The Regina Monologues

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived………

It’s 2009. A bloke called Henry is driven to fulfil his family destiny. How do his women feel and react? What lengths will they go to in order to keep their man or, perhaps more importantly, keep their head? The Regina Monologues re-tells the story of six sixteenth century women and the man they all loved, dragging them kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. Their stories are personal, poignant and still relevant exactly five hundred years after Henry VIII’s accession to the throne.

This is a very clever re-working of the stories of the 6 wives of Henry VIII, becoming the up-to-date tale of 6 women married to the same man, whilst still retaining the basic historical facts of the original women.

The play is done as a series of monologues to the audience, moving from one ‘wife’ to another and back again. Whilst all actors remain on stage most of the time there is no interaction between them.

Characters

The Regina Monologues runs for approximately 70 minutes without an interval. Currently being written for us is a short script (15-20 minutes) to complement this. Cast not confirmed at time of writing, but will require a “Harry” – tall, well built, (not necessarily ginger). 35-50

Auditions and the Rehearsal Period

Firstly, please do not be put off by the ‘monologue’ aspect – it’s no more than 10 minutes of lines per role, and no more difficult to learn (says one who has done a 40 minute Alan Bennett Talking Heads monologue!).

Needless to say you will need to read the script and familiarise yourself with the role(s) you are interested in. Please contact me for an emailable script (see below).

Since there is no interaction between the women I intend to audition people separately, at dates to be mutually arranged during December. Early rehearsals in January/February will likewise be done on a one-to-one basis, which will mean less wasted time for everyone. Come mid February we will pull everyone together to ensure all blocking and action flows.

Further details of the “Harry” script and characters will be announced shortly, but please feel free to let me know if you’re interested.

The All-Important Production Team -

As always, a performance can never take place without all the other vital jobs being done, and a full support crew is needed – please contact me if you can help with lighting, sound, stage crew, furniture, props, costumes, front-of-house, etc.

Carol Hennessy
carol@hennwinds.me.uk