LALT NEWS RELEASE

Los Alamos Little Theatre announces a play reading and auditions for a twin bill of one-act plays that will open LALT’s 2025-26 season: “The Proposal” by Anton Chekhov and “Overtones” by Alice Gerstenberg. Ken Milder will direct “The Proposal” and Emily Stark will direct “Overtones.”

The play reading, open to anyone interested in reading or listening, will be 7 pm Tuesday, June 23, at the Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar Street.

Auditions will be held at the PAC at 6 pm Friday, June 26, and 2 pm Saturday, June 27. Persons interested in auditioning will be asked to fill out an audition form, which should be available at lalt.org prior to auditions.

The plays will be performed in September. 

“The Proposal” (aka The Marriage Proposal) is a comedic farce set in Russia in the late 1800s.

A hypochondriac landowner with an iffy constitution comes to propose marriage to his neighbor’s daughter, but his intentions are thwarted by arguments over land and dogs. The farcical situation sends the suitor into palpitations. 

The play was first performed in 1890 and is regarded as a statement by Chekhov on the practice of marriage for financial stability rather than emotional union. Roles include the suitor, the daughter, and the father.

“Overtones” presents two women of polite society meeting for a tea in the early 1900s. Both have hidden agendas that are revealed by their primal selves hovering around the tea like loud-mouthed ghosts, unrestrained by any notions of proper decorum. 

The play was first performed in 1915 at a time when Sigmund Freud’s ideas of ego and id were the Internet meme of their day. The play has roles for four women.

The public-domain scripts are available online by clicking on the following QR codes:

Overtones:

The Proposal:

Los Alamos Little Theatre is a 501(c)3 organization that has been bringing theatrical productions to Los Alamos audiences for more than 75 years.