Playgoers of Lethbridge is getting ready for their October production of Neil Simon’s comedy  “London Suite” by holding auditions, Aug. 7 at Southminster United Church.

Director Rita Peterson is excited about the 1996 play, which Playgoers of Lethbridge has never done before.

“We did Plaza Suite a couple years ago and Ed Bayly was in all four scenes,” said Peterson.
 The play follows four unrelated scenes taking place in the same hotel suite.
 While one actor often plays several characters in the play, Peterson is looking for between seven and 11 actors between  20 and 50, with an equal mix of men and women to play all the different roles.

“Each scene is about 20-25 minutes long. It is easier to memorize when we have different actors,” she said.

 While a couple of the characters are British, most of the roles don’t require accents as they are Canadian or American characters.

“It all takes place in a London hotel room. There are four different scenes,” she said adding they aren’t related to each other.

“ There isn’t a lot of  slapstick. It is Neil Simon, so it is all about  the dialogue. It is very cleverly written. So we’re looking for people with comedic timing. It’s very funny,” she said.

The first scene is between two men, one of whom has built the other’s career.

The second is between a widowed mother and her daughter who is trying to get her mother to move on six years after her husband’s death by setting her up with a  man they met on the elevator. The third scene features  TV actress who is supposed to meet her ex-husband.
“That scene is a little more dramatic,” she said.

 The last scene features several actors, Peterson is hoping to reintroduce some of the previous scene’s characters.
“It is always fun to try something we haven’t done before,” she said adding actors of all experience are welcome to audition.

 Excerpts from the script and possibly the actual scripts will be available, so  actors don’t need to prepare anything fro the audition.
 The one day audition begins at 7 p.m. at Southminster United Church. Actors should enter through the side entrance through the alley.
 The play will be a dinner theatre taking place at the Sandman Inn, Oct. 17-20.