AUDITION NOTICE
Pickwick and Weller
by Barry Purchese
with Music composed by Michael James
directed by Rod Lewis
Auditions - 16th / 17th August 2025 - 2-6 pm in the Studio NVT
Production Dates - 12th -20th December 2025 in the Studio
Auditions will be run as workshop auditions and you will read for several parts, and need to be able to sing, as there are ensemble songs and individual pieces that have been composed especially for us by Michael James.
Whilst we are trying to see you for your preferred role, we might ask you to read for a different part, as several parts are of similar ages and characteristics. Singing roles have to submit a self-tape of a song of their choice (~1 minute) via email as part of the audition.
Please book an audition time with the Production Manager Uli:
SYNOPSIS
Samuel Pickwick is a warm-hearted and well-meaning man of advancing years, but, despite his age, still something of an innocent. As he sets forth on his adventures into the wider world, he is easy pickings for rogues such as Alfred Jingle and the rascally lawyers Dodson and Fogg. He is in need of a protector, and no-one comes better qualified than the streetwise Sam Weller. Sam, with his singular brand of philosophy, never fails to make us laugh as he comes to the rescue of Pickwick time and again. Mr Pickwick, Sam and Tony Weller, Alfred Jingle, Tupman, Snodgrass, Winkle, Dodson and Fogg, Dr Slammer, Mrs Bardell... these are just a few of the kaleidoscope of comic characters who come together in a Dickensian romp that gives us a perception of the human condition that is both insightful and extremely funny.
CAST
For many characters an age has not been specified, and there can be some flexibility in casting.
SAMUEL PICKWICK Comfortable late middle age. Avuncular and well-intentioned but too
trusting when exposed to the outside world and too quick to anger
when that trust is betrayed. Singing role.
SAM WELLER Late 20s/30s. Cheekily impertinent but with a definite edge of the
streets about him. Genial with a very shrewd eye when.it comes to
assessing others. Extremely loyal to, and protective of, Pickwick. Singing role.
TONY WELLER 50S/60s. Sam Weller's dad. An ebullient coach driver who is even more comfortable
astride the bar stool from which he dispenses his own philosophical take on the
world which includes a marked aversion to widows and poetry. Singing role.
ALFRED JINGLE A lively and entertaining character (30s+) with a singular way of expressing himself.
Masquerading as a man of financial substance he is, in fact, an actor and a con man
but no less likeable for that. Singing role.
MARY Sweetheart to Sam Weller but astute, bright and resolute when she has set her mind
to something. Singing role.
MRS BARDELL None too bright but dotingly affectionate housekeeper to Pickwick.
The three men below, in their late 20s/early 30s, are members of The Pickwick Club. Looking upon Pickwick as a father figure, they are all pleasant enough but none too bright and all rather innocent in the ways of the world. The image they have of themselves as sportsmen, poets and ladies’ men is based in fantasy rather than anything they have actually achieved:
NATHANIEL WINKLE Claims to be a sportsman, but he is not.
AUGUSTUS SNODGRASS A poet of sorts.
TRACY TUPMAN Fancies himself as a ladies’ man.
DR SLAMMER Highly irascible military man obsessed with 'good form' and ever ready to defend his
honour.
DR PAYNE Military surgeon present at the duel. Even more of a stickler for 'good form' than Dr
Slammer and desperate for some blood to be spilled. Both he and Slammer are
hugely comical characters.
DODSON & FOGG A pair of rascally lawyers who work as a double act to lure clients into their clutches
before extorting from them every penny they can.
JACKSON Clerk to Dodson and Fogg and accomplice to them.
MR PERKER Pickwick's lawyer and friend. Nonetheless, he often irritates Pickwick by being a
little too openly admiring of the duplicitous ploys employed by the rascally lawyers Dodson and Fogg.
GUMMER Officer of the law. Officious and 'by the book' but equipped with a truncheon to
sway any doubters over to his way of thinking.
DUBBLEY Assistant to Gummer. Non-speaking role.
MAGISTRATE NUPKINS Bumptious, vain and gullible. Another dupe for the wiles of Alfred Jingle.
JUSTICE STARELEIGH Presiding judge in the breach of promise case.
SERGEANT BUZZFUZZ Counsel for the prosecution in the breach of promise case.
SERGEANT SNUBBINS Counsel for the defence in the breach of promise case.
ROKER Pickwick's jailer who has a variety of ways of extracting money from the men in his
charge. Singing role.
CAB DRIVER Any age but worn down by life and is consequently cantankerous and suspicious.
SMANGLE & MIVINS Two comical but ruffian prisoners who are seen off by Sam Weller.
ELDERLY WIDOW The elderly widow is a non-speaking part.
MISS WITHERFIELD We hear but do not see Miss Witherfield.
COURT OFFICIAL Could use voice off.
VARIOUS JAILERS For 'portrait' scene.
CREW
We are looking for volunteers to help with the production, if you are interested in getting involved, please email Uli, the Production Manager