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.