Audition Notice for THE DRAWER BOY
The Drawer Boy
Written by Michael Healy
Directors: Stephanie Ffrench and Shari Morgan
Producer: Jason Bowers
An actor arrives at a remote Ontario farm to research a play and meets Angus and Morgan, lifelong friends and World War II veterans living quietly together. As memories surface, their shared past reveals how storytelling, loyalty, and friendship can both protect and transform. The Drawer Boy, by celebrated Canadian playwright Michael Healey, is the winner of the 1999 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-Language Drama; a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play; and the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award for outstanding contribution to Canadian playwriting.
Characters
Miles: Miles is a twenty-something member of a Toronto acting collective that is currently workshopping a production on the subject of farmers. He decides to stay at the farm owned and worked by two older men in exchange for helping—as best he can—with some of the duties. Moving back and forth between the farm and Toronto, he works up some ideas based on what he’s learned, but none prove impressively substantial or theatrically dramatic enough to actually make into the production. Until he stumbles upon the complicated nature of the past which has led to the complexity of the nature of the relationship between the two farmers in the present.
Morgan: Morgan has owned the farm for the past thirty years, ever since returning home from fighting in World War II. He is the one of the two farmer who engages with Miles on a more “normal” basis, helping him out with the truth about the farming industry and benevolently looking upon the younger man eager efforts to help with tasks for which he is clearly unsuited. At the heart of the relationship with the other older man is a story which he has been ritualistically retelling non-stop over the past three decades. It is Miles’ discovery that the nature of this story is a complete fabrication which becomes the dramatic crux of the play at hand as well as the young man’s most optimistic entry point into becoming a significant contributor to his own theatrical pursuit.
Angus: The interaction that Miles has with Angus is quite distinctive, more idiosyncratic than that he has with Morgan, but it is not made immediately apparent what is wrong with Angus. Even when Miles learns that Angus suffered a brain injury during the war which seems to be the stimulation for the necessity of Morgan’s ritualistic repetition of the same story, the truth is not made completely manifest. Lying at the heart of that story which Morgan and Angus compulsively act out as teller and listener every day is the fact that Angus cannot remember the actual truth and Morgan has determined that the incalculably sad turn both their lives took as a result of the real story is much better disguised as an illusion only slightly less tragic. The determination of Miles to dramatize the real story has an unexpected effect on Angus, however, that will serve to fundamentally alter the relationship between the two old friends.
Show Dates
Feb. 19 to Mar. 7, 2027, on Friday/Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2pm at The South Simcoe Theatre, 1 Hamilton Street, Cookstown, Ontario. (Cast members are required to be available for the Q2Q, both dress rehearsals, the Preview, and all production dates without exception. (see below)
Audition Dates
Fri., October 23, 2026 (7 to 10 pm) and Sat., October 24, 2026, from 5 to 9 pm. If needed, callbacks will be held on Mon., October 26, 2026, from 7 to 10 pm. The auditions are open to actors aged 20 years and up.
Audition Location
In person at The South Simcoe Theatre
*May change if necessary. All participants will be notify if change of location happens.
Audition Details
This is a cold reading audition; you will be asked to read from sides that will be provided to you upon arrival at the audition. Be prepared to work with a group of 6 actors during the audition. This is an in-person audition only, with no video submissions at this time.
Request an Audition
Email the Producer, Jason Bowers, to request an audition time at jasonbowers2022@gmail.com.
Rehearsal Information
Our first meeting/read through will be held on Tuesday., Nov. 17, 2026 (7-10 pm). Rehearsals will begin on Thursday, Nov. 19 (1–5 pm) and continue Tuesday/Thursday evenings (7-10 pm) and Sundays (1-5 pm), We will have a Christmas Break between Dec 20, 2026, to Jan 02, 2027. Rehearsals will resume on Sun. Jan. 03, 2027, 1-5 pm. During tech week, our Q2Q will be held on Sunday, Feb. 6, our dress rehearsals will be held on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 15 and 16, (7-10 pm), and our Preview for an invited audience will be on Wednesday, Feb. 17 (7-10 pm)
Cast members must declare any potential rehearsal date conflicts on the audition form. This will be taken into consideration when casting.
NB: If you are cast, and your conflict dates change substantially from the information provided at the time of casting in such a way that it interferes with your ability to attend rehearsals regularly, The South Simcoe Theatre reserves the right to withdraw the casting offer.
Health & Safety
In keeping with Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit guidelines, this theatre will comply with any mandated health regulations.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The South Simcoe Theatre encourages inclusion and representation in all its endeavours. Everyone is welcome both on stage and off. In that spirit, we encourage diversity in our casting process.
Questions?
Email Jason Bowers, Producer, at jasonbowers2022@gmail.com
This is a NON-EQUITY, NON-PAYING production. Thank you.
