The Diviners

Auditions for the DHS fall production of The Diviners by Jim Leonard, Jr. will be held on August 31 and September 1 in the auditorium after school. You must sign up for an audition time slot outside Mrs. Shafer’s office (180A). See Mrs. Shafer with audition questions.

The Diviners examines the search for meaning in a world where the answers often are hidden under the surface. Leonard uses divining, or searching, as his central theme. All the characters in the hard-pressed village are looking for something.

When selecting a monologue for this audition, please consider something appropriate to the character for which you would like to be cast. These are good and simple people. They have nothing but the best intentions.

Character List:

Buddy Layman: an idiot-boy*

Jenny Mae Layman: his sister

Ferris Layman: their father, a mechanic

C.C. Showers: a backsliding preacher

Norma Henshaw: owner of the Hoosier Dry-Goods, a true believer

Darlene Henshaw: her niece

Goldie Short: owner of the Dine-Away-Cafe

Basil Bennett: a farmer, the local doctor of sorts

Luella Bennett- his wife, a doubter

Melvin Wilder- a farmhand

Dewey Maples- a young farmhand

*A note on the boy: Buddy's central trait is his innocence, his vulnerability. He shouldn't have much of a speech impediment, though his speech should be hesitant when he's discovering something or confused or frightened. His gestures, his walk, and his whole physical attitude should reflect both an emotional and intellectual frustration, or more simply, sometimes a coordination problem. Clinically speaking, he isn't modeled on any specific emotional or physical disorder.