Plans to present The Watched Pot
The Philipstown Depot Theatre will hold auditions on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 for a production of The Watched Pot, by Keith Hershberger, to be presented early next year.
The theater, located on Garrison’s Landing, plans to stage the play from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4.
To audition for the non-equity production, email [email protected]. Copies of the script are available at the Desmond-Fish Library in Garrison and the Butterfield Library in Cold Spring or at philipstowndepottheatre.org.
According to the theater, “The Watched Pot tells the story of two women, Mary and Sarah, who have bucked convention to buy a farm and live together for 60 years. Relatives refer to them as ‘God’s leftover blessings.’ Audra, Sarah’s only niece, and her family travel to the farm on weekends, reluctantly seeing the old aunts’ dying process. Like the watched pot, the end never seems to come quickly enough.
“Only Kirk, the 16-year-old nephew, has real affection for Sarah and Mary and their relationship. He faces a coming out process of his own. ‘The Watched Pot is about facing dying and facing life,’ Hershberger has said, ‘I don’t think people understand what love is if they can’t trust someone else’s idea of it.’ ”
The roles are (1) Mary (a woman in her mid-80s of strong mind and body); Sara (mid 80s, ill and dying, yet not without wit and opinion); Audra (Sarah’s niece, early 40s, embittered and tired); Ward (Audra’s husband, a bit older, aloof and obviously strained); Kirk: Audra and Ward’s son (16 years old, pensive, good natured, sensitive); Jason (Audra and Ward’s son, 8 years old, active and willful); Rebecca: Their 6-year-old daughter, innocent and happy); Young Mary (at 20, and 23, born into a Mennonite Community, coy yet knowing); Young Sarah (about the same age, energetic and romantic, irreverent yet duty bound).
