# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Open Auditions for Rage's "Worse in Verse: The Loathsome Lessons of Mr. Scratch"! 
- **Event Start and End Date**: Sat, 10 Jan, 2026 at 12:00 pm – Sat, 10 Jan, 2026 at 04:00 pm
- **Event Description**: ? AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENT! ?

The Rage of the Stage Players are officially announcing the January audition for our 2026 world premiere production set to celebrate our landmark 25th Anniversary in 2026—“Worse in Verse: The Loathsome Lessons of Mr. Scratch”! The play (adapted from the horror poetry collection of James Michael Shoberg) combines the strange sensibilities of the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Shel Silverstein, and Edward Gorey, as it weaves disturbing tales told in rhyme. 
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SYNOPSIS:
Set at Halloween, at a middle school assembly, “Worse in Verse: The Loathsome Lessons of Mr. Scratch”, features a charismatic, yet unsettling storyteller, who appears on a bleak October day to entertain the students, but no one on staff can seem to recall “summoning” him. Enter Nicholas Scratch, our narrator, who begins to regale the youths with increasingly disturbing tales, told in rhyme, and with a very severe moral. As he unravels his yarns, each with its own brutal twist, the actors double as those who present the stories as mini-plays within the main play, complete with stylized childlike gore and other fanciful horrors. Part “Creepshow”, part “Tales From the Crypt/Dark Side”, part Gashlycrumb Tinies; “Worse in Verse” is an anthology that teaches kiddies the hardest lessons in the most whimsically sadistic of ways.
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“Worse in Verse: The Loathsome Lessons of Mr. Scratch”, by James Michael Shoberg, will be presented at the Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center, in Bellevue, PA, in August 2026, but we’ll have a few rehearsals each month (some online), starting in February, based on the actors’ scheduling conflicts. We’re not looking to dominate anyone’s full year. Reach out to us if you require clarification.
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OPEN AUDITIONS FOR “WORSE IN VERSE: THE LOATHSOME LESSONS OF MR. SCRATCH”

Saturday, January 10, 2026

Noon to 4:00 PM

Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center
(Pittsburgh Savoyards’ venue)

523 Lincoln Avenue
Bellevue, PA 15202

No appointments or monologues required. We’ll be holding cold readings from various “unusual” sources to test your timing and your ability to adapt and think on your feet. Our process puts all auditionees on equal footing, so don’t be intimidated!
For individuals 18 years of age and older. Casting will be gender non-conforming, although some characters may have to represent as a particular gender. The play is very flexible, and we welcome new faces—especially for our 25th Anniversary! (All roles are non-paid as we are a not-for-profit theatre company.)
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Please bring your resume (or prior list of experience—*if any*) and headshot (or current, accurate photo) to the audition or email them in advance to rageofthestage(at)yahoo(dot)com.
No previous experience is necessary! Just be willing to leave your insecurities at the door and have fun! Do what others won’t. Dare what others don’t.

You may also email any questions in advance to rageofthestage(at)yahoo(dot).com.
Please share!
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(Graphic design by Kate O'Great.)
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/ben-avon-heights/open-auditions-for-rages-worse-in-verse-the-loathsome-lessons-of-mr-scratch/200029476124721
- **Event Categories**: art, theatre, performances, entertainment, literary-art
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 23

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: http://facebook.com/200029476124721?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=ben+avon+heights-events

## Event venue details

- **city**: Ben Avon Heights
- **state**: PA
- **country**: United States
- **location**: The Pittsburgh Savoyards Small Performance Space And Production Centre
- **lat**: 40.495984
- **long**: -80.056999
- **full address**: The Pittsburgh Savoyards Small Performance Space And Production Centre, 535 Lincoln Ave, Bellevue, PA 15202-3548, United States, Ben Avon Heights

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: James Michael Shoberg (https://allevents.in/org/james-michael-shoberg/26641023)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events6/banners/56bcdebd9e9a024c6aa176b654d01aa1db38662479af9b305f8ca73ea4751832-rimg-w1200-h628-dc1a1410-gmir?v=1768069701
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events6/banners/2e3d03da39e819e540159e007101a0ef6804dcec0b91e095d575c8112cbaa594-rimg-w300-h300-dc1b1510-gmir?v=1768069701

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Sat, 10 Jan, 2026 at 12:00 pm
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** The Pittsburgh Savoyards Small Performance Space And Production Centre, 535 Lincoln Ave, Bellevue, PA 15202-3548, United States, Ben Avon Heights
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** James Michael Shoberg
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** art, theatre, performances, entertainment, literary-art
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Open Auditions for Rage's "Worse in Verse: The Loathsome Lessons of Mr. Scratch"!  ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

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