Seventeen actors, four crew, lots of pizza, an insane amount of coke and frightening number of cigarettes added up to a great table read!

It was the first time we had a chance to hear the entire script read out loud by real actors, but also the first time we got to see everyone interact with each other, so Leon couldn’t resist swapping people around to to see how they’d deliver different characters. It was very impressive how quickly people adjusted, particularly given that they weren’t as familiar with those lines.

The next step will be to review the video and finalise casting, which will hopefully be done over the next two weeks. We’ll be back in contact with everyone by May 8th at the latest.

Special thanks to Mike Coughlan, who narrated the script, and had probably the most intense job of the night, and also to Nick Sazenski, our cameraman on the night, who’s punishment for doing such a great job will be to be asked back for the full shoot!

Some of the cast in action

Nick the camerman, caught on camera

The next big step in any production is the table read, and ours is scheduled for Wednesday 24th, in CSG27 (the same room where we had auditions) in the Computer Science building in UL.

Logistically, this is a huge operation, as we have upwards of twelve people reading, with several people reading for a couple of characters, and with at least two people traveling from Dublin for it.

However, it will be our first opportunity to hear the entire script read aloud by proper actors, so it’s also a hugely exciting time!

To find us, you can get directions from here, and there is plenty of parking close by. We’ll try to start at 5PM, and expect to be finished by 7-7.30PM at the latest.

To give everyone a taste of the sort of extravagant high life that you can expect with The Red Queen Hypothesis, pizza and coke will be provided!

We’re just recovering from auditions. For us, the writers, it was the first time we’d seen anything like this up close, so it was very helpful to have our director, Leon, and casting director, Katy Mullins, running the show for us.

First off, two thumbs up to everyone who turned up, especially those who had to wait. We started at about 5.30PM and eventually got out at 10PM. Two thumbs down to our favourite Indian restaurant, which was closed by the time we got back into town, starving!

I’ve heard many times that the best way to get a feel for your script is to hear other people read it, and the auditions were a fantastic experience for us. Seeing the various actors giving their version of our characters was amazing, as was seeing Leon in full director mode; we’ve already got a bunch of minor edits to make from notes we made during the readings.

So, during casting, someone else has to read the other character lines. This fell to Katy (an experienced actress) and me (completely inexperienced but who should know the script backwards at this point), and it left me with a new level of respect for actors. We did one scene five times on the trot, and both Katy and the actor had their lines perfect each time, while I got progressively worse, to the extent that I managed to get virtually every one wrong on the fifth time.

Fortunately, by the sixth, I was starting to recover, but it’s an important reminder of why we’re doing this; writers write the words, but actors and directors make them fly.

We’ve cast most, but not all of parts, so if you’re interested in getting involved, please contact me and we might be able to arrange something. And this time we will get the Indian food before the auditions!

Here is an Audition Form for tonight. If you don’t have access to a printer, don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of them with us!

It’s almost time for the auditions!

We’ll be holding them from 6PM-9PM on April 10th in Room CSG27 of the Computer Science Building in the University of Limerick.

You can find directions to get to UL here, and the building is well signposted all over campus. There is a car park right in front that is open to the public after 5PM.

A few people have asked if it would be possible to have theirs earlier that day. We’ll do our best to accomodate you, as it will come down to availability, both of rooms and people, but contact us through here on Facebook.

We’ve also updated the Crew page to include some extra roles. If you’re interested in taking one of those or joining in on one, please let us know!