Get Involved - Auditions
Whether you fancy yourself onstage, backstage or offstage, Progress Theatre offers a variety of ways for you to get involved.
We’re all volunteers here, learning on the job and from each other. There’s always room for more though, so if you want to pick up a new skill, perfect an old one, or share your expertise with us, we’d love to have you.
Open Auditions
Progress auditions are open to everyone: members, ex-members, and non-members. Unless the audition notice states otherwise, auditionees must be over 18.
If you are cast for a show, you will need to become a member, this is for legal and safety reasons.
Inclusion
Progress Theatre is committed to the principles of inclusion, and roles are open to all, including any gender identity, disability or ethnicity. Although some characters may be historical figures, auditionees of different ethnicities, disabilities and gender identities are encouraged to audition. We are committed to improving our access to all and would love to welcome you to the Progress community.
Please get in touch at [email protected]
Upcoming Auditions
What's Wrong With Angry
by Patrick Wilde
A heartfelt, rebellious, and defiantly joyful story of young gay love in a world that isn’t ready for it.
The play is set in Basingstoke, Hampshire where, although only forty miles away from London, the political and cultural landscape is very different. It takes place in the early 90’s. Mobile phones and the internet don’t exist, and the age of consent for gay men is twenty-one. Section 28 is on the statute book, which specifically forbids local councils and schools from promoting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle.
There are no overt sex scenes - it is all implied. Steven and John will kiss and we will have an intimacy co-ordinator to ensure these scenes are handled sensitively. There are also themes of bullying and suicide.
The play is set in a private boys school- we are happy to have both male and female identifying teenagers to play the male school friends and playground bullies. We. Welcome interest from the LGBT+ community.
In addition to the cast named there will be additional chorus of cruising men, schoolkids, a priest, funeral relatives. These can also be played by members of the company. There are group bullying scenes and a surreal nightmare scene.
This is a joint adult group and Progress Youth Theatre production.
Directed by Ali Carroll
Produced by Liz Carroll
Assistant Directed by Olly Swinyard
Contact details for any questions: [email protected]
Important dates:
Read through: Saturday 4 July, 7.30pm-10pm, at Progress Theatre
Auditions:
- Friday 17 July, 7.30pm, at Progress Theatre
- Saturday 18 July, 6.30pm, at Progress Theatre
Performance dates: 16-21 November 2026
Casting breakdown:
Steven Carter (16) – Brave, funny and very bright, he’s sixteen years old and gay at a time when the age of consent for gay men was 21. He’s known he is gay for a while and is personally comfortable with it, having discovered sex through cottaging, but is terrified of anyone finding out, especially his Catholic parents. He attends an all-boys’ Catholic school in ultra conservative Basingstoke where he is bullied and called gay, not because the other boys know about his sexuality, but because the bullies believe it to be the ultimate insult. He thinks all he wants in life is to have a boyfriend but comes to realise he will never be happy until he comes out.
John Westhead (18) – Eighteen years old, he’s the school captain, very bright and heading for Oxford University after the Summer. He’s handsome and a superb sportsman. He’s perfect, except he has secret feelings for other lads, and falls for Steven. Tortured by his secret love and passions, he is terrified of anyone f inding out, believing it means he will lose everything he has and wants for the future (and that he could even go to prison).
Linda Rogers (16/17) – Sixteen or seventeen, Linda is still at school and is Steven’s best (and only) friend. She knows he’s gay – the only person who does - and is supportive. She refuses to be defined by the fact she’s obviously overweight, and is funny, tough and takes no prisoners. Secretly she has the same anxieties as Steven – she desperately wants a boyfriend but doesn’t know how to go about getting one. She and Steven tell each other everything, and together make a comedy double act. Steven’s parents think she is Steven’s girlfriend.
Simon Hutton (30’s/40’s) – Late thirties to mid-forties he hit the gay scene in London when he was very young and had a great time. He subsequently became a teacher in Basingstoke and consequently had to go back into the closet. He can see that Steven is being bullied but is unable to help him because of Section 28 (he’d lose his job), and when he finally does intervene the consequences are potentially catastrophic for both of them.
Kevin Granger (looks 18) – Eighteen years old and a bully. He’s part of John’s crowd and idolises him. He particularly picks on Steven, but as with most bullies it’s all bravado. He thinks he’s God’s gift to women but is actually a virgin and very sexually awkward. Becomes concerned when he notices John and Steven becoming close and is directly responsible for the catastrophe that ensues.
Brian Carter (30’s/40’s) – Steven’s father. A kind but conservatively minded man, and a devout Catholic. He dotes on Steven, his only child, and is delighted he seems to have found a girlfriend in Linda, so horrified when he discovers the truth about him. This is compounded by the fact he was abused as a boy. During the play he is also dealing with the fact his mother is terminally ill.
Mary Carter (30’s/40’s) – Steven’s mother. Funny and warm, she dotes on her only son. She wants nothing more than to have a grandchild but is worried in case Steven and Linda are already having sex – she doesn’t want one quite yet! She reacts better than her husband when she finds out Steven is gay, but tries to console him that it’s probably just a phase.
Michael Ayres (40+) – A very conservative, old-fashioned Headmaster at the old boy’s Catholic school. His mission is to turn out decent, Catholic, heterosexual young men, who preferably go the Oxford or Cambridge rather that one of the “lesser” universities. Section 28 being on the statute books has merely reinforced his attitudes, and he refuses to allow Hutton to advise Steven, and threatens him with the law.
Jenny Keeley (18) – Jenny is the 18-year-old Head girl at Notre Dame School For Girls. Sporty, fit, beautiful. John’s love interest with a mind of her own. This is a small part - can be doubled with chorus.
Karen (24) – About 24 and is the pregnant wife of one of Steven’s early sexual encounters. This is a small part - can be doubled with chorus.
Dave (looks 18) – 18 year old Dave is one of John’s school mates. He’s cooler than Kevin, and joins in the bullying of Steven less willingly.
Glen (25+) – A good looking, not very successful actor who is married but secretly picks up guys in public toilets. This is a small part - can be doubled with chorus.
Cruising men, schoolkids, a priest, funeral relatives are played by members of the company.