Auditions

Breath of Spring
By Peter Coke

Directed by Dale Murison

On stage 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 November 2026

Rehearsals: Starting Sunday 30 August
Monday & Thursdays 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Sundays 1:30 – 5pm

 

Audition date: Saturday 1 August
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: Windsor School of Arts
381 Lutwyche Rd, Windsor

Call Backs (if required): Sunday 2 August, 6:30pm

How to Audition

  1. Download the Audition pack PDF (contains character descriptions, rehearsal schedule)
  2. Fill out the Audition registration form
  3. Email a headshot and acting CV to the Director at
  4. Prepare a comic audition piece (max. 2 minutes). There will also be cold reads from the script.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This production will include the handling and wearing of fur garments (coats, capes, stoles etc). These items are a pivotal part of the plot. Please do not audition if you have any objection to the inclusion of these items in the production or are unable to wear/handle fur garments.

Membership fees: If you are cast for a role, you are required to become a 2026 financial member of Growl Theatre, which is $30 per calendar year (expires December 2026)

Other Costs: Growl Theatre will provide the vast majority of your costume. Depending on the role, the cast may be expected to provide their own smaller items such as socks, stockings, gloves etc. Cast will be required to bring their own makeup basics (including foundation, eyeliner etc).

If you are unable to attend the audition, but are keen to be a part of this production, please complete the form and email us. We will see if we can accommodate you. Obviously, being present in person is preferable.

Characters Descriptions

  • Ages are guidelines for the playing age, not the actor’s age.
  • An English accent will be required for all characters. The accent will depend on the character’s background.
  • Dame Beatrice, Lady Alice, and Brigadier Rayne have been friends for 25 years.
  • While remaining ‘true’ to the era and settings, cast diversity is encouraged and supported.
  • The police officers are only required for the last scene and will most likely double as Stage Manager/Assistant Stage Manager.
  • DAME BEATRICE APPLEBY (“Bea”) – Age: 60s–70s.
    A lively lady, who loves good causes and good company. Although eccentric in manner and clothes, she has a strong feeling of social justice. She has had to take in lodgers at her Kensington apartment.
  • ALICE, LADY MILLER – Age: 60s–70s.
    A close friend of Dame Beatrice; social and supportive, she is attractive and stylish with a gentle flair for flirtation and fun. Upper class, elegant but poor. 
  • BRIGADIER ALBERT RAYNE (“Bertie”) – Age: 60s–70s.
    A retired military man, he is now one of Dame Beatrice’s lodgers. His life is organised along army lines and he is ready to lead the gang’s schemes with precision (and comic fussiness). 
  • MISS NANETTE PARRY (“Nan”) – Age: 40s–50s.
    A cheerful lodger with a practical streak; often the voice of reason amid the chaos. She is an elocution (ie speech) teacher. She has a strong voice and is quite adept at accents.
  • LILY THOMPSON – Age: 30s (younger than most of the company).
    Beatrice’s maid – streetwise, witty, and a reformed character with a mischievous streak. She has a slight accent; could be Cockney.
  • MISS ELIZABETH HATFIELD (“Hattie”) – Age: 40s–50s.
    A slightly nervous lodger with a delicate temperament – provides comic contrast with her frailty and charm. 
  • DETECTIVE SERGEANT PAPE (last scene only) from Scotland Yard 30+
  • POLICE CONSTABLE KEMP (last scene only) Any age.

About the Play

Breath of Spring is a delightful British comedy in three acts by Peter Coke, set in London in the late 1950s. What begins with a well-meaning gift quickly turns into madcap adventure and gentle social mischief.

Dame Beatrice Appleby is a generous soul, but her money has run low and she has taken in a disparate group of paying guests. Lily, a spirited maid with a colourful past, gives her employer Dame Beatrice a luxurious mink stole as a thank-you present, Beatrice suspects it was stolen from a neighbour. Horrified but intrigued, Beatrice and her eclectic group of lodgers – led by the orderly Brigadier Rayne – plot to return the fur without getting caught.

Their one-off operation goes so deliciously well that the group decides to form an amateur syndicate to steal and return furs, channeling their Robin Hood-esque exploits into charity and excitement in their otherwise quiet lives. Laughter, schemes, and unexpected camaraderie abound – right up until Scotland Yard shows up.