List of LCC Roles:
First off, FOR THE PUB PRELUDE (with the singalong songs) we need three MC’s.
Confident, loud and welcoming. We’ll work together to write/improvise the script which will welcome the audience into the pub, make sure they have a good time, introduce LCC (who we are and what we do) and the songs, get the audience singing along, and finally invite them into the back room to enjoy the play once the singing’s over.
Dancing in the Mirror Speaking Roles (require audition)
Then, the first four characters up for casting in the play itself are all from Carl’s World, which spans the three times periods 1928/1955/2026. Carl’s drinking companions form a community of outsiders – people who have fallen through society’s cracks. ‘We’re outsiders, always will be.’ This world persists across the eras, suggesting that every generation has its lost souls, and that fellowship can be found in unexpected places.
- Del (1928/1955/2026) Playing age: 50s. One of Carl’s drinking companions who transforms across the play. Initially jovial, part of the drinking group. Returns later having found sobriety through a choir – smartly dressed, drinking kombucha, delivering a powerful speech about seeing sorrow in his wife’s eyes and choosing to change. Del represents the possibility of redemption that Carl cannot grasp. Note: this role could potentially double with Henry Cooper – both are figures who offer Jade wisdom and have found peace after struggle.
- Cindy (1928/1955/2026) Playing age: 50s. A sharp-tongued drinker who has no patience for nonsense. Cindy defends Jade when the men won’t, calling Carl a ‘mean bastard’ and ‘bad drunk.’ Warm towards Jade but unafraid to challenge Carl directly. Good comic timing and real grit required.
- Salman (1928/1955/2026) Playing age: 50s. A poetic, affectionate member of the drinking group. Quotes Corinthians – ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels…’ – and calls the group a ‘choir of angels.’ A gentle presence amid the chaos.
- Cherie (1928/1955/2026) Playing age: 30s-50s. Loud and comic, part of the drinking group. Shouts for Carl, jokes about ‘Gareth Malonely,’ accuses the others of disturbing the peace. Warm, chaotic energy.
Other parts:
- Lyndsey (2026) Playing age: 40s-50s. A social worker who facilitates Jade’s meeting with Kaya. Calming air of experience. Understands that this process brings up big feelings for everyone involved. Could double with House Matron from 1919 – same institution, transformed.
Other Speaking Roles (lines not written yet)
- House Matron / Poor Law Officer (1919) Playing age: 40s–50s (could double with Lyndsey). The institutional voice that sends child Jade away. Brisk, not cruel but not kind. Represents the system that processes children without seeing them. This role could double with Lyndsey the social worker in 2026 – the same institution, transformed across a century.
- Municipal Clerk (1928) Playing age: 30s–50s. Works at the municipal office where Jade goes to find records about her mother’s death. Initially dismissive – Jade struggles to be taken seriously – but eventually shows her the coroner’s report that reveals Carl’s name. Could double with Ms Sandoval (receptionist) in 2026.
- Ms Sandoval / Receptionist (2026) Playing age: 30s–50s
- Barmaid (1928) Playing age: 20s–30s. Works at the Fellowship Inn. The dramatic society ask her about putting up a handbill. She notices Jade is dressed a little rough for propriety. A gatekeeper of sorts, reflecting the social codes of the era.
Other Roles
Everyone who would like to will be involved and visible at some point, and everyone will be key as we share our story.
- Tea Room Customers (1928) Playing age: Various | 2–4 performers. Couples at the tea room where Mica waits for Jade (who doesn’t come). One wants to borrow the empty chair. They witness his humiliation. Could double with theatre audience members in 2026.
- Dramatic Society Members (1928) Playing age: Late teens to 30s | 2–4 performers. Members of the amateur dramatic society at the Fellowship, preparing their production of Romeo and Juliet. They witness Bennett bullying Mica, and later support Mica when he takes over as director. Could double with theatre audience members in 2026.
- Theatre Audience / Patrons (2026) Playing age: Various | 3–4 performers. Audience members at the Romeo and Juliet performance who praise the production afterwards. They mingle in the foyer making appreciative comments. Could double with tea room customers and dramatic society members from earlier eras.
- Boxers / Gym Regulars (all eras) Playing age: Late teens to 30s | 2–3 performers. The diverse community at the boxing gym where Jade trains. They laugh at Mica’s improvised costume when he arrives looking for her, but this is a place where outsiders can belong and respect is earned. Physical presence required. These roles continue across all time periods.
- Pub Customers / Street Life Playing age: Various ages. Background life across all eras – people drinking at the Fellowship, walking the streets, populating the world. These roles help establish period and place through physical presence rather than lines.
- Scene Changers / Costume Assistants Playing age: Various ages. Members of the Lewisham Creative Chorus who transform the space between scenes, assist with costume changes, and embody the passage of time. These roles require concentration and discipline – the fluidity of the production depends on their precision. They are not invisible stagehands but part of the theatrical world, visible witnesses to the story – the real angels.
- EVERYONE At the end of the play, the chorus joins the musical climax, humming underneath the professional singers – the community gathering to bless the union of Jade and Mica.
LCC Audition Texts
Lead and Support Roles (to be cast professionally)
JADE | Playing age: Late teens to early 20s (playing 12 in prologue, 21 onwards)
We first meet Jade as a child in a scattered home in 1919, learning she is being boarded out to the new Bellingham estate. As a young adult, she is tough, self-reliant and unconventional – a woman who boxes at a time when this is scandalous. She has made her own way in the world after losing a position in service, now working as a shop girl and keeping her own lodgings. When she discovers her father Carl is still alive, she pursues him with the same determination she brings to everything – but finds that some people cannot be saved, only survived.
Jade is a fighter in every sense. She protects others before herself, speaks her mind, and refuses to accept the limitations placed on her by class and circumstance. But her toughness masks profound loneliness – she has been alone since childhood and longs to belong somewhere.
Requirements:
Strong movement skills essential – the role requires boxing and physical theatre. Must be able to convey vulnerability beneath a tough exterior. The role spans the full century, requiring physicality and presence that can adapt across periods. Open to all ethnicities. A South East London connection would be an asset but is not essential. We particularly welcome applications from performers with experience of the care system.
MICA | Playing age: Late teens to early 20s
A young clerk with dreams of acting, Mica is a member of the dramatic society at the Fellowship Inn. When we meet him, he is being bullied by the director Bennett. Mica is gentle, earnest and observant – he notices Jade immediately and is drawn to her difference. His journey is about finding his voice: standing up to Bennett, eventually taking over as director, and learning that he has something to say worth hearing.
Mica comes from a more stable background than Jade, and the play explores how differently the world treats them. He wants to help her but must learn that helping isn’t the same as rescuing, and that Jade’s strength is her own.
Requirements:
Should convey warmth, intelligence and quiet determination. The role requires an actor who can chart a clear journey from diffidence to confidence across the play. Must be comfortable singing – Mica sings for Jade at a key emotional moment. Open to all ethnicities.
BENNETT | Playing age: Late 20s to 30s
The director of the dramatic society’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Bennett is a bully who masks his own insecurity with superiority and cutting remarks. He targets Mica, patronises Jade, and represents the gatekeeping and snobbery of cultural institutions. When Mica finally stands up to him, Bennett fires him – but lacks the authority to make it stick.
Requirements:
Requires an actor who can balance comedy with genuine unpleasantness. Bennett is pompous and theatrical, affecting a manner above his station. Must be able to be funny without losing the threat he poses to Mica’s confidence and ambitions. Open to all ethnicities.
CARL | Playing age: 40s to 50s
Jade’s estranged father, a drinker haunted by the death of Jade’s mother. When Jade finally tracks him down, she finds him among a group of outsiders in the park – people who have fallen through society’s cracks. Carl is broken, volatile and incapable of receiving the love Jade wants to give him. He asks her for money almost immediately. He becomes withdrawn and depressed, and ultimately cannot protect Jade from his dangerous friend Jimmy.
Requirements:
A demanding role requiring an actor who can find humanity in someone deeply damaged. Carl is not a villain but a man destroyed by guilt and circumstance. Must be able to convey the weight of what he cannot say – why he cannot look at Jade, what he knows about the accident that killed her mother. Open to all ethnicities.
JIMMY | Playing age: 40s to 50s
Carl’s drinking companion, a sleazy and menacing presence. Jimmy makes inappropriate comments about Jade and seems to have some hold over Carl. He is revealed to be the person responsible for the accident that killed Jade’s mother. When Jade tests her father by being provocative with Jimmy, Carl’s failure to intervene confirms what she feared – she is still alone.
Requirements:
An antagonist role requiring an actor who can convey threat beneath casual cruelty. Jimmy is dangerous but presents as merely unpleasant – the audience should sense the menace before it becomes explicit. Open to all ethnicities.
LUCY | Playing age: Late teens to early 20s
A member of the dramatic society, playing Juliet opposite Mica’s Romeo. Lucy is warm and supportive, quietly objecting to Bennett’s behaviour. She develops feelings for Mica during the production and they become a couple – but she demonstrates emotional maturity in recognising his connection to Jade, ultimately telling him to go after her.
Requirements:
A grounded, likeable presence. Lucy is not a rival to Jade but a genuinely good person who sees clearly what others need. Open to all ethnicities.
RAKIM | Playing age: Late teens to early 20s | Black British actor
A boxer at the gym where Jade trains. Rakim initially views Mica with suspicion and amusement when he comes looking for Jade. He warns Mica off – this isn’t his world, Jade is out of his league – but shows unexpected kindness in offering to teach him. Rakim is protective of Jade and part of a world where outsiders can find respect and belonging through physical discipline.
Requirements:
Physical presence essential – should be convincing as a boxer. Must be able to balance toughness with warmth. The gym scenes establish a world where people who have no standing elsewhere can earn respect.
TUBS | Playing age: Late teens to early 20s | Black British actor
Another boxer at the gym, a friend of Rakim’s. Tubs teases Mica but without malice, and is genuinely supportive when he attends the Romeo and Juliet performance. The gym community – Tubs, Rakim, Jade – represents a diverse group where belonging is earned through commitment, not given by birth.
Requirements:
Physical presence required. Must be comfortable with Jamaican patois. Should bring warmth and humour to the gym scenes. By the end of the play, Tubs has his own opportunity opening up (potentially cast in Die Hard: The Stage Show) – his confidence should feel earned.
HENRY COOPER (Ghost) | Playing age: 40s to 60s
A spectral visitation in the 2026 section. When Jade returns to the gym alone, lost and defeated, Henry Cooper appears to her – the legendary boxer who trained at the Fellowship Inn before his fight with Muhammad Ali. He tells her she’s a fighter, that she needs to go back to basics, and that every real fighter who went before her is in her corner. A moment of magic realism that connects Jade to the history of the place and gives her the philosophy she needs to continue.
Requirements:
Gravitas and warmth. This is a brief but pivotal role – Henry appears as a wise, kind presence who understands what it means to fight. Should feel like a gift from the past, not a gimmick. White British actor. Knowledge of boxing helpful but not essential. This role is currently subject to a specific casting approach.