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Colder Than Here
By Laura Wade
Colder Than Here
By Laura Wade
Trigger warning: This production addresses sensitive issues surrounding death and related topics.
Myra is dying. Still, she’s not the type of woman to let that get in the way. The boiler needs fixing, the cat’s gone missing and she’s struggling to get to grips with PowerPoint. If only she had a family that she could rely on; but husband Alec would rather bury his head in a newspaper and daughters Harriet and Jenna have their own problems to deal with. So, as she researches her perfect funeral, Myra must also bring her family back together, make them talk to one another and face up to the future without her. If she can only find that perfect plot.
Laura Wade’s heart-breaking combination of rich, black comedy and pathos takes us on a journey through joy and sadness, vulnerability and support with surprising opportunities for laughter. A testament to family, relationships and finding light even in the darkest of places.
Colder Than Here was Laura Wade’s debut play, first performed at the Soho Theatre in 2005. It won Laura Wade the Critic’s Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement Award in 2006. This is what the critics said:
“Laura Wade's play is a 90-minute masterpiece, a jewel, dark but translucent. It is a play of love, death and grief.” ***** Sunday Times
“Wade's original and beautifully observed play balances raw emotion with a deliciously delicate black humour.” The Stage
“Disconcertingly funny and reflective in equal measure.” ***** The Theatre Review.
Audition Dates and Character Synopsis
Audition Dates and Character Synopsis
Open Read-through and Get Together: Thursday 25th May @ 7.30 in the Hippodrome Foyer
Auditions: Saturday 3rd June @ 12pm in the Hippodrome Foyer
TAODS are proud to hold open auditions for all of our productions. There will be an open-read through followed by an audition in order to cast this beautiful play. The read-through is a very informal evening where all are invited to come along to meet the director and find out a little more about the production. The bar will be open for a drink and we will have a read through of the script. The Auditions will take a slightly more formal approach but this will be outlined at the initial get-together. Rehearsals will take place through July and August, so will span the school holidays. If you are unable to attend but wish to express an interest, or have any further questions please contact [email protected] We hope to see you there.
The character break downs can be found below:
Myra – Myra is a feisty lady in her 50s, thin but surprisingly energetic and set on fixing her family as her last big project. At the beginning of the play she seems to have accepted the future and uses her death as a rich but morbid source of comic possibility. However, as she continues down the road, we see vulnerabilities begin to appear.
Alec – Alec is a taciturn and indecisive man, uncomfortable in company and constantly bemused by the women in his family. He is happier listening to Brahms than facing major issues, such as a boiler that remains unfixed after four months. However, as the boiler starts working, he thaws into acceptance.
Harriet – Mid/Late 20s and in a long term relationship. On the surface Harri has her life sorted out; organised and everything under control, but underneath she is struggling to achieve humanity or accept her mother's interest in every facet of her death.
Jenna – Early/Mid 20s, is a scatty, sweary mess. Constantly unhappy, especially with the choices she has made in her relationship. Her path through the play results in a coming of age and a realisation that she is strong enough to cope