courtroom – and the significant amount of expository monologue/dialogue, the acting will be paramount in keeping the story compelling and the audience engaged.

Cast: 5 Men, 2 Women

With the exception of the actor playing Hauptmann, all actors play “guards”, who take on between 2 and 11 roles in the story retelling. Each guard has a primary character; that character is listed in the breakdown along with the age of the main character at the time of the trial. Actors must be able to “play” the age listed. (See special note for Guard 5)

Character                                          Age

Richard Hauptmann                              36

Guard 1/ Charles Lindbergh                  33

Guard 2/ Anne Morrow Lindbergh         28

Guard 3/ Anna Hauptmann                   37

Guard 4/ Prosecuting Attorney Wilentz 39

Guard 5/ Dr. Condon*                         72

Guard 6/ Judge Trenchard                    71     

*The actor playing Guard 5 has the most roles (11 - including the person who is perhaps the most intriguing and controversial “player” in the whole story, Dr. John Condon, aka “Jafsie”) and the largest age range (29 – 87, though the majority of the characters are in the 50-70 yr range.).  This will require an extremely versatile actor who can create distinct characters.

Anyone interested in this show is encouraged to read more about the history of the case. A succinct and fairly neutral recap can be found at the Famous American Trials website:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Hauptmann/Hauptmann.htm

For a more in depth look, there are dozens of books on the subject refuting and supporting the results of the trial. For a relatively neutral examination, I recommend the recent book (2004) The Case That Never Dies: The Lindbergh Kidnapping, by historian Lloyd C. Gardner.