Series Producer Eileen Walsh said: “We will be holding auditions in schools in Donegal this week on Thursday and Friday. We are looking for a young schoolboy aged between 8 and 11 years of age, with a fairly good reading ability.
“The boy selected will play the starring role of Casey, a normal schoolboy with a magic granny who goes to the fictitious Bertie McBrearty National School where no-one pays him the slightest bit of attention.
“The series will be produced this summer at Highland Radio and will be broadcast later in the year. Any schools interested in taking part should contact me at the email address below or by telephone and then we can arrange a time on Thursday or Friday for auditions. It’s a great opportunity for budding actors. And it will also be great fun.”
This will be Eileen’s second children’s radio drama series. In 2007 a twelve part radio drama Eileen was commissioned to write for Inishowen Community Radio which was broadcast and funded under the Sound and Vision scheme.
“Henry the Elephant was the first children’s radio drama produced in Inishowen and was a great success. We auditioned literally hundreds of children for the series in schools all around Inishowen,” said Eileen
‘This time we are going to limit auditions to the first ten schools to contact us. Every boy in the auditions will be asked to read a short piece of script and then our hero Casey will be chosen over the weekend. We hope to inform the schools involved of the final decision the following week, before schools break up for the summer.
“Highland Radio are very excited about the prospect of broadcasting to a new and extremely under-represented young audience.
“This will be their first ever children’s radio drama funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland under the Sound and Vision scheme. They are also delighted that the series is set in Donegal,” said Eileen.
“Each ten minute episode will be professionally produced, complete with sound effects. I am really looking forward to the auditions. If it is anything like the auditions I did for the last series, it will be fantastic.”
If your school is interested in taking part in the auditions for The Adventures of the Casey McGonigle Gang, contact Eileen Walsh on eileencwalsh@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 00 44 75 963 15163.
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