SLT Audition
Auditions: Till the Stars Come Down
By Beth Steel
Audition one
Date: 19 Sep 2026
Time: 18:30 - 21:15
Location: SLT Fire Station SE27 9NS
Audition two
Date: 20 Sep 2026
Time: 10:00 - 12:15
Location: SLT Fire Station SE27 9NS
Beth Steel's Till the Stars Come Down is set at a wedding in Nottingham and follows one family over a single, increasingly chaotic day. It is funny, affectionate and sharply observed, exploring family, class, love, loyalty, masculinity, changing communities and what happens when the past refuses to stay in the past.
Casting and setting
Till the Stars Come Down is specifically rooted in Nottingham, and its characters belong to a traditional working-class family and community.
The play's exploration of the decline and fragmentation of traditional working-class communities, including the legacy of the miners' strike, changing employment, generational differences and questions of belonging is central to the story. We therefore want the casting to authentically reflect the social and cultural world Beth Steel has created.
This is not intended as a blanket exclusion of performers; rather, for these particular family roles, authentic representation of the world of the play is an important part of our casting process.
We particularly welcome actors who have a genuine connection to the area in which it is set or similar working-class communities and who understand the humour, rhythms and lived experience that underpin the play. For the role of Marek, we would like to cast someone who is Polish or of Polish heritage.
Director: Charlotte Benstead
Performances: 11 - 16 Jan 2027
First Rehearsal: 18 Oct 2026
Characters:
Hazel: Female - Playing age: late 30s–40s - The eldest of the three sisters and the person who keeps the family machinery running. Hazel is practical, capable and fiercely loyal, but she is also exhausted from carrying everyone else's problems. She has a sharp sense of humour and a strong moral compass, although the pressures of family life have left her with plenty of frustrations of her own.
Maggie: Female - Playing age: 35–45 - Maggie is the middle sister. Maggie is warm, funny, impulsive and capable of causing absolute havoc without necessarily intending to. She is someone who wants more from life and isn't always very good at thinking through the consequences of getting it.
Sylvia: Female - Playing age: 25–30 - The youngest of the three sisters and the bride at the centre of the day's celebrations. Sylvia is excited, romantic and determined to enjoy her wedding, but beneath the celebration she is navigating the complicated dynamics of her family.
John: Male - Playing age: 40s - Hazel's husband. John is currently out of work and is struggling with his sense of purpose and place within the family. He is not a stereotypical villain: he is funny, complicated, vulnerable and capable of making very poor decisions.
Tony: Male - Playing age: Late 60s-70s - Sylvia, Hazel and Maggie's father. Widowed, Tony is the older generation at the heart of the family and has lived through a very different Nottingham. He carries the history of the family and of the community in which his daughters grew up.
Peter: Male - Playing age: mid 60s-70 - Tony's brother and Sylvia, Hazel and Maggie's uncle. Peter is married to Aunty Carol. He and Tony have been estranged since the miners' strike in the 1980s, leaving decades of resentment and unfinished business between the brothers.
Aunty Carol: Female - Playing age: 60–70 - Peter's wife and an important part of the wider family. Carol is warm, practical and perceptive, with a good instinct for what is really going on beneath the surface.
Marek: Male - Playing age: 30–40 - Sylvia's fiancé. Marek is Polish and has made a life for himself in Nottingham. He is loving, hardworking and committed to Sylvia, but is entering a family whose history, arguments and loyalties are far more complicated than he could have anticipated.
Leanne: Female - Playing age: 15–18 - Hazel and John's daughter. Leanne is a teenager with a sharp eye for the adults around her. She is funny, observant and increasingly aware that the grown-ups' lives are considerably more complicated than they would like their children to believe.
Sarah: Female - Playing age: 8–11 - This role will be cast from our existing Youth Group membership. No external applicants will be considered.
Audition process
Because Till the Stars Come Down is rooted so strongly in North Notts/South Yorks, authentic and convincing regional accents are an important part of our production.
First Stage – We will be booking 10-minute slots for each auditionee between 6.30pm-9.15pm on 19th September or 10am-12.15pm on Sunday 20th September.
Please prepare one of the 4 speeches using the link below.
At this stage we will also consider whether your playing age is appropriate for the role you are interested in. Selected performers will be invited to an in-person audition that will take place on Sunday 27th September from 10am.
We appreciate that accents can be developed and coached, but performers should be able to demonstrate a convincing starting point at the initial audition. Authenticity, naturalism and consistency are particularly important for this production.
Please check your availability carefully before applying. All performers must be available for all scheduled rehearsals and performances, including rehearsals taking place around the Christmas period.
In particular, successful performers will need to be available:
Up to and including 20 December
From 3 January onwards
There will be a break over Christmas and New Year, but the production will require performers to return promptly for rehearsals from 3 January. Please only apply if you can commit to the full rehearsal and performance schedule. We will ask you to confirm your availability as part of the audition process.
Our rehearsal schedule is 8pm Tuesday/Thursdays and Sundays at 1pm
Rehearsals will commence on 18th October with a readthrough the week before to be determined.
For more information, detailed character breakdowns, and to register for a place at audition,
GO TO THE REGISTRATION PAGE HERE (opens in a new window).
Please only email the director if the information you seek is not contained in the above.
