Auditions set for MAT's production of 'Ticked Off'

Montana Actors’ Theatre is holding auditions Sunday, Feb. 2 and Monday, Feb. 3, for its dinner theater production of “Ticked Off.”

The auditions are from 6 to 10 p.m. each night in the Little Theatre in Cowan Hall on the Montana State University-Northern campus.

“Ticked Off” will be directed by MAT’s Artistic Director Grant Olson.

He said he is looking for two men and three women who will be playing multiple roles, adding that the actors need to be available to travel from the end of March to the end of April to locations along the Hi-Line and south to Lewistown. He said he is not looking for a specific age range of actors, because the production begins with the characters in college and aging to middle-age.

“It’s a farcical comedy; the actors are going to get to play multiple roles,” Olson said.

The play is based off a tick in Texas called the Lone Star Tick, and when they get bit by it, people become allergic to meat. The play follows a man who gets bitten by this tick and begins dating a woman who is a carnivore, creating a theme of star-crossed lovers, he said.

This production is an expanded version of Havreite Rachel Dean’s play that she wrote for the 24-hour play festival in 2018.

He added that the dinner theater will start at the Eagles clubs in Havre and Chinook then tour to Shelby and Lewistown.

The way a dinner theater is set up is that the venue provides the meal for attendees and actors, and the show is performed right after.

“One of the perks of this one is that the actors do get fed, get an awesome meal and get to travel around,” Olson said. “It’s just funny, great word play, hilarious set up, and it’s just crazy that there is a tick that does this.”