The Concord Players Announce Auditions for
Directed by J. Mark Baumhardt
All actors must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. (To review our complete COVID-19 policy and precautions, click here.)
Synopsis: Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, How I Learned to Drive is a darkly humorous and moving tale about a woman’s complicated relationship with her charismatic uncle. The story follows Li’l Bit’s path from adolescence to adulthood as she discovers family secrets, navigates growing pains, and develops her own sense of right and wrong. Vogel’s unfiltered examination of Li’l Bit’s drive towards womanhood resonates as strongly today as when it was first staged.
Ms. Vogel has a gift for sustaining humor and pathos at the same time, without trivializing either emotion. ... Ms. Vogel has written a lovely, harrowing guide to the crippling persistence of one woman’s memories. — The New York Times
How I Learned to Drive is a tremendous achievement ... using a playful tone and structure ... to evoke deep matters in a complex, reverberant way. Vogel paints the young girl’s increasing perplexity, the disturbed man’s increasingly obsessed, outrageous behavior, with the delicate stroke of a master calligrapher. — The Village Voice
Content Warning: This play deals with sexual abuse, incest, misogyny, and pedophilia. Certain scenes maybe disturbing to some audience members.
Auditions will be held at 51 Walden St., Concord, MA, on:
- Sunday, August 25, 7:00–10:00 PM
- Wednesday, August 28, 7:00–10:00 PM
Actors will be seen in groups of up to 10, by appointment only: to reserve your place in an hour-long appointment slot, please use our signup form below. Sides will be available in advance of the audition, but not before mid-August.
See the Character Descriptions below for more details.
Callbacks will be held on Thursday, August 29, 7:00–10:00 PM, at 51 Walden St. — actors, please reserve this date.
Rehearsals / Important Dates:
- Our preliminary readthrough will take place on Wednesday, September 11 at 7PM.
- Rehearsals: Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 7-10 PM beginning on Sunday, September 15. Some Sunday rehearsals will be in the afternoon, instead of the evening.
- Tech week begins on Sunday, November 3.
There will be eight performances in November 2024, over three weekends:
- Friday, November 8, at 8:00 PM
- Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 PM
- Sunday, November 10, at 2:00 PM
- Friday, November 15, at 8:00 PM
- Saturday, November 16, at 8:00 PM
- Sunday, November 17, at 2:00 PM
- Friday, November 22, at 8:00 PM
- Saturday, November 23 at 8:00 PM
Please note that conflicts are not permitted on performance dates, nor for tech week.
To sign up for auditions, please complete our online form, below. Before you fill it out, please note the following:
- Be ready to select a hour-long appointment slot on one of
Sunday, August 25 (7:00-10:00 PM) or Wednesday, August 28 (7:00-10:00 PM).
- If you cannot make any of these times, you will be able to select None of the above, and we will contact you to discuss an audition time.
- Be prepared to upload your resume and headshot (when you receive a confirmation email for your signup):
- Resume: PDF format is preferred, but most any document type will do (no image files, please).
- Headshot: If you do not have a headshot, a front-facing picture of your head or head and torso, with just yourself centered in it, is acceptable. JPEG or PNG format is preferred, but any image format will do. (no PDF files, please).
Instructions for uploading your files will be in the confirmation email sent to you when you sign up.
If you have any questions, or if you have a conflict with the audition dates, send an email to the staff at hiltd-staff@concordplayers.org
Character Descriptions
Concord Players is committed to diversity and inclusion. As such, we encourage performers of all races and ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, and abilities to audition. We also recognize that these characters are written on the binary (use he/him or she/her pronouns) and we invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with.
Diverse and inclusive cast needed: All age ranges and genders listed are what the character needs to read on stage.
Note: All characters portrayed by the Greek Chorus are real people with wants, desires, and relationships with Li’l Bit, Uncle Peck, and each other. They are not caricatures.Please note: We will not be casting anyone under the age of 18 in any role, due to the mature content and potentially disturbing scenes in the show.
Li’l Bit (Female presenting, 30-49):
Plays the character from present day age back to age 11. She is the central storyteller. Strong-willed, vulnerable, and wise beyond her years.Uncle Peck (Male presenting, 35-55):
Charismatic and charming. Vogel describes him as, “Despite a few problems, he should be played by an actor one might cast in the role of Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird.” A former Marine who has trouble sharing his feelings, like many men from that era.Male Greek Chorus (Male presenting, 30-50):
Plays Grandfather, Waiter, High School Boys.Female Greek Chorus (Female presenting, 30-50):
Plays Mother, Aunt Mary (Uncle Peck’s wife), High School Girls.Teenage Greek Chorus (Female presenting, 21-30):
Plays Grandmother and the voice of eleven-year old Li’l Bit.
