Auditions are Sunday, December 6 and Monday December 7 from 6pm - 10pm

To audition, please fill out this form and sign up for an audition slot here.

 

Important Dates

Rehearsals will begin in early December and will resume in January, Monday-Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Tech week will be January 30-February 4.

The show runs February 5-21, Friday & Saturday evenings at 8pm, and Sunday matinees at 3pm.

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The Story

Set in the 1940s in the Appalachian Mountains lives John, a witch boy. One day he looks down into the valley and sees Barbara Allen, a beautiful mortal girl with copper-colored hair, and falls instantly in love. He will give anything to become human so he can win her.

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John goes to his witch leaders, Conjur Man and Conjur Woman. Conjur Woman agrees to make him human for one year, on one condition: Barbara must marry him and remain faithful to him. John comes down to Buck Creek, wins Barbara away from the town bully, and marries her. But his strange powers do not go unnoticed, and the superstitious townspeople begin to fear and resent the outsider in their midst.

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As the year wears on, suspicion hardens. The town's fear and its fierce religious fervor build toward a revival meeting where faith, jealousy and superstition collide, and the couple's fate is decided under the dark of the moon. Like the haunting folk ballad “Barbara Allen” the story is based on,  this is a haunting, tragic love story, with mountain music, dancing and plenty of humor along the way. 

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Good to know for your audition

• Music matters. This is not a musical, but folk songs run through the whole show and several characters sing.

• We will also consider performers who play instruments in the style of bluegrass mountain music. 

• Movement matters. A square dance, fights and stylized witch scenes give physically confident actors plenty to do.

• Dialect. The play is written in Appalachian mountain dialect.

• Plenty of ensemble. Most townsfolk appear in dance, church and crowd scenes.

• Dark of the Moon is a tragedy with adult material; witchcraft, sexual situations, and violence, including the death of a newborn

• Performers will be paid a $100 stipend.

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Principal Roles:

John, the Witch Boy - A wild, free spirit of the mountain boy who falls in love with Barbara and longs to become human. The heart of the play: an intense, physical role with singing, dancing and fights.

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Barbara Allen - A beautiful, spirited mortal girl with copper-colored hair, loved by many men but true to none until John. Warm, willful and brave. A demanding dramatic role with mature scenes.

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Conjur Woman - The mountain conjurer who grants John's wish and sets the one-year bargain. Earthy, sly and sympathetic.

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Conjur Man/Preacher Haggler (played by the same actor) 

Conjur Man - Conjure Woman’s counterpart, who refuses John's request and warns that he does not belong among humans. A grave, knowing presence.

Preacher Haggler - The traveling hellfire-and-damnation revival preacher. Folksy and funny in the first act, frightening in the second as he turns the town against John.

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Dark Witch and Fair Witch (we may cast a third Witch here) - Two possessive witches of the mountain who want John back and scheme against Barbara. Eerie, seductive roles as they tempt John and taunt Barbara.

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Marvin Hudgens - Barbara's hot-tempered former sweetheart and the bully of Buck Creek. His jealousy of John drives the tragedy. Includes fights and the revival scene.

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The People of Buck Creek

Uncle Smelicue - The town's good-natured old bachelor and the keeper of its stories, songs and superstitions. Leads much of the fun.

Miss Metcalf - The unmarried village schoolteacher: prim, proper and the butt of gentle local jokes.

Mr. Allen - Barbara's hard-working, hard-drinking mountain father, anxious to see his headstrong daughter married.

Mrs. Allen - Barbara's hard-working, hard-drinking mountain mother, anxious to see her headstrong daughter married.

Floyd Allen - Barbara's younger brother, a barefoot mountain boy. 

Mr. Summey - Owner of the general store, where much of the town's life happens.

Mrs. Summey - His wife, the valley's midwife for more than forty years.

Edna Summey - Their daughter, Barbara's jealous rival.

The Bergens - Mr. and Mrs. Bergen and their daughter Ella, another popular mountain belle. Mrs. Bergen is the town gossip.

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Ensemble

Miss Atkins

Hank Guder

Burt Dinwitty

Greeny Gorman

Hattie Heffner

Miss Jenkins 

The Smeli Beard

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