Emissaries
Written & directed by Adrian Veale
Premiere of a new three-act play
Emissaries tells three stories of English expatriates in Antwerp at different points in the city’s history.
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The first is Saint Willibrordus, one of many Anglo-Saxon missionaries sent from England in the seventh century to the Low Countries to convert the pagans. What else was on his agenda? And whose agenda was it, actually?
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The second, Aphra Behn, is a successful playwright in the 1670s London. She looks back to her stay in Antwerp in 1666. But why was she actually here?
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The third is a fictional young record company executive who arrives in Antwerp in the summer of 1969 to sign up local talent to a major British label. Or was there something else he had to do, too?
Very different stories in very different ages. But history is full of echoes, isn’t it?
Emissaries is a melting pot of roleplay, spin-doctoring, intrigue, betrayal, international politics, love stories and cautionary tales. It’s a love song to theatre. And it’s an ode to Antwerp and the expats it welcomes.
When
25th April 2025 - 27th April 2025
Tickets
To be activated early 2025
Where
Theater Het Klokhuis
Parochiaanstraat 4, Antwerpen
Join The Cast
If you’d like to perform (and it will be an enthralling experience), there are 4 things you need to know:
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This play requires a big cast: I will as many as 17 actors.
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Most actors will be playing two or three roles, one in each act. The three acts of the play take place in or around the years 680, 1666 and 1969. There are lots of common themes, so actors and characters/types re-appear in later acts. It’ll all be great fun getting these common themes across.
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The majority of roles are for men. But a number of these roles can be played by another gender. In the detailed info you’ll see characters marked as M if they need to be played by a man, F for roles only for women, and M/F for a male role that can be played by a woman.
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Auditions will be on the following dates – all in the Mortselarij.
Roles & Actors
Here is a list of characters. I imagine two to three characters being played by the same actor, so they are grouped together accordingly. Auditions will be held for these 17 actors, though we may change the grouping of roles. Asterisked characters are real historical figures, though I cannot vouch for their character traits in Emissaries!
01.
Willbrordus* - Act 1 (M) late 20s, early 30s. An earnest young man who takes his missionary vocation seriously but is open to listening to the pagans.
William Scott* - Act 2 (M) (25-40) A seasoned spy and double agent who is nevertheless in the wrong job. Exiled in Holland, he’d just like to get back home to England.
Nick - Act 3 (M) (20-30) We don’t see this, but Nick is a talented musician who is joining the record company out of love for music – he’s not really in the right job to be effective.
02.
Fedde - Act 1 (M): late 20s, early 30s. A Frisian, not adverse to Willibrord’s message (or indeed to Willibrord). He realises that politics is driving what W is trying to do.
Q - Act2 (M) (25-35) is meant to remind people of the new, younger version of Q from the Bond films – a gadget and IT man avant la lettre.
Passer-by, Drug pusher - Act 3 : Small roles. Caricatural. 20-30, M/F roles.
03 & 04 & 05.
Elske, Mareike and Nienke - Acts 1, 2, 3 (F) – the three De Koninck sisters. 20s/30s. Creative and ahead of their time – whenever that is – the De Koninck sisters motivate each other towards their common dream: a place on the podium or stage.
06.
Spy (M/F) – Act 1: A agent provocateur, sly, sneaky and an effective operator. Could be anything 40 – 60.
Lord Arlington* - Act 2 (M/F): Chief of Charles II secret service. Should remind people of the upper-class mandarins in MI5 in later centuries.
Toll - Act 3 (M/F): He appears a gentleman but there’s probably something more sinister and ruthless behind him.
07.
Wilgils* - Act 1 (M) – Willibrordus’s father – very pious, anxious to become a hermit.
Nick’s father - Act 3 (50-60) is a caring but often absent father in the old mould. He served in Antwerp during the liberation. Progressive ideas about Europe.
BAT 1 - Act 3: any age, M/F. BATS from the sixties!
08.
Mother* - Act 1 (F) – Willibrordus’s mother, proud of her son, less so of her husband.
Nick’s mother - Act 3 – Mrs Drake - (45-60) is confident – it should come as a surprise that she was formerly involved in espionage, but it should make sense once people know it!
09.
Abbot - Act 1 (M) (50-65): He’s fond of his faith, but is a bon vivant – none of this ascetic stuff for him.
BATS Dame - Act 3 (M) (50-65): A typical panto dame who’s forgotten to step out of character after the rehearsal.
10.
Brother Director - Act1 (M) Overly theatrical figure who just loves directing the monks in the playtomime.
Record executive 1 - Act 3 (40-50) Rather caricatural figure, pretty much in the wrong job but trying to seem hip.
11.
Carter - Act1/ Coachman - Act2/ Driver - Act3 (M/F): he is there as a dramatic element, but still has some lines. The Driver in particular and the Coachman can show a bit of a sense of humour.
12.
Novice - Act1 (M/F): A kindly young man who wants to learn from Bede – and help him as he grows old. 20s/30s.
Record executive 2 - Act 3 (25-35) Younger version of RE1, but does a bit of a better job.
13.
Bede* - Act1 (M) : Venerable Bede, one of the first Anglo-Saxon chroniclers and men of science. 55-70.
Admiral Taras Bondarenko 3 (M, 50+) Rather strange mix – a senior Soviet naval officer but very philosophical. He’s probably not in the ideal job – he’s not a party hack and he’s Ukrainian.
14.
Nell Gwyn* - Act 2 (F) : 30-40. A talented actress – one of the first in England with the new liberal regime of Charles II. She’s maybe no spring chicken, but she remains the one of Charles’ mistresses that he really (maybe?) loves.
BAT Two - Act 3: any age, M/F. BATS from the sixties!
15.
Aphra Behn* - Act 2 (F) 25-40 A confident playwright in 1678, she’s finding her way in Antwerp in 1666 and is in the wrong job.
16.
Liesbeth - Act 2 (F) 20-30 Intelligent and self-taught, she wants to put her clear talents to use – and not run a boarding-house for the rest of her life.
17.
Mevrouw Leemans - Act 2 (F) (45-60). Short appearance – mother and one-woman businesswoman in the horeca sector.
Landlady Magda - Act 3 (F) (45-60). Typical brash landlady of the pub.