The Marlborough Dramatic Club are pleased to announce that there will be auditions for our Autumn 2026 production of 'My Boy Jack' by David Haig and directed by Graham Poulteney.
Audition 1: Monday 9 February, 2026, 19:30, Brentwood School Sports Centre, CM15 8EE (there is parking onsite).
Audition 2: Wednesday 18 February, 2026, 19:30, Brentwood School Sports Centre, CM15 8EE (there is parking onsite).
Please see below for more information about the play synopsis and roles available. If you are interested in auditioning, please contact Graham Poulteney via
(If you can't make either of these dates, please let us know, as we may be able to arrange another audition opportunity.)
Show dates: NOW 22-24 October 2026 (Thursday and Friday, 19:30 and Saturday 14:30 matinee only)
(Please note change to show dates from the previously advertised 29-31 October)
Show location: Brentwood School Memorial Hall, CM15 8EE
Rehearsals: Mondays and Wednesdays from 24 August 2026 (not August bank holiday Monday, when rehearsal will be on Friday 4 September instead). Then Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 September to 16 October.
Rehearsal location: Brentwood School Sports Centre, CM15 8EE. For rehearsal / theatre location details click here.
For notes on your responsibilities as a cast member of a Marlborough production, please click here. And for acting / membership fee information and forms, please click here.
You can access the main show article by clicking here.
~
Synopsis:
This play tells the tragic story of how Rudyard Kipling sent his son to his death in the First World War.
The year is 1913 and war with Germany is imminent. Rudyard Kipling's determination to send his severely short-sighted son to war triggers a bitter family conflict which leaves Britain's renowned patriot devastated by the warring of his own greatest passions: his love for children - above all his own - and his devotion to King and Country.
David Haig's play My Boy Jack was first staged at Hampstead Theatre in 1997. It was revived at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in 2004, and toured the UK. The play was filmed for television in 2007, with Daniel Radcliffe as Jack and the author himself as Kipling.
Roles available - 10:
Please note - the playing ages and physical descriptions are taken from the script BUT we will not necessarily be sticking to these in our casting.
RUDYARD KIPLING: Mid-forties, wiry, energetic, walrus moustache, huge eyebrows, balding, spectacles.
CARRIE KIPLING: Rudyard's wife. MId-forties, short, handsome, somewhat formidable.
JOHN 'JACK' KIPLING: Rudyard's son. Sixteen years old at the beginning of the play. Tall, gangly, and extremely short-sighted.
ELSIE 'BIRD' KIPLING: John's older sister. Eighteen years old at the beginning of the play. Intelligent, forthright, inquisitive.
GUARDSMAN BOWE, GUARDSMAN McHUGH, GUARDSMAN DOYLE: Members of John's platoon of Irish Guards.
MR FRANKLAND: A friend of Guardsman Bowe.
MAJOR SPARKS: An Army Doctor.
COL. RORY POTTLE: Representative of the Army Medical Board.
Copy of the script:
