The following audition and character information pertains to August Wilson’s award winning play, The Piano Lesson. This play will be performed in Lancaster, PA at West Art October 25-November 1. Produced by Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre, it will be directed by Paul Hood and requires an all-Black cast of actors.
Audition requirements: Please prepare a 1-2 page contemporary monologue. Actors may be asked to cold read from sides provided by the production team.
Doaker Charles (ages late 40’s to 50)
Berniece and Boy Willie’s uncle and the owner of the household.
Boy Willie (ages 25-30/ with piano playing ability )
Berniece’s brash, impulsive, and fast-talking brother. The thirty-year-old Boy Willie introduces the central conflict of the play.
Lymon (ages 25-30)
Boy Willie’s longtime friend. Lymon is more taciturn than his partner, speaking with a disarming “straightforwardness.”
Berniece (ages 30-40)
A mother still in mourning for her husband, Crawley. She blames her brother for her husband’s death, remaining skeptical of his bravado and chiding him for his rebellious ways.
Maretha (ages 10-12)
Berniece’s daughter. Maretha is beginning to learn piano. She symbolizes the next generation of the Charles’ family, providing the occasion for a number of confrontations on what the family should do with its legacy.
Wining Boy (ages 40-50)
A washed-up recording star who drifts in and out of his brother Doaker’s household whenever he finds himself broke. Wining Boy functions as one of the play’s primary storytellers, recounting anecdotes from his travels.
Grace
A young, urban woman whom Boy Willie and Lymon each try to pick up.