St Mark's Players

St. Mark’s Players Present Auditions for 

“Enchanted April”

by Matthew Barber

from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim

 

St. Mark’s Players is pleased to announce auditions for “Enchanted April” directed by Heather Danskin and produced by Madeline Mustin, Sophie Page, and Alicia Yass. 

 

If you have any questions about auditions or rehearsals, or need to change or cancel your audition sign up, please contact the production team at smpenchantedapril2027@gmail.com

 

About the Show: When two frustrated London housewives decide to rent a villa in Italy to escape their bleak marriages, they recruit two very different English women to share the cost and the experience. There, in the Mediterranean sunshine, all four bloom again – rediscovering themselves in ways that they could never have expected.

 

Auditions: Auditions are open to actors over 18 years of age (please see character descriptions for age ranges per character). Auditions will be held on:

• Monday, November 30, 2026

• Tuesday, December 1, 2026

 

Auditions will consist of preparing a 1-2 minute monologue suited to a play with a mix of comedy and drama.  No accent is needed.  You will then be asked to read a short excerpt from the Enchanted April in an English accent, which you are welcome to review in advance. Here is the link to the excerpts. You are NOT expected to memorize this.  Copies will be available to read from at the audition.

 

Callbacks are by invitation only and will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2026.

 

Auditions will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 301 A Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. 

 

Video auditions will be accepted, but actors would need to be available to attend callbacks in person. Email smpenchantedapril2027@gmail.com for more information.

 

Sign up for an audition timeslot here.

 

Once you have signed up for a time slot, you will also need to fill out the audition form. Within the form you will need to upload your conflict calendar, please use this calendar. Please download this calendar in order to upload it to the audition form.

 

Rehearsals: Rehearsals will be at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. 

• Rehearsals will generally be from 7-10pm on Monday-Thursday and Saturday during the day. 

• Rehearsals will be held 2-4 times a week, however not everyone will be called for every rehearsal. 

• Rehearsals will begin with a read through on Saturday, December 5, 2026.

 

Tech and Performances: All shows will be at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

• Tech will begin on Sunday, February 14 and run daily through Wednesday, February 17, 2027.

• Shows are February 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, March 4, 5, and 6 in the evening and on February 27 in the afternoon.

• Everyone in the cast and crew participates in moving sets, resetting from church to theater and vice versa each weekend and during weekday resets, and striking the show following our final performance.  Everyone is expected to participate in these endeavors.

• St. Mark’s Players is a participatory, all-volunteer, community theatre. All roles are unpaid.

 

Character Breakdown:

 

All roles are open to actors over 18 years of age. Actors of any gender identity, race/ethnicity, and belief are invited to audition for any roles.

 

LOTTY WILTON – 30s, a Hampstead housewife

Lotty is a bubbly chatterbox with big dreams she’s been crushing down for years as she gets more and more unhappy in her life, hiding her true self.  She finds the advertisement for a getaway to Italy and brings the four women together to escape their dreary lives for a month in Italy.  She starts unhappy and repressed but with a vision of a better future, but blossoms with the freedom of Italy, and finding and appreciating herself.  (Intimacy Note: kisses)

MELLERSH WILTON – 30s, her husband, a solicitor

Lotty's pompous, status-obsessed husband who is always on the hunt for a connection and expects his wife to fit within a very specific, respectable box.  He calls her Charlotte though she prefers Lotty.  He eventually joins the group in Italy and has a transformation of his own, with fewer expectations and more true connections.  (Intimacy Note: kisses; one scene in only a towel)

ROSE ARNOTT – 30s-40s, a Hampstead housewife

Rose is a reserved woman carrying a heavy personal sorrow and emotional distance from her husband due to a tragic loss. She has thrown herself into the church and service to others.  She joins Lotty to escape her oppressive sadness and inability to feel close to her husband again.  In Italy she starts to forgive herself and her husband, and opens herself up to the world again.  (Intimacy Note: kisses)

FREDERICK ARNOTT – 30s-40s, her husband, a writer

Rose's husband, a charming and somewhat salacious writer who has suffered a loss but is attempting to move forward in life, while watching his wife stay stuck in her grief.  He and Rose are in very different places, both wondering seriously if they have a future together.  He arrives in Italy and finds a Rose that is quite changed and starting to heal.  (Intimacy Note: kisses)

CAROLINE BRAMBLE – 20s-30s, a socialite

Caroline is an exhausted socialite who has been looked at her whole life, but never really seen.  She is looking to be away from the male gaze and have some alone time in Italy, though she still craves a meaningful relationship.  She very slowly warms to the other women in Italy and reveals more of herself and her own grief, possibly becoming open to allowing herself to finally be seen.

MRS. GRAVES – 70s, a London matron

An older Victorian widow who lives surrounded by memories of the past, walks with a stick, loves nuts, and has little patience for foolishness or youth. She has a very sharp mind that has been stifled by societal expectations on women.  She agrees to the trip to Italy only if she is promised plentiful wisteria and keeping to her meal schedule.  Her rigidness is a funny juxtaposition with the looseness of Italy, until she starts to loosen and find real connection with others.

ANTONY WILDING – 20s-30s, an artist

Wilding is an affable and charming gentleman artist who owns the castle in Italy, and has lost his whole family but still maintains a sunny attitude and a love for people.  He’s great at seeing the real person underneath the exterior.  His charm brings out the best in others.  He sees Costanza, his housekeeper, as the only family he has left.

COSTANZA – 50s-60s, an Italian housekeeper (speaks only Italian)

Costanza is the loving and protective housekeeper at the Italian castle San Salvatore.  She helped raise Antony Wilding and views him as another son, treating him with much affection.  This is contrasted with her frustration with the demanding and stiff visitors like Mrs. Graves and Mellersh Wilton.  She’s a big character with big feelings.