AUDITION NOTICE
THE
UNEXPECTED GUEST
By Agatha Christie
Director: Michael Cooke
Production Manager: Rick Roberts
Performance dates: 8 – 10 May 2025
Play Reading: Wednesday January 15th 2025 @ 7.45 pm
Auditions: Friday January 24th 2025 @ 7.45pm
Rehearsals will start in March 2025
Lost in the fog, a stranger seeks refuge in a nearby house only to find a man shot dead
and his wife standing over him with a smoking gun. But the woman’s dazed
confession is anything but convincing and the unexpected guest decides to help.
Remarkably, the police clues point to a man who died two years previously but as the
ghosts of a past wrong begin to emerge, a tangled web of lies reveals family secrets
and chilling motives, where the real murderer turns out to be the greatest mystery of
all.
CHARACTERS
MICHAEL STARKWEDDER (30 – 50) – Quick thinking engineer, newly arrived
from Persia.
Audition Pieces: Page 9 “Now then…” to Page 11 “What did you think”
Page 78 “… I don’t know how much time I have” to Page 80 “Yes”.
LAURA WARWICK (30 – 50) – Beautiful but unhappy wife of the deceased.
Audition Pieces: Page 9 “Now then…” to Page 11 “What did you think”.
Page 56 “Julian, that lighter…” to Page 57 “I’ll see that you’re alright”.
MISS BENNETT (BENNY) – (50’s) – Efficient and loyal family secretary.
Audition Piece: Page 86 “Now, come in Jan…” to Page 88 “…Perhaps it was me”.
JAN WARWICK (20) – Childlike half-brother of the deceased.
Audition Piece: Page 86 “Now, come in Jan…” to Page 88 “…Perhaps it was me”.
MRS WARWICK – (60+) – Mother of the deceased.
Audition Piece: Page 78 “… I don’t know how much time I have” to Page 80 “Yes”.
HENRY ANGELL (30 – 60) – Richard Warwick’s valet and medical attendant.
Audition Piece: Page 61 “Laura! I, oh…” – to Page 63 “…I don’t think I like
your tone, Angell”.
SARGEANT CADWALLADER (30 – 60) – Absent-minded poetry scribbling
policeman.
Audition Piece: Page 32 “Beautiful. Apposite and beautiful” to Page 35 “Yes sir”.
INSPECTOR THOMAS (40 – 65) – Authoritative sleuth charged with apprehending
the murderer.
Audition Piece: Page 32 “Beautiful. Apposite and beautiful” to Page 35 “Yes sir”.
JULIAN FARRER (30 – 60) – Retired Major and aspiring politician, neighbour and
family friend.
Audition Pieces: Page 56 “Julian, that lighter…” to Page 57 “I’ll see that you’re
alright”. Page 61 “Laura! I, oh…” – to Page 63 “…I don’t think I like your tone,
Angell”.
RICHARD WARWICK (30 – 60) – Non-speaking part. Actor must be able to play
dead for an entire Act. May suit a narcoleptic. Actor could double-up.
Audition Piece: Act 1, static.