[Open to All Auditioners] Casting Call for Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap

[howmanylives]

After the Island's latest prank on Halloween, Jamie was, admittedly, concerned that not enough people would show up for auditions. He'd considered postponing the casting call for a later date, but had, ultimately, decided against it. The snowstorm was such a vital component to the play's plot that the idea of performing it in tropical weather didn'

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[getemtiger]

"Catherine, from Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge," Mary Jane answered, finding herself almost grateful for the lack of personal response. It was easier to try to think of this as any other audition like that; though it didn't help to settle her nerves much, she was willing to take whatever she could get. As it was, she was just grateful she had a monologue in the first place. Better to use one that had done her well in the past than to battle the bookshelf, trying to find something else suitable and memorize it in such a short time. Given the unexpected turn of events a few days prior, that was a decision that had definitely served her well.

She took a step back, drew in a deep breath, eyes closing for a moment. When she opened them again, she looked just past Jamie, as determined in character as she'd been out of it. "It's only that I -" she started, a slightly helpless quality coloring her words, and held up one hand in front of her, palm out, to cut off an imaginary interruption. A little quieter, bordering, for the moment, on affectionate, she continued, "He was good to me, Rodolpho. You don't know him; he was always the sweetest guy to me. Good. He razzes me all the time but he don't mean it. I know. I would - just feel ashamed if I made him sad." She ducked her head at that, bit her lip, almost self-conscious. "'Cause I always dreamt that when I got married he would be happy at the wedding, and laughin' - and now he's - mad all the time and nasty -"

Pleading, finally she sighed, close to desperate. "Tell him you'd live in Italy - just tell him, and maybe he would start to trust you a little, see? Because I want him to be happy; I mean - I like him, Rodolpho - and I can't stand it!" She shook her head, briefly squeezing her eyes shut, gesturing uselessly in front of herself, insistence building over the next few lines. "Don't, don't laugh at me! I've been here all my life… Every day I saw him when he left in the morning and when he came home at night. You think it's so easy to turn around and say to a man he's nothin' to you no more? You don't know; nobody knows! I'm not a baby, I know a lot more than people think I know."

With a short, mirthless laugh, she let her hands fall back to her sides. It grew softer from here, both in volume and tone, an easy arc to follow. "Beatrice says to be a woman, but - Then why don't she be a woman? If I was a wife, I would make a man happy instead of goin' at him all the time. I can tell a block away when he's blue in his mind and just wants to talk to somebody quiet and nice… I can tell when he's hungry or wants a beer before he even says anything. I know when his feet hurt him, I mean I know him and now..."

Exhaling slowly, she frowned, not quite rueful, but a little lost, her eyes wide. "I'm supposed to turn around and make a stranger out of him? I don't know why I have to do that, I mean."

[howmanylives]

If he'd watched Mary Jane more critically than the others so far, it was only to make sure he didn't miss anything -- she was, in a way, at a disadvantage, and though some part of him had thought to warn her, he'd decided against in the end. Seeing her now, he was glad he'd held his tongue.

"You've done your homework," Jamie surmised after a beat, pulling himself up to his feet. He almost wanted to ask if things were alright at home, between her and her husband, but they'd struck out on a professional tone, and he had no need to deviate from that for the sake of idle curiosity. "You don't happen to remember anything of Cecily Cardew's? I'd like to hear your English accent, and Miller's no good for that."

[getemtiger]

"No, he really isn't," Mary Jane agreed lightly, looking up at him, having ducked her head. Mostly, it was a way of buying herself a little bit of time. She was sure she could remember something of Cecily's, but it wasn't as if she had practiced, and the last thing she wanted was to screw up when she was pretty sure that had gone fairly well. As for the comment about having done her homework, she could only hope that he took it as a good thing. Catherine's monologue was one she had used for some time, but it wasn't like the appropriateness of the last couple lines had escaped her.

That wasn't worth worrying about, though, and after a few seconds, pausing to run over words in her head, she nodded. "So yeah, I can give you something of Cecily's."

Cecily being a much different character than Catherine, and one she wanted to play well despite this being for the sake of the accent, she gave herself a moment as she had done before, taking a few deep breaths before she smiled slightly, and began to speak. "Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism," she said somewhat loftily, lifting one shoulder, as if it were something that ought to have been obvious. She only hoped that her dialect wasn't too rusty, having not been used since she'd done the show. "And of course a man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be something in him, after all. I daresay it was foolish of me, but -" She paused just a moment, for effect more than anything else, the corners of her mouth lifting a little higher, like one just barely trying to suppress a wider smile while sharing something exciting. "I fell in love with you, Ernest."

[howmanylives]

"That'll be enough," he said, holding up a hand once she'd finished. Taking a moment to scribble another note or two under what he'd already written, he looked up, flashing her a smile. She'd easily been among the most prepared so far, which was promising to say the least. "Thank you, Mrs. Parker."