BELFAST — The Belfast Maskers will  hold auditions for Dearly Departed, a comedy written by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones, on Saturday, July 27, at 10 a.m., and Sunday, July 28, at 2 p.m., at The Basil Burwell Community Theater, 17 Court St, Belfast.

Dearly Departed takes place in the Baptist backwoods of the Bible Belt. The beleaguered Turpin family proves that living and dying in the South are seldom tidy and always hilarious.

Not since Steel Magnolias has a more colorful and dysfunctional group of Southern eccentrics gathered below the Mason-Dixon line. When the patriarch of the Turpin family keels over dead in the first scene, the struggle to get him buried involves the whole clan, including the not-so-grieving widow who wants to put “Mean and Surly” on the tombstone.

There are roles for 4 men and 6 women, ages 20-80.

Performances will be held October 4, 5 6, 11, 12, and 13.

Dearly Departed will be directed by newly appointed Artistic Director, Meg Nickerson. Contact Meg for more information at: maskermeg@gmail.com