Thespians who are looking to share the spotlight with other performers can mark their calendars for upcoming auditions.

The Ludlow Village Players soon will be looking to fill roles for their spring production of “No Crime Like the Present,” a campy comedy full of zany characters who could be described as a 1940s female Sam Spade meeting present-day television news. 

“The female anchorwoman on KDOA’s 6 o’clock news was on her way to the top and willing to step on anyone’s toes to get there,” a Ludlow Village Players news release states. “She made enough enemies to fill a phonebook and someone had enough! Yep, she was iced, and Mavis, private eye, is on the case.” 

The cast will be filled with six women and seven men, all of whom have speaking parts. They range from homicide detective to news anchors and sportscasters, mayor, crime matriarch and gypsy. 

“We depend on newbies,” director Vallery Durling said, adding there are three or four new performers who have high school or college experience. “We’ve had an actor from Port Townsend every year, sometimes even more than one.” 

Durling is looking to hold 36 total rehearsals at three per week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

“We always have a lot of fun, and everybody who comes to us wants to come back,” Durling said with a laugh.

Now in their 12th season, the Ludlow Village Players strive to bring a different brand of production each spring. Last year, they performed “Suite Surrender,” which Durling described as “camp and over-the-top,” with some music interlaced throughout. 

Durling said the production was one of the most successful in program history, adding it was also the first year they held the show for two weekends. 

“We were looking for a comedy,” she said. “They work best here.

Durling added she wants to stage a drama before she gives up the reins. 

“We have to be different,” she said. “We can’t do the same thing. This one is even more camp.”

Durling said staging will be a challenge because there will be more than one scene, a difference from past productions which featured only one location in an interior room. 

“We are going to give it a good go,” Durling said. 

Auditions will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 12 and Nov. 15 at The Bay Club, 120 Spinnaker Place in Port Ludlow.

Participants will read from the script and play one off one another. 

Audition packets, which include an application, character and plot descriptions, are available at The Bay Club. Rehearsals will begin the second week of January, and performances are set for March 29-31 and April 5-7. 

For more information, call Durling at 360-437-2861 or email rkd@olypen.com.