Flare Path 
By Terence Rattigan
Directed by Ian Higham

Audition dates
Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 June at 7pm

[Possible recalls on Sunday 23 June at 12 midday]

Performance dates: Tuesday 24 September to Saturday 28 September at 7.45pm plus a 3pm Saturday matinee.

Written in 1941 and first staged in London in 1942 Flare Path is based around Rattigan’s own experience as a tail gunner in RAF Coastal Command.

Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command Airbase in Lincolnshire during the Second World War the play focusses on a love triangle between an actress (the wife of a Wellington Bomber pilot) and a Hollywood actor. The action plays out against a nighttime bombing raid on Germany, while the women wait together to hear about the fate of the crew.

Flare Path is a deeply moving, funny and compelling portrait of the bravery and stoicism of RAF Bomber crews and their wives during World War Two. This story and setting provides the perfect showcase for Rattigan’s unique ability to portray the struggle to keep powerful emotions hidden from view while presenting a ‘proper’ respectable face to the world, even in the hardest of situations.

We are looking for actors to play the following roles. The ages given are suggested playing ages. Where they are more specific they are referred to in the play.

Patricia Warren. Actress and wife of Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham. A cool, elegant exterior hiding emotional turmoil. With the arrival at The Falcon Hotel of Peter Kyle, she finds herself torn between love and duty. (around late 20s)

Peter Kyle. A British Hollywood actor. Handsome and charming but with an awareness of his fading looks and career. His attempt to win Patricia from her husband is his last-ditch effort to give his life some meaning.
(35 - 40)

Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham. Upbeat and positive on the surface, his boyish demeanour masks a serious sense of responsibility for his crew, and hides just how young and scared he really is. (24)

Countess Doris Skriczevinsky. Once a barmaid, now married to a Polish Count and Bomber pilot. Friendly sociable and outgoing she knows that her marriage and new social status is a talking point for many people who don’t understand the things that she truly feels. (early 30s)

Flying Officer Count Skriczevinsky. A Polish aristocrat now fighting as a pilot for the British. Quiet and well mannered he may seem out of his depth and his lack of English is often the butt of the other airmen's jokes, but he is actually held in great esteem and genuine affection by all of them. (40s)

Sergeant David ‘Dusty’ Miller. The Tail gunner in the crew. Working class, a bit of a fatalist, but solid, dependable and very likeable. (35)

Maudie Miller. Dusty’s Wife. Visiting for the weekend. Forward and a bit brash, but she is devoted to her husband and desperate to spend some time with him. (30s)

Mrs Oakes. The Manageress of The Falcon Hotel. Stern and capable she puts on airs and graces but runs a well organised business and a very tight ship. (50s)

Squadron Leader ‘Gloria’ Swanson (55) Affectionate and jovial. A World War One veteran whose own war experience provides him with a real understanding of what his men face and what they are going through. (55)

Percy. The Bar Hand. Keen and eager always wanting to know what’s happening. He has a boy’s wide-eyed view of the excitement of war, without any awareness of the true nature of battle. (16/17)

If you are interested in auditioning for this production please caontact the director, Ian Higham at  ian@nickhernbooks.co.uk stating which part(s) you are interested in and he will send you a scene from the play to read.

Reviews of Flare Path from its 2011 West End revival and subsequent UK tour.

A three-handkerchief weepie that somehow manages to be both profoundly moving and wonderfully funny...cuts at the heart like a knife. 
The Telegraph

What the play provides, with Rattigan's characteristic flair for understatement, is a deeply moving portrait of people at war…Rattigan's grasp of the emotional power of English reticence makes this wartime play overwhelmingly moving.
The Guardian

70 years on, this tale of plucky flyers risking their lives to keep the world free still has an incredible power to move.
British Theatre Guide

Tender and funny. This is essentially a shattering ensemble work, in which every detail glows with truth, compassion and humanity, and where every seemingly ordinary second of life, in an existence hemmed in by the ever-present threat of death, is charged with a quiet intensity.
The Arts Desk

PLEASE NOTE

We are committed to improving diversity in our casting, and unless stated for artistic reasons, we aim to actively adopt an inclusive casting policy.

This is an amateur production. You do not need to be a member of Putney Theatre Company to audition, but actors and crew will need to become a member of Putney Theatre Company to take part in the show for £30 a year. A  £30 show fee will also need to be paid by all actors in the production. We encourage you to become a member of PTC anyway, even if not cast. 

Our company is run by volunteers and we expect all actors cast in a play to volunteer for Front of House duties at least once a year. Our shows could not go up without our Front of House volunteers.