Ladies in Black

Lisa: Stage age 16. A shy bookworm, who is described as having neither style nor beauty, yet emerges with both at the end of the story. Highly intelligent, and desperate to learn more about literature, her holiday job at Goodes teaches her more about life than she could have imagined. G#3-D5

Genders: Female

Ages: 16-20

Myra/Dawn: A double role for an actor in her mid to late 20’s. Myra is Fay’s best friend- cheerful and out for a good time. Dawn is Patty’s sister- forthright, cynical and rough around the edges. A3-B4

Genders: Female

Ages: 20-30

Patty: Stage age early 30s, unhappily married shop assistant at Goodes. Her husband is chronically uncommunicative, so she has become stitched up and a little malicious as a result. Underneath she is vulnerable and unhappy. G3-Eb5.

Genders: Female

Ages: 30-40

Frank: Patty’s husband, mid-30s to early 40’s. Described by others as ‘gormless’ Frank is a tile salesman with little ambition or vitality. Humiliated by his potential responsibility for his childless marriage, he hides his low self-esteem in taciturn introspection. G#2-G4.

Genders: Male

Ages: 30-40

Magda: An exotic Hungarian, stage age approximately 40. In charge of Model Gowns at Goodes, she is the embodiment of European style, glamorous, educated and beautifully presented. While undoubtedly somewhat forbidding, she has warmth, wit and great insight. A3-E5.

Genders: Female

Ages: 30-40, 40-55

Rudi/Lloyd/Fred: Played by one actor, stage age mid-30s to early 40s. Lloyd and Fred are two Australian men on the lookout for a good time. Rudi is a Hungarian refugee on the lookout for a wife. He is charming, well-read, irrepressible, a beautiful dancer and a genuine lover of women. C3-A4.

Genders: Male

Ages: 30-40

Mrs Miles: Lisa’s mother, in her late 30’s to early 40’s. She dotes on her daughter, is proud of her and wants the best for her, but is nervous of rocking the boat and upsetting her conservative husband. A product of her era, she is neither educated nor sophisticated, but her love for her daughter ultimately gives her courage. D4-A4.

Genders: Female

Ages: 30-40, 40-55

Miss Cartwright/Joy/ Customer: Stage age approximately 40. Miss Cartwright is the blue-stocking, crisply authoritative manager of the Ladies’ Department at Goodes. Ideally tall and definitely stylish, she is all business, having dedicated her life to it, but is not without compassion or wit. Joy is Patty’s older sister. Exhausted by motherhood and housework, she doesn’t live up to her name. A3-C#5 (top note not as solo)

Genders: Female

Ages: 30-40, 40-55

Miss Jacobs/ Mrs Crown: A double role, stage age 60’s. Miss Jacobs has worked at Goodes her whole life. Nervous and intense, she lives alone and has a sense of tragedy about her. Mrs Crown is Patty’s mother. Now widowed, she is a rough diamond with three daughters and doesn’t beat around the bush. E3-C5/A3-A4.

Genders: Female

Ages: 55-65, 65+

Fay: Stage age late 20’s. A shop assistant at Goodes. She has had a series of unfortunate relationships with unsuitable men, so she feels insecure about ever getting married and being considered respectable. G3-Eb5

Genders: Female

Ages: 20-30, 30-40

Mr Miles/Stefan: Two roles played by one actor. Stage age 40s. Mr Miles is stiff, conservative and authoritarian. He loves his daughter but firmly believes a woman’s place is in the home and is baffled by her intellect and ambition. Stefan is an ebullient Hungarian intellectual and von vivant. He is a passionate enthusiast for all things literary. G2-D4/D2-C4

Genders: Male

Ages: 40-55