The Good Doctor — Audition Notes

The Good Doctor is a fast-paced, witty, and theatrical collection of short plays inspired by the works of Anton Chekhov and adapted by Neil Simon. This production will embrace the ensemble nature of the piece, with actors playing multiple roles across a wide range of comic and dramatic styles. Performers will shift between characters, accents, and energies—often within moments—creating a lively, fluid theatrical experience.

I am particularly interested in versatile performers who enjoy:
    • Character acting
    • Physical comedy
    • Bold choices
    • Direct engagement with the audience

🎭 Casting Approach
    • Most actors will play 2–5 roles each
    • Strong emphasis on ensemble storytelling over individual leads
    • Some roles may be gender-flexible
    • Actors may be seated within the space and "step into" scenes

🌟 Key Role
The Writer / Narrator
Gender: Male
Age: 30–60
    • A witty, observant, and slightly melancholic storyteller who guides the audience through the evening. This role requires:
    • Strong connection with the audience
    • Excellent comic timing
    • The ability to shift tone from humorous to reflective

🎭 Some of the Principal Roles Within other Scenes (All roles may be doubled)
The Sneeze
    • A pompous Minister of Public Parks, any age
    • and a clerk in the dame department, younger

The Governess
    • Female | any age
    • Quiet, polite, and increasingly determined. A subtle but powerful comic role with an important emotional payoff

Too Late for Happiness
    • Two, older actors , 1 of each gender, happy to sing

The Bear
Smirnov, Male | 30s–50s
    • Blunt, passionate, and volatile. A larger-than-life presence with strong comic energy and surprising romantic depth.
Popova, Female | 20s–40s
    • A grieving widow with dramatic intensity, who reveals wit, fire, and unexpected charm as the scene

The Defenceless Creature
(Mrs. Z) Female | 30s–60s
    • Relentless, verbose, and hilariously exhausting. A standout comic role.
The Clerk, Male | 30s–60s
    • Increasingly exasperated. Great for comic escalation.

The Audition
Female | 20s–50s
    • Bold, dramatic, and slightly absurd. Big comic potential.

Various Supporting Roles
    • All genders | 18+
Including:
    • Servants
    • Officers
    • Society figures
    • Performers within scenes

These roles offer opportunities for:
    • Strong characterisation
    • Physical theatre
    • Accent work

🎯 What I'm Looking For:-
    • Strong ensemble players
    • Performers comfortable with quick transitions between characters
    • Good sense of timing and rhythm
    • Willingness to explore stylised, theatrical staging

🎭 Tone of Production
This version will lean into:
    • Heightened comedy and theatricality
    • A distinct Russian atmosphere
    • Fluid transitions between scenes
    • A sense of actors as storytellers within the world
    • Some performers may remain visible throughout, contributing to the world of the play even when not directly in a scene.

Booking tickets

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APS Cancellation Policy

If you need to move your seat or seats from one performance to another of the same production, we can do this very easily for you at no additional cost to you, assuming that the new seats are the same price. There is no need to cancel and rebook. Just contact the APS Box Office.

If you are unable to attend an event for which you have purchased tickets, we would be grateful if you would let us know as soon as possible, so that we can cancel your order and release the seats. Please note that APS does not usually offer refunds if a ticket order is cancelled after it has been processed.

However, when you book your tickets, you will be offered a 'Refundable' option for a small premium. If you choose that option, you may be able to make a claim if you are unable to attend the event due to illness/injury, tranport failure, severe weather, or other circumstance approved by Refundable.me (do, please, read their Terms and Conditions). If you want to make a claim, you will need to do so via Refundable.me. Neither APS nor The Little Box Office will be involved.

If you are not eligible for a refund from Refundable.me, when your ticket order has been cancelled, if the seats are resold and the performance is sold out, we will offer you a discount code that can be used to purchase tickets for another production. The value of the discount code will be the value of the tickets you cancelled, less a £2.00 admin fee per ticket. The discount code will be time limited and usually valid only for next two APS productions.

If you order a ticket by mistake and inform the APS Box Office within 24 hours of your purchase that you wish to cancel it, we may, at our discretion, offer you a discount code as described above.

If a production is cancelled by APS, you will receive a full refund for the amount you paid.

If you wish to cancel tickets or move your seats to a different performance, please contact the APS box Office
07353 074944 (9.00 am - 7.00 pm, please); email admin@aps-sherborne.co.uk